Unknown Soldier

Overview
On their previous Bomber album, Motorhead had written the excellent “All the Aces” track and their follow-up to Bomber would be the Ace of Spades, which was their ‘ace in hole’ as far as critics, fans and commercial success for band were concerned. The Ace of Spades is usually considered as one of the best heavy metal albums ever produced and one of the most important in influencing the forthcoming thrash movement just a few years off. Motorhead were of course known for their breakneck speed, fuck off demeanour and just go out and do it attitude, and 1979 had been an unbelievable year for them, with their two breakthrough albums Overkill and Bomber (both reviewed in 1979) and the band had ridden the crest of the wave as far as all things heavy metal and hard rock were concerned. If Judas Priest were providing the know-how, AC/DC the balls then Motorhead were certainly supplying the raw energy for the NWOBHM around the 1979 and 1980 period, and for most observers the band would reach their pinnacle in 1980 with their Ace of Spades album. The set up for the Ace of Spades album is much the same as their previous two albums, with Lemmy very much the beast’s engine with his propulsive bass screaming away and Fast ‘Eddie’ Clarke and Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ both complementing him to equal effect. But it’s in the production department where Jimmy Millar now gives way to British producer Vic Maile and this is a noticeable change which would reflect on the recording of the album. The actual album would be recorded at Vic Maile’s recording studio in Hertfordshire and offered the band a very different production experience. The album would reach the lofty heights of no.4 in the UK album charts and its lead single and title track would also break the top 20 UK singles chart as well. This was no real surprise given the amount of exposure that NWOBHM and NWOBHM related bands like Motorhead were getting at this time on the radio, the music press and also on the UK’s most important music show at the time ‘Top of the Pops’. The album also has such an iconic cover with our mean badass ‘tres hombres’ all looking the part as three leather clad brigands, set out of place in a western movie, such a pity though that the actual shot was taken in a sandpit in Barnet! Also for anybody reading this, they’ll surely be aware of what a legendary character Lemmy was and still is, but I can still remember the first time I ever saw him which was in 1980 and there he was in his dark shades, mutton-chop sideburns and cowboy boots, along with his distinctive neck-stretched pose upto the mike and he certainly looked the part! Finally it’s probably no surprise that the band reached their peak so quickly as well, given that the breakneck speed of most of their music, which was very much a like a blazing comet burning up on its approaches to terra firma.

Verdict
In just a few short years Motorhead had already dished out several blistering anthem tracks, but the title track of the Ace of Spades would be the anthem mother of them all. Not only is it the band’s best known song, but it’s also the song that probably symbolizes everything great about the band. The “Ace of Spades” is the album’s lead-off track and at just 2 and a half minutes it blazes away as Lemmy sings memorable lines like “You win some, lose some, it’s all the same to me” “and “you know I’m born to lose and gambling is for fools, but that’s the way I like it baby”. The album is also blessed with some great song names like the clingy sounding “Love Me Like a Reptile” and the western themed “Shoot You in the Back”. But it’s the raw meat of great tracks like the almost garage rock cum-metal sounding “Live to Win” and the filthy themed “Fast and Loose” with its catchy riff that provide the heart and soul of the album. The second side keeps the momentum going with the slightly melodic “(We Are) the Road Crew” followed by the mental sounding “Fire, Fire”. The album though does lose some marks for some of its later tracks like “Jailbait” “Dance” “Bite the Bullet” and “The Hammer” which take the sameness of the album just a step too far. But luckily the end of the album is saved with the kick-ass sounding “The Chase Is Better Than the Catch” which is my favourite all-time Motorhead song! On a lot of the album, I can also detect an almost Iggy and the Stooges proto-punk/garage rock influence, I’ve never actually read that anywhere and it’s just an observation of mine. The Ace of Spades is usually regarded as being the pinnacle of the band’s three classic albums, then followed by the groundbreaking Overkill and then followed by the so-called lesser classic Bomber. I’ve also read how all three albums literally sound the same, with very little evolution being offered by the band. On these points though, I actually disagree with both of them to a degree. Firstly tackling point one, track for track the Ace of Spades is probably the best album of the three and Overkill is the most groundbreaking, but personally I still prefer Bomber as listen from the three albums. Secondly tackling point two, it needs to be observed that producer Vic Maile offered the band a very different approach to that of Jimmy Millar. Jimmy Millar was very much about letting the band express themselves as they wanted to and then harnessing the raw energy of the band in the studio. This though is in contrast to the production of Vic Maile, which is much more hands-on a la Todd Rundgren and he gets the band to release an album that is both vocally, musically and sonically deeper overall than the band were used to. Vic Maile achieved this approach without ever sacrificing the aggressiveness and energy of the band and he crucially still lets the band fuel themselves. Overall if both Overkill and Bomber are two rough around the edges and even uglier on the inside albums. Then the Ace of Spades is a bit tidier on the outside but just as downright ugly on its inside!

Lemmy- Bass/Vocals
Fast ‘Eddie’ Clarke- Guitar
Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor

Production- Vic Maile

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