''Overnight Sensation'' is the thirteenth 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 ...

. It was released on 15 October 1996 via Steamhammer, their second on the label. It is their first studio album to not feature guitarist

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,

, and returning to usual three-piece format, instead of four-piece on the past six albums.

Recording

The album was Motörhead's third album with producer

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philad ...

. Following the departure of

(Michael Burston) in 1995, the band returned to the same three-man "classic Motörhead line up"; bass guitar/vocals, lead guitar, and drums. In a rare outside songwriter credit, Swedish Erotica guitarist Magnus Axx contributed to writing the song "Civil War". This album was also the first since ''

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 ...

'' (1980) to have a picture of the band on the cover. Despite being only a three-piece band, the band had a heavier style on this work than on its previous album, '' Sacrifice''. Vocalist and bassist

Lemmy Kilmister 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 ...

recalls that, amidst the touring, the record took about four weeks to write new songs and four weeks to record in the studio. 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 pu ...

pp. 276—277 . Lemmy talked about the return to being a three piece:

Release

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 Bla ...

's 2011 book ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', 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 ...

is quoted saying that the songwriting was affected by guitarist Würzel's departure: The album is notable for featuring a picture of Lemmy without his trademark mutton chops. He regrew them in 2001 and would retain them until his death. When Lemmy appraised the album in the 2004 Motörhead documentary ''The Guts and the Glory'', Lemmy stated:

Reception

''Overnight Sensation'' was the band's first official record for CMC. ''Sacrifice'' (1995) was already partly in the States on import, but the label proved itself with ''Overnight Sensation'' and it became the best-distributed record the band had for some time. It charted in Germany, Sweden and Finland.

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 databa ...

calls the LP: Lee Marlow of ''Classic Rock'' stated in 2013 that ''Overnight Sensation'' was:

Track listing

Personnel

Per the album's liner notes. * Lemmy – lead vocals, bass, harmonica on "Crazy Like a Fox", acoustic guitar on "Overnight Sensation" and "Listen to Your Heart" * Phil Campbell – lead guitar *

– drums

Production

– producer * Duane Baron – producer, mixing * Ryan Dorn – producer, mixing * James Ornelas – assistant engineer * Evan Levy – assistant engineer * Dwayne Baron – assistant engineer * Dan Hersch – mastering * Motörhead – executive producers * Diane Medak – production coordinator * Annamaria DiSanto – album cover * Shannon Crawford – album cover

Charts

References

External links

Sample tracks at ''Rolling Stone''Motörhead official website
{{Authority control Motörhead albums 1996 albums Albums produced by Howard Benson Albums produced by Duane Baron