Donington Park Broadcast: Monsters Of Rock 1986 vinyl

In the 1980s the Monsters of Rock festival on the Castle Donnington in the East Midlands was THE annual headbangers' ball - these were, after all, the days when you could count the amount of major festivals each year on one hand. Every metal and hard rock band worth its salt played it, from first headliners Rainbow in 1980 to Iron Maiden in 1988, although it was the tragic death of two fans during Guns 'N' Roses' set that year that grabbed most of the headlines, and beyond. This recording captures Motorhead's set in 1986, when they shared the bill with headliner Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Def Leppard and, somewhat unbelievably, Bad News, the Rik Mayall/Adrian Edmonson spoof metallers. The 'Head are on top form here and this is a nice sharp recording of a momentous set performed in front of a massive and vociferously enthusiastic crowd, and as well as a clutch of longtime classics culled from their trio of evergreen peak era-albums Bomber, Overkill and Ace of Spades, the post Eddie Clarke line up featuring Wurzel on guitar rarely sounded as on form, registering their own live favourites like 'Killed By Death' and 'Steal Your Face'.