November 8, 1980 - Motorhead and Ace Of Spades

A month and a half after my last release, a new band briefly joins my library when Motorhead released their fourth album "Ace Of Spades" on November 8, 1980. The title track is the only song I have by these guys, but who is Motorhead? They were a 3-piece metal band from London, England founded by bassist and lead singer Lemmy Kilmister. He's the only remaining original member but is joined on this album by guitarist Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil Taylor. This would be Motorhead's most successful album and the title track was their highest ranking single. "Ace Of Spades" kicks off with a fast bass riff by Lemmy before Clarke and Taylor join in to form a fast-paced, punkish main beat. Lenny's voice is very low and raspy, not exactly what you'd picture as ideal singing, but it fits this style well. Lemmy and Clarke both play some cool fast stuff as Lemmy's lyrics are unsurprisingly about gambling and cards. The chorus is short, but so is this whole song as they go quickly through the first couple verses. It slows down for an epic bridge riff and Lemmy says a few lines ending with "and don't forget the joker" as Clarke goes off for a guitar solo. It's a pretty good solo and he seems to hit all the right notes and even ties things back into the verse nicely. They play a final verse and chorus before Clarke nicely ends things with a final guitar bit. This song sums up Motorhead pretty nicely: I didn't think it was anything to go crazy for, but this song is certainly catchy and a worthy addition to the library.

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