''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 Wale ...

band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

, 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 (band), Uriah Heep for Vertigo Reco ...

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 ...

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 is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

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, who has played drums for German heavy metal band Scorpions (band), Scorpions since 2016. He was the drummer for English heavy metal band ...

, 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 a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

. 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 Bla ...

'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, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

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 (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

music composer Jim Johnston as the entrance theme for wrestler

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

. At two WrestleMania events,

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

and

WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21, also promoted as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, was a 2005 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 21st annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2005, at ...

, 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, 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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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 Lon ...

in London.

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. *

– bass, vocals * Phil Campbell – guitars *

– drums *

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur "Dizzy" Reed (born June 18, 1963) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 1990. Aside from lead singer Axl Rose, Reed is ...

– 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 (band), Kiss, W.A.S.P. (band), W.A.S.P., Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Meat Loaf, and Michael Bolton. He w ...

– 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