''Hammered'' is the sixteenth studio album by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

, released on 9 April 2002 via Steamhammer, their sixth with the label and beating the

Bronze Records Bronze Records was an independent English record label founded in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron on Oxford Street in London, eventually relocating to Chalk Farm. History Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up ...

era total of original full-length album releases. It was also the beginning of distribution in North America, and other territories, under

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

and their subsidiary Metal-Is.

Recording

''Hammered'' was released on Metal-Is, a rock label owned by the then-new

. The album was recorded in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

at Chuck Reid's house with Thom Pannunzio producing. By this time, Motörhead had recorded several albums as a three-piece, with drummer

Mikkey Dee Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou (born 31 October 1963), known professionally as Mikkey Dee, is a Swedish musician, best known as the last drummer for British heavy metal band Motörhead from 1992 until its dissolution in 2015. Dee also played temporari ...

, guitarist Phil Campbell, and original vocalist/bassist,

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

. In

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bl ...

's memoir ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', Dee is quoted as saying the album – which is noted for its darker subject matter and reflective tone – was influenced by the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

Release

In the Motörhead documentary ''The Guts and the Glory'', Lemmy states: The album is perhaps best remembered for ''The Game'', written by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

music composer Jim Johnston as the entrance theme for wrestler

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

. At two

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

events,

WrestleMania X-Seven WrestleMania 17 (stylized as WrestleMania X-Seven) was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astrodo ...

and

WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21 was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event too ...

, Motörhead would perform this song live as Triple H made his entrance to the ring. Triple H also contributed co-vocals on the spoken word track "Serial Killer".

Sleeve artwork

Joe Petagno Joe Petagno (born January 1, 1948) is an American artist known principally for creating images used on rock album covers for bands such as Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, Black Oak Arkansas, Sweet, Hawkwind, Motörhead, Roy Harper, Marduk, Bal-Sagoth, ...

, long time sleeve artist, had this insight into the concept of the album artwork:

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review states: Lee Marlow of ''Classic Rock'' wrote in November 2013 that:

Track listing

*Also includes a 16-minute

MPEG The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is an alliance of working groups established jointly by International Organization for Standardization, ISO and International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC that sets standards for media coding, includ ...

on " 25 & Alive Boneshaker", a preview of the (then) upcoming live album DVD of their 25th birthday concert in 2000, at the

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...

in London.

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. *

– bass, vocals * Phil Campbell – guitars *

– drums *

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur Reed (born June 18, 1963), better known by his stage name Dizzy Reed, is an American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recor ...

– piano on "Mine all Mine" *

– co-vocals on "Serial Killer" *

Bob Kulick Robert Joel Kulick (January 16, 1950 – May 28, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, who worked with numerous acts such as Kiss, W.A.S.P., Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Meat Loaf and Michael Bolton. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

– guitars on "The Game"

Production

* Thom Panunzio – producer ("Serial Killer), engineer, mixing * Chuck Reed – producer, mixing ("Serial Killer), engineer * Lemmy – producer ("Serial Killer) * Bob Kulick – producer, mixing ("The Game") * Bruce Buillet – producer ("The Game") * Motörhead – producers ("The Game"), album cover design * Bob Koszela – engineer * Jim Danis – assistant engineers * Jeff Rothschild – assistant engineer * Bob Vosgien – mastering * Bruce Buillet – mixing ("The Game") * Motörhead – executive producers * Joe Petagno – album cover design, Snaggletooth * Stefan Chirazi – concept * Mark Ambrose/Zen Jam – design *Gene Kirkland – photography

Charts

References

External links

Motörhead official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammered (Motorhead album) 2002 albums Motörhead albums Albums with cover art by Joe Petagno Albums produced by Thom Panunzio Sanctuary Records albums