| Iron Fist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Motörhead | ||||
| Released | 17 April 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 26 January – 1 March 1982 Ramport Studios, UK Morgan Studios |
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| Genre | Heavy metal, speed metal | |||
| Length | 36:24 (original) 49:29 (reissue) |
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| Label | Bronze (Worldwide) Mercury (North America) |
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| Producer | Will Reid Dick Eddie Clarke |
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| Motörhead chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
Iron Fist is the fifth album by the British band Motörhead. Released on 17 April 1982, it peaked at #6 on the UK album charts.[3] It was preceded by the release of the title track "Iron Fist" as a single on 3 April, which peaked in the UK singles chart at #29.[4] It was the final album to be recorded by the Lemmy, Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor line-up.
Contents |
As with previous albums, recording commenced with producer Vic Maile at his Jackson's Studio in Rickmansworth in 1981. A break in recording for the band to play some November and December dates with Tank was followed by Clarke producing Tank's debut album with help from Will Reid Dick. Clarke was unhappy with the Maile produced sessions and decided that the album should be recorded themselves, although Lemmy lamented at the time that "it's a shame to have lost Vic in a way because I thought it was successful".[5]
The album was recorded during the best part of late January and February 1982 at Morgan Studios and Ramport Studios in London, with Clarke producing and Dick engineering. The band retrospectively acknowledge that this was a bad move, with Lemmy claiming in 2000 that the album was "bad, inferior to anything else we've ever done. Having Eddie produce it was a mistake that even he would now probably admit to".[6]
The writing of lyrics and recording of vocals are tasks that Lemmy performs once the recording of the music has been completed. Struggling to think of a name for the title track for the album, he remembered the time the band had performed live under the name Iron Fist and the Hordes from Hell for contractual reasons (a subsequent album What's Words Worth? was released of that event), and decided this was an apt name for this project. The name was eventually shortened to simply Iron Fist.[5]
A promotional film was made of the band dressed in studded leather armour and wielding broadswords, described by Lemmy as "all dressed up as idiots, prancing about in a wood in South Mimms as opposed to prancing about in South Mimms dressed as cowboy idiots", although Clarke was more reticent about the project fearing looking "like a bunch of fairies prancing about with armour on... It's very hard not to".[5]
The band undertook a UK tour from 17 March through to 12 April with support from Tank. This was to be the first tour to drop the bomber lighting rig, with Lemmy feeling that they had "to do something new sooner or later" despite it being "the best show I've ever seen in my life".[5] The band continued touring to promote the album visiting North America in May and June, Japan at the end of June, and after some summer festival appearances, mainland Europe in October and November.
The first date of the North America tour, 12 May at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, was filmed and subsequently released on video as Live in Toronto and later as the bonus disc of the deluxe edition of the CD. After the second date on 14 May at New York's Palladium, Clarke left the band, his replacement being former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson with the tour recommencing a week later on the 21 May in Detroit.[7]
Promotion for the album went as far as the May 1982 edition of Rennbahn Express, an Austrian magazine, which included a free flexidisc with excerpts from "Iron Fist", "Sex and Outrage", "Don't Let 'em Grind You Down" and "Loser". Lemmy is interviewed by Robert Reumann in English and is overdubbed with a German translation.[8]
The release of the album prompted Bronze/Mercury in Canada to issue The Complete Motörhead Kit. This featured a limited edition 12" vinyl containing "Iron Fist", "Too Late, Too Late", "Remember Me, I'm Gone", "Ace of Spades" and "Motorhead" (from the No Sleep 'til Hammersmith album), plus a tour programme, tour poster, and an embroidered patch of the band's logo.[8]
All tracks composed by Ian Kilmister, Eddie Clarke, Phil Taylor.
Track 1: B-side of Iron Fist single Tracks 2-15: Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, 12 May 1982
| Date | Region | Label | Catalogue | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 April 1982 | UK | Bronze | BRON 539 | vinyl | Peaked at #6 in the album chart |
| 17 April 1982 | North America | Mercury | SRM-1-4042 | vinyl | peaked at 174 on Billboard Pop Albums chart |
| 1982 | France | WEA Filipacchi Music | 893048 | vinyl | |
| 1982 | Germany | Bronze | 204 636 | vinyl | |
| 21/Dec/1982 | Yugoslavia | Jugoton | LSBRO 11019 | vinyl | |
| 1982 | Australia/NZ | Bronze | L-37841 | vinyl | |
| 1982 | Brazil | Bronze | 6328444 | vinyl | |
| 1987 | France | Castle Communications | CLACD 123 | CD | |
| 1996 | UK | Essential, Castle Music | ESM CD 372 | CD | with 5 bonus tracks |
| 1999 | US | Castle Music America | CDX CMACD-523 | CD | with 5 bonus tracks |
| 2001 | North America | Metal-Is | CDX 85211 | CD | with 5 bonus tracks |
| 2003 | Italy | Earmark | LPPIC 41017 | 180g vinyl picture disc, gatefold cover | |
| 2005 | UK | Sanctuary | SMED-244 | 2CD | with bonus disk |