MOTORHEAD: Ace Of Spades (HARD ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Launched in 1979 by "Overkill", and followed by "Bomber" the same year, the trilogy of Motörhead's unavoidable albums is completed in 1980 by "Ace Of Spades" which will also mark the history of hard rock. From its cover, this opus is exceptional. Indeed, Snaggletooth (the icon and mascot of the band) does not appear exceptionally, and leaves its place to the three members of the band disguised as pistoleros posing in the middle of a desert which will prove to be in fact only a quarry of North London.

However, the recipe of Lemmy and his band remains the same. The latter attacks his Rickenbacker hard with his pick, followed by Phil "Animal" Taylor's tachy drums, and as "Fast" Eddie Clarke launches his devastating riff, we already know what we're going to be served up with from the first chords of an introductory and legendary eponymous track. The locomotive is already warmed up and everything that gets in its way will be trampled without mercy. As usual, Motörhead sticks to the floor, and everyone asks for more, while like AC/DC, the recipe hardly changes from one album to another. Of course, the trio offers some originality as on the solo of "(We Are) The Road Crew" which pays tribute to the technical team that goes with them on the road. Indeed, while giggling , Clarke is forced to stop and triggers a feedback that will be kept, as a proof of the integrity of the band, just like the intro of "Bite The Bullet" full of this punk energy that characterizes partially Motörhead's music.

Because this is the lethal weapon of the British combo: these guys live their music with intensity and authenticity, and all this transpires from each of their tracks to prevent any trace of resistance. On this "Ace Of Spades", the majority of the tracks start at a sustained rhythm like on the scathing "Fire Fire" or the protesting "Jailbeat" with its double-pedal and its riff with light accents of Alice Cooper's "School's Out", but when the tempo slows down, it's never at the expense of the efficiency ("Shoot You In The Back"). The choruses continue to slam ("Fast And Loose") and the combo even takes the opportunity to pay tribute to its groupies with a more mid-tempo "The Chase Is Better Than The Catch" and delivering its recipe of seduction according to Lemmy, before closing the race with "The Hammer", a last fast and scathing salvo.

After having given up any form of resistance and before pressing the PLAY button again, we will take the time to recognize "Ace Of Spades" as a cult album, the one that we grant to those works that mark the history of a musical trend and impose the identity of an artist. From now on, it will be impossible to consider Hard-Rock without Lemmy's Jack Daniel's bottle , a pack of cigarettes and white boots, and without Motörhead's punk energy, greasy sound and powerful interpretation. It is not a coincidence that "Ace Of Spades" will reach the fourth place of the English charts! - Official website

MOTORHEAD

ACE OF SPADES

SANCTUARY

HARD ROCK