In May 2021 KISS started to release a series of live soundboard recordings entitled “Off The Soundboard”… Almost at the same time the MOTÖRHEAD counterpart series “The Löst Tapes” was launched. Well, it’s actually more the other way around, because “Off The Soundboard – Tokyo 2001”, the first release from the KISS series, was released a month after (!) MOTÖRHEAD’s “The Löst Tapes Vol. 1 (Live In Madrid 1995)”. Anyway, despite the chronological details, both series have already reached five releases in the meantime, featuring exclusively raw and unaltered live shows, that were recorded directly through the soundboard (as far as I know). Nothing got fixed, nothing got re-worked or re-mixed, just newly mastered. So, what you originally heard is what you get here, as raw and authentic as possible. When it comes to MOTÖRHEAD, four of those shows had already been released on vinyl and digitally the last couple of years: “Live In Madrid 1995” and “Live In Norwich 1998” (in 2021) and “Live In Malmö 2000” and “Live In Heilbronn 1984” (in 2022), while Vol. 5, “Live At Donington Download Fest ’08”, had only been available digitally since last Christmas so far. But that will luckily change now, because a vinyl edition of it will also be out as well this month. And that is great, because the show sounds totally impressive and even features a guest appearance of the band’s former guitarist Würzel, who sadly passed away in 2011, on ‘Ace Of Spades’. If you should prefer the CD format, you can also buy the whole bunch as a boxset now, which is entitled “The Löst Tapes – The Collection Volumes 1-5”. And that’s the one we’re talking about here (just in case I have lost you with all the details). The packaging of it looks like an old used brown cardboard box, which includes replicas of five cardboard reel-to-reel tape cases, three of them with gatefolds, because those shows are featured as 2 CD sets. All of them include some live pics and a little bit of individual information. So, all in all you’ll get eight live CDs here, with a total playing time of approximately six and a half hours of music, and all that for a reasonable price. The good thing about them is, they have all been recorded on different MOTÖRHEAD tours and years, so the setlists vary, which means you even get to hear a bunch of songs that haven’t been played to death over the years (‘Metropolis’ anyone?). ‘Liar’, ‘Dog Face Boy’, ‘You Better Run’, ‘Take The Blame’, ‘Broken’, ‘Be My Baby’, ‘One Night Stand’, ‘Rosalie’ (dedicated to the late great Philip Lynott of THIN LIZZY) and especially the HAWKWIND classic ‘Silver Machine’ are a few good examples here. The most traditional setlist you’ll probably find on Volume 4 (Heilbronn, Germany 1984), but that’s ok as well, especially since it showcases how good the four-piece line-up with Pete Gill on drums and Würzel on second guitar actually was. The sound quality varies from disc to disc, but don’t worry, none of the shows ever reaches bootleg qualities. So, even though quite a lot of MOTÖRHEAD live shows have already been used lately as bonus stuff for the 40th Anniversary editions, this here is still exciting material for every MOTÖRHEAD collection for sure. The only sad thing about all of them: whenever there’s a “new” MOTÖRHEAD release, I realize how much Lemmy is really missed in the Metal scene and what a big gap he left behind that no one will ever be able to fill. All that is even more evident when you hear his great sense of humor between the songs on live releases like these. Rest in peace, Lemmy, your legend lives on! www.imotorhead.com, www.bmg.com