| Bomber | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Motörhead | ||||
| Released | October 27, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | July 7–August 31, 1979 Roundhouse Studios Olympic Studios |
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| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 36:48 (original) 54:46 (reissue) |
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| Label | Bronze (UK) Mercury (Canada) |
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| Producer | Jimmy Miller | |||
| Motörhead chronology | ||||
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Bomber is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was recorded in 1979, the same year as Overkill. The album reached number 12 on the UK charts and brought some of Motörhead's most popular songs, like "Bomber", "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Stone Dead Forever".
Contents |
During the recording of this album, the producer Jimmy Miller was increasingly under the influence of heroin, at one point disappearing entirely from the studio, later being found asleep at the wheel of his car. Ironically the album features the band's first anti-heroin song - "Dead Men Tell No Tales".[1]
This album caught Lemmy at his most ferocious, hitting hard at the police in "Lawman", marriage and how his father left him and his mother in "Poison", television in "Talking Head" and show business in "All the Aces". The title track was inspired by Len Deighton's novel Bomber. On one track, "Step Down", "Fast" Eddie Clarke is featured on vocals.[2]
The single "Bomber" was released on November 23, 1979, one month ahead of the album; the single's initial pressing of 20,000 on blue vinyl was soon sold out and was replaced by black vinyl.[2] The album was released on October 27, 1979 and, like the single, was initially pressed in blue vinyl.[3] The 'Bomber Tour' followed, for which a forty-foot aluminium-tube 'bomber' was made; this had four 'engines', whereas the plane depicted on the album sleeve (which bore a resemblance to the Heinkel He 111) had two. This lighting-rig could move backwards and forwards, and side-to-side - the first to be able to do so.[1]
The album cover features art by the English commercial artist, Adrian Chesterman [4] who was also responsible for creating cover art for, amongst others, Chris Rea for his 1989 'Road To Hell' album.
A special double CD reissue of Bomber was released in June 2005 to coincide with Motörhead's 30th anniversary tour. The bonus tracks (bar one) on the second CD, however, have all previously been available.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [5] |
One critic suggests that the album is well regarded by the fans, and packed full of essential Motörhead tracks, with "Dead Men Tell No Tales", "Stone Dead Forever" and the album's title track itself being phenomenally good metal songs. Going on to say that with the exception of the bluesy "Step Down", the tracks are full of the characteristic sound of the classic line-up of Lemmy, Clarke and Taylor, with Clarke’s solo in "All the Aces" described as "blistering" and Lemmy spitting out intentions to ‘poison his wife’ in the life-reflecting "Poison" making it a sound of metal-dripping brilliance.[6]
Source: Amazon[7]
All tracks composed by Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor, and Eddie Clarke, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dead Men Tell No Tales" | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Lawman" | 3:56 |
| 3. | "Sweet Revenge" | 4:10 |
| 4. | "Sharpshooter" | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Poison" | 2:54 |
| 6. | "Stone Dead Forever" | 4:54 |
| 7. | "All the Aces" | 3:24 |
| 8. | "Step Down" | 3:41 |
| 9. | "Talking Head" | 3:40 |
| 10. | "Bomber" | 3:43 |
| Bonus Tracks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Original Release | Length | ||||||
| 11. | "Over the Top" | B-side of Bomber | 3:21 | ||||||
| 12. | "Leaving Here" (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Live) | The Golden Years EP | 3:02 | ||||||
| 13. | "Stone Dead Forever" (Live) | The Golden Years EP | 5:20 | ||||||
| 14. | "Dead Men Tell No Tales" (Live) | The Golden Years EP | 2:54 | ||||||
| 15. | "Too Late Too Late" (Live) | The Golden Years EP | 3:21 | ||||||
| Disc One | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Dead Men Tell No Tales" | 3:07 | |||||||
| 2. | "Lawman" | 3:56 | |||||||
| 3. | "Sweet Revenge" | 4:10 | |||||||
| 4. | "Sharpshooter" | 3:19 | |||||||
| 5. | "Poison" | 2:54 | |||||||
| 6. | "Stone Dead Forever" | 4:54 | |||||||
| 7. | "All the Aces" | 3:24 | |||||||
| 8. | "Step Down" | 3:41 | |||||||
| 9. | "Talking Head" | 3:40 | |||||||
| 10. | "Bomber" | 3:43 | |||||||
| Disc Two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Over the Top" | 3:20 | |||||||
| 2. | "Stone Dead Forever" (Alternative Version) | 4:34 | |||||||
| 3. | "Sharpshooter" (Alternative Version) | 3:16 | |||||||
| 4. | "Bomber" (Alternative Version) | 3:35 | |||||||
| 5. | "Step Down" (Alternative Version) | 3:29 | |||||||
| 6. | "Leaving Here" (Live - Dozier, Holland, Holland) | 3:02 | |||||||
| 7. | "Stone Dead Forever" (Live) | 5:31 | |||||||
| 8. | "Dead Men Tell No Tales" (Live) | 2:44 | |||||||
| 9. | "Too Late Too Late" (Live) | 3:20 | |||||||
| 10. | "Step Down" (Live) | 3:49 | |||||||