MOTÖRHEAD — Ace of Spades (review)

MOTÖRHEAD — Ace of Spades album cover Album · 1980 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Warthur
Motorhead handed off production of this one to Vic Maile, and they've gone on the record as saying that Vic was able to bring out the best in the band - both in terms of the production and in terms of their performance in the studio. I can believe it listening to Ace of Spades. The title track is, of course, Motorhead's most famous song, and the album itself is probably the Motorhead disc which is best known - and it deserves to be, because there's no hint of commercial compromise about it.

Rather than diluting their sound to attain a wider audience, Motorhead simply went into the studio and gave the best performance they could muster, with Maile's production giving listeners the clearest picture yet of just what the band were getting up to. Lemmy's "lead bassist" approach is on full show here, with Fast Eddie's lead guitar striving to keep up - and succeeding wonderfully. In terms of the songwriting, once again careful listeners will realise that Motorhead's customary declaration at concerts that "We play rock 'n' roll" is no empty boast - underpinning many of the tracks are classic rock and roll riffs and song structures, given a blinding, ferocious energy by the metal as hell performances and Lemmy's iconic throaty roar.

If you haven't started exploring Motorhead's discography, this is an ideal place to start; it's the obvious choice, sure, but that doesn't mean it isn't also the best choice. If you already own a Motorhead album or two but don't have this one yet, it's worth a shot. The only downside of Ace of Spades is that it leaves otherwise great albums like Overkill and Bomber in the shade; it's such a good album, even a band as great as Motorhead can't always live up to its standards.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Sweet. Love this one too!

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