Released 8 November 1980
Recorded 4 August – 15 September 1980
Jackson’s Studios,
Rickmansworth, England, UK
Genre Heavy metal, NWOBHM, speed metal, rock and roll
Length 36:42
Label Bronze (Worldwide)
Mercury (North America)
Producer Vic Maile

Motörhead are a British rock band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister, known mostly by his stage name Lemmy, who has remained the sole constant member. The band is often considered a precursor to or one of the earliest members of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Usually a power trio, Motörhead had particular success in the early 1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The albums Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and particularly No Sleep ’til Hammersmith, cemented Motörhead’s reputation as one of Britain’s foremost rock bands.

Motörhead are typically classified as heavy metal, and their fusion of punk rock into the genre helped to pioneer speed metal and thrash metal. Lemmy dislikes such labels, preferring to describe the band’s music simply as “rock n’ roll” and usually opening live shows with the line “We are Motörhead. We play rock and roll.” Motörhead’s approach has remained the same over the band’s career, preferring to play what they enjoy and do best; their appreciation of early rock and roll is reflected in some of their occasional cover songs. Motörhead’s lyrics typically cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and “life on the road”. The name “Motörhead” is a reference to users of the drug amphetamine. The band’s distinctive fanged-face logo, with its oversized boar’s horns, chains, and spikes, was created by artist Joe Petagno in 1977 for the cover of the Motörhead album and has appeared in many variations on covers of ensuing albums. The fanged face has been referred to variously as “War-Pig” and “Snaggletooth”. The band is ranked number 26 on VH1′s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. They are cited as the first speed metal band.

Ace of Spades is the fourth album by the British band Motörhead. Released on 8 November 1980, it peaked at #4 on the UK album charts and reached Gold status by March 1981.^[3] It was preceded by the release of the title track as a single on 27 October, which peaked in the UK singles chart at #15 in early November.^[4]

Recording

The album was recorded in August and September 1980, produced by Vic Maile at his Jackson’s Studio in Rickmansworth. This is the first of what would be a series of projects with Maile, and members of the band commented at the time about finding the right producer. Whereas the band had previously had an input at the mixing stage, Maile took sole responsibility here, Clarke explaining that the result was that “you can finally hear everything that’s going on”.^[5]

Of the performances, Lemmy claimed that “Vic got me singing instead of just shouting all the time”, while Taylor added “and he got me playing more solid”.^[5]

Sleeve

It was the first of the band’s albums to feature a photograph of them on the cover, dressed as cowboys. The ‘Arizona desert-style’ pictures used on the album sleeve and tour programme were taken during a photo session at a sandpit in Barnet.^[6]

Promotion and tour

Motörhead appeared on Top of the Pops twice in October to promote the single “Ace of Spades”, and were guests on the ITV children’s morning show Tiswas on 8 November.

The band undertook a UK tour from 22 October through to 2 December under the banner Ace Up Your Sleeve, with support from Girlschool and Vardis. After the Belfast show on 2 December, high jinx resulted in Taylor breaking his neck forcing him to wear a neck-brace and curtailing any further band activity. The other members of the band took the opportunity to collaborate with Girlschool for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP.

Critical reception

The album has been described as “one of the best metal albums by any band, ever”^[7] and has become a significantly influential ‘hard rock classic’.^[8] Despite the band always referring to their music as rock ‘n roll,^[9] the album, and particularly its title track have been considered amongst the most influential in the development of thrash metal.^[10] The title track is, for many, the definitive Motörhead anthem.^[11] The album is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Classic albums documentary

On 28 March 2005 the documentary about the album (a part of the Classic Albums series) was released on DVD by Eagle Vision. The in-depth look at the making of the album includes interviews with and performances by Lemmy, Phil Taylor and Eddie Clarke.^[12]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor, Eddie Clarke.

LP

Side A

Side B

CD bonus tracks

1. “Dirty Love” – 2:57
   • Originally released as the B-side of the Ace of Spades single
2. “Please Don’t Touch” (Johnny Kidd, Guy Robinson) – 2:49
3. “Emergency” (Kim McAuliffe, Kelly Johnson, Enid Williams, Denise Dufort) - 3:00

• Tracks 14 and 15 were originally released on the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP in 1981.

Deluxe Edition: Disc 2

1. “Dirty Love” – 2:55
2. “Ace of Spades” (alternate version) – 3:03
3. “Love Me Like a Reptile” (alternate version) – 4:16
4. “Love Me Like a Reptile” (alternate version) – 3:31
5. “Shoot You in the Back” (alternate version) – 3:11
6. “Fast and Loose” (alternate version) – 3:06
7. “(We Are) The Roadcrew” (alternate version) – 3:24
8. “Fire Fire” (alternate version) – 2:41
9. “Jailbait” (alternate version) – 3:33
10. “The Hammer” (alternate version) – 3:11
11. “Dirty Love” (alternate version) – 1:02
12. “Dirty Love” (alternate version) – 3:51
13. “Fast and Loose” (BBC Session) – 4:18
14. “Live to Win” (BBC Session) – 3:33
15. “Bite the Bullet/The Chase Is Better Than the Catch” (BBC Session) – 6:05

The 2CD version does not include the Girlschool St. Valentine’s Day Massacre tracks that are on the single-disc remaster.

Credits

• Lemmy (Ian Kilmister) – bass, lead vocals
• “Fast” Eddie Clarke – guitar, lead vocals on “Emergency”
• Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor – drums

• Recorded 4 August – 15 September 1980 at Jackson’s Studios, Rickmansworth, UK
• Produced by Vic Maile
• Sleeve photography by Alan Ballard
• Design by Martin Poole

Release history and variations

• The labels on the 1986 GWR re-issue had the GWR logo and “A” on one side, and Side Two on the other. The tracks were also erroneously listed in the order of the North America release.

References

Links

• Ace of Spades review on Yahoo Music
• Motorhead official website