''Rock 'n' Roll'' is the eighth studio album by English rock 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 5 September 1987. It is their last album with the GWR label, as more legal issues embroiled the band with yet another label. Reaching only No. 34 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, ''Rock 'n' Roll'' was, in that respect, the worst performing of all of Motörhead's top 40 chart hits. It would see the return of 'classic line up' drummer

Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor Philip John Taylor (21 September 1954 – 12 November 2015), better known as "Philthy Animal", was an English drummer. He was a member of the rock band Motörhead from 1975 to 1984 and 1987 to 1992, recording eleven studio albums and four live ...

, albeit only for a few more years before being fired.

Background

In 1987, Motörhead appeared in the Peter Richardson film ''

Eat the Rich "Eat the rich" is a political slogan associated with class conflict and anti-capitalism. The phrase is commonly attributed to political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from a quote first popularized during the French Revolution: "When the pe ...

'', which starred the regular cast of ''

The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

'' and Motörhead frontman

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 ...

himself in a small part as "Spider". The band supplied six songs for the soundtrack as well. As the band was about to film their cameo, however, drummer

Pete Gill Peter Gill (born 9 June 1951) is an English former heavy metal drummer, formerly a member of The Glitter Band, Saxon and Motörhead. Gill was one of the two drummers in The Glitter Band, then formed part of the original line-up of Saxon in ...

was fired and

rejoined after having quit in 1984. In his autobiography '' White Line Fever'', Lemmy states the sacking of Gill was a long time coming: Lemmy adds that he knew Taylor, who had been playing with

Frankie Miller Francis John Miller (born 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor. Miller wrote for and performed with many recording artists and is best known for his 1977 album ''Full House'', the singles "Be Good To Yourself", " D ...

and ex-

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

guitarist Brian "Robbo" Robertson, wanted to come back. ''Rock 'n' Roll'' would be the final album recorded by Motörhead on the GWR label and the last before Lemmy would relocate from the UK to Los Angeles.

Recording

''Rock 'n' Roll'' was produced by the band and Guy Bidmead at Master Rock Studios and Redwood Studios in London. In the Motörhead documentary ''The Guts and the Glory'', guitarist Phil Campbell states, "I like it. It's not a great album but... there's things on there I like, a lot of good things I like." Campbell adds that the studio manager informed them that the studio they were recording in was owned by

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

, and Motörhead – who were all huge

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

fans – invited Palin to come down and do a recitation for the album. Palin showed up dressed in a 1940s cricketer outfit, with a V-necked sweater and his hair all brushed to one side. Lemmy remembers Palin walking in and saying, "Hello, what sort of thing are we going to do now, then?" and Lemmy answering "Well, you know in ''The Meaning of Life'', there was this speech that began 'Oh Lord — .'" Palin replied "Ah! Give me some cathedral!" and went in and recorded the 'Oh Lord, look down upon these people from Motörhead' speech. The song "Eat the Rich" was written specifically for the Richardson film and a music video was released as well (in addition to Lemmy,

Koo Stark Kathleen Norris Stark (born April 26, 1956), better known as Koo Stark, is an American photographer and actress, known for her relationship with Prince Andrew. She is a patron of the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust, which runs the museum of the Vic ...

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

also appear in the film). In his 2002 memoir, Lemmy assesses the album:

Release

As with the previous two albums it was not a commercial success, even though Lemmy had appeared in a comedy film by the same name as the single, and the sound track to, "Eat The Rich". It continued the downwards momentum of the band into the late eighties, with no original release until 1991, when they made the ''1916'' album. Lemmy also writes that ''Rock 'n' Roll'' has some great songs, like "Dogs", "Boogeyman", and "Traitor", which they played "for years", but overall it just did not seem to work. Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss ''White Line Fever'' (2002) –

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

pp. 203—204. . According to

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 2011 Motörhead biography ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', a court case between the band and GWR was sparked over the choice of a summer single in 1988; the band wanted to release a live performance of "Traitor" from ''Rock 'n' Roll'' that was recorded at the Giants of Rock festival in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

, Finland, while the label had wanted to put out a live rendition of the Motörhead classic "

Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The orn ...

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, ...

had other ideas for the cover of this album:

Reception

While calling Motörhead "a rock & roll band in the purest sense", Eduardo Rivadavia of

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 ...

concedes: In 2011, Motörhead biographer

wrote: ''Rock 'n' Roll'' renewed commercial hope for Motörhead in the United States, with Lemmy moving to Los Angeles after the recording of this album permanently. The fans in the States appeared willing to see this band live and buy their albums whereas Britain is criticised as having lost interest in Motörhead. In 2016,

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

ranked ''Rock 'n' Roll'' as the worst Motörhead album ever made.

Track listing

* The spoken word "Blessing" by

is listed on some version as track 5 on side A (the original vinyl and cassette release). On the original CD version it had its own track selection slot (making it a 10-track CD). Otherwise it was at the end of track 4 ("Stone Deaf in the U.S.A.") as a

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

or at the beginning of track 5 ("The Wolf"). On both of these last two versions it was uncredited on the cover.

Sanctuary Records 2006 2-CD deluxe edition

Disc one is the original album without bonus tracks. B1–B2 are from the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "Eat the Rich" 12-inch single. B3–B15 are live performances at the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

, England, on 16 August 1986,

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

broadcast on the

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

. * It would be the last time the song "Motörhead" would make it onto the release of a live recording. This compilation was released in 2006 but the show was recorded in 1986, and other than the original broadcast, had not been heard since. "Motörhead" has not been played live, with extremely few exceptions, since this era and the end of the 1980s.

Personnel

Per the album's liner notes.

Motörhead

– bass, vocals, 3rd solo on "Boogeyman" *

Würzel Michael Richard Burston (23 October 1949 – 9 July 2011), commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician who played professionally for three decades. He played guitar in British rock band Motörhead from 1984 to 1995,

– lead & rhythm guitars, slide guitar on "Stone Deaf in the U.S.A." * Phil "Wizzö" Campbell – lead & rhythm guitars, slide guitar on "Eat the Rich" *

– drums *

– drums on Deluxe Edition Tracks 3 - 15 *

- speech on "Blessing"

Production

*Guy Bidmead – producer *Roland Herrington – engineer *Arabella Rodriguez – engineer *Caroline Orme – engineer *Phil Dane – engineer "Eat the Rich" originally recorded by

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

*Jason Corsaro – recording ("Eat the Rich") *Guy Bidmead – remixing ("Eat the Rich") *Andy Pearce – mastering (2006 remaster) *Motörhead – executive producers *

– Snaggletooth artwork *John F. McGill – layout and design *Curt Evans – 2006 cover design

2006 deluxe edition remaster

* Steve Hammonds – release coordination * Jon Richards – release coordination *

Malcolm Dome Malcolm Dome (1955 – 29 October 2021) was an English music journalist. He wrote about rock and heavy metal from 1979. In addition to writing books, he was a journalist for ''Record Mirror'', ''Kerrang!'', ''Metal Hammer'' and ''Classic Rock ...

– sleeve notes *Mick Stevenson – project consultant, photos and archive memorabilia

Charts

References

External links

Motörhead official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock 'N' Roll (Motorhead album) Motörhead albums 1987 albums Albums with cover art by Joe Petagno