Motorhead Ace OF Spades

Motörhead was an English rock band formed in June 1975 by bassist, singer, and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister (1945–2015), professionally known by his stage name Lemmy, who had remained the sole constant member. The band are often considered a precursor to, or one of the earliest members of, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, Lemmy had always dubbed their music as simply "rock and roll"…

Motörhead in 1981 was a band of extremes; a flammable mix of non-stop celebration over their rising success and punishing graft, underscored by an inter-band powder-keg dynamic. Afterrecording Ace Of Spades, it had shot to number four in the UK; the killer breakthrough after Overkill and Bomber had done essential groundwork, late 1980’s Ace Up Your Sleeve UK tour was a triumphant lap of honour that spilled into the recording of No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith. The album took its title from an inscription painted on one of the trucks, referencing the 32 gigs they were playing with only two days off. The track listing ended up featuring three tracks from Ace Of Spades, five from Overkill, Bomber’stitle track and two from their self-titled debut. Originally released on 27th June 1981, Lemmy is quoted as saying of it “I knew it’d be the live one that went best, because we’re really a live band. You can’t listen to a record and find out what we’re about.You’ve got to see us.” Upon release No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith went straight to number one, their first and only in the UK and is still the most necessary live album of all time.

Although it isn't as extensive as No Remorse, All the Aces: The Best of Motörhead does gather the best-of-the-best of that collection, as well as the cream of the uneven, Bill Laswell-produced Orgasmatron (although the "Ace of Spades" remix that closes the original track listing could have been left off in favor of another, more necessary item). There's plenty of quality material from Motörhead's early-'80s heyday that didn't make the cut here, so it's better to think of All the Aces as a concise survey rather than a definitive encapsulation…

Released in 1981, the live album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith recaps the highlights from the legendary run of albums Motörhead released during the prior few years, namely Overkill, Bomber, and Ace of Spades. The band's lesser self-titled debut album is also accounted for here with two inclusions ("Motörhead" and "Iron Horse"), but by and large, the focus is on the standout songs from the aforementioned trio of classics…

Out of all the zillions of Motörhead compilations released over the years, 2005's Essential Noize: The Very Best Of may just be the best one yet. And the reason is quite simple – it covers the best tracks from 1978 through 1984, which just about every single Motörhead fan agrees is their strongest period. At the time this material first arrived, many rock fans and metal heads were left scratching their heads in bewilderment, as few groups managed to combine the energy of punk with the power of metal as Lemmy and company did. By the early 21st century, it became quite clear that Motörhead were bona fide trailblazers, influencing countless bands (Metallica, Soundgarden, etc.) and singlehandedly inventing thrash metal.

Clean Your Clock is the thirteenth and last live album by the band Motörhead, released on 10 June 2016. This was recorded during their European 40th Anniversary tour. It is compiled from two sold-out shows at the Zenith in Munich, Germany, on 20 and 21 November 2015 (both nights were filmed but only the first show was released)…

Motörhead have an overabundance of rarities in their vaults, as evidenced by the bonus tracks included on the 2001 Castle reissues of their early releases. Somehow, the group even had more rare tracks lying around, which comprise the 2002 double-disc set Tear Ya Down: The Rarities…