No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Motörhead
Producer: Vic Maile
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Motorhead: Lemmy Kilmister, Fast Eddie Clarke, Phil Taylor. Recorded live in England in 1980 & 1981. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Lemmy (vocals); "Fast" Eddie Clarke (guitar); Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor (drums). Liner Note Authors: Garry Bushell; Phil Alexander. Recording information: Studio. Photographers: Ross Halfin; Mick Stevenson. Unlike many heavy metal contemporaries, Motorhead leader Lemmy possesses self-deprecating humour. Stripped of pretension, he goads the basic three-chord trick with a full-throated bellow, emphasizing his trio's vicious racket. On this live selection the group reprise the cream of their back catalogue with untrammelled venom, in the process destroying already power-packed studio counterparts. Continuing a line from the MC5 and Stooges, rather than gothic fantasy, the band understand the excitement of noise and exploit it to its full potential. Thrash metal and hardcore owe them a debt but, as this album proves, there is only one Motorhead. Released in 1981, the live album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith recaps the highlights from the legendary run of albums Mot�rhead 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 ("Mot�rhead" and "Iron Horse"), but by and large, the focus is on the standout songs from the aforementioned trio of classics. This alone makes No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith noteworthy, for it plays like a greatest-hits set, opening perfectly with "Ace of Spades." But what makes it all the more noteworthy -- and more than simply a run-of-the-mill, gap-filling live album -- is the performance: in a word, it's breakneck. The trio of Lemmy (bass and vocals), "Fast" Eddie Clarke (guitar), and "Philthy Animal" Taylor (drums) absolutely rips loose through this 11-song set, upping the intensity and speed of the already intense and speedy studio recordings. Yes, believe it or not, these performances are even more crazed than their studio-recorded counterparts. Of course, the fidelity isn't as clear and the instruments aren't nearly as in relief, since this is a live recording (and while it's of high quality for live recordings of its day, it's relatively lo-fi by today's standards). Still, the breakneck nature of this performance distinguishes No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith from its studio predecessors, making it an excellent, recommended complement to those essentials. Moreover, it's an important release because it captures Mot�rhead live during the peak of the classic lineup's rise to fame. Mot�rhead could do no wrong at this point in time, as they were laying the foundation for the coming thrash movement, in a way, and their winning streak continues here on No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, one of the best live metal albums of all time. [The various single-disc reissues of No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith append three bonus tracks: "Over the Top," an alternate version of "Capricorn," and "Train Kept A Rollin'."] ~ Jason Birchmeier

Q (10/96, pp.186-187) - 3 Stars - Good - "...the best title of any live album ever....contains faster and rougher versions of Motorhead's best songs, most of which were pretty fast and rough already..." Mojo (Publisher) (12/01, p.124) - "...A masterpiece..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.138) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[D]elivered with brutal immediacy....There is a fearsome intensity throughout, meaning this remains one of the key live metal albums."

After he departed Hawkwind in the mid-1970s, bassist/gravel-voiced singer Lemmy formed the hard-rocking Motorhead. Referred to by punk rockers as "the only metal band that matters," the rowdy trio was one of the leaders of the early-'80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, and an important influence on future thrash and speed metal bands.

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