Portal:Motörhead/Selected article/1

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Ace of Spades is the fourth album by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. Released in 1980, it reached #4 on the UK charts and was the first of the band's album releases to feature a photo of the band on the cover.

In August and September 1980, the band were recording at Jackson's Studios in Rickmansworth with producer Vic Maile for the "Ace of Spades" sessions for Bronze Records. As a preview of the forthcoming album and tour, the "Ace of Spades" single was released on October 27, 1980 and by early November had reached #15. The album was released on November 8, 1980 and sailed to #4 in the UK album charts, prompting Bronze to press a limited number of albums in gold vinyl, changing the catalogue number from BRON to BRONG for the edition. The 'Arizona desert-style' pictures used on the album sleeve and tour booklet cover were taken during a photosession at a sandpit in Barnet.

On January 28, 2003, Silverline released a DVD-Audio version of the album. On March 28, 2005 the album was released on DVD by Eagle Vision, the in-depth look at the making of the album includes interviews with Lemmy, Phil Taylor and Eddie Clarke.

The album has been described as "one of the best metal albums by any band, ever, period", and has become a significantly influential 'hard rock classic'. Despite the band always referring to their music as rock 'n roll in the same vein as their heroes Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, the album, and particularly its title track have been considered amongst the most influential in the development of thrash metal. (read more...)