''Overkill'' is the second studio album by British
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 prec ...
, released in March 1979. It was the band's first album with
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 ...
. ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' magazine listed the album at number 46 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". American thrash metal band
Overkill
Overkill may refer to:
* Overkill (term), the use of excessive force or action to achieve a goal
* Surplus killing, when a predator kills more prey than it can eat
* Overexploitation, depletion of a natural resource through overharvesting
** Ove ...
was named after this album.
Background
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 ...
signed Motörhead in 1978 and booked them time in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's Wessex Studios to record a single consisting of
Richard Berry's "
Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and ...
" and a new song by the band called "Tear Ya Down". The band toured to promote the single "Louie Louie", which became a modest hit, while Chiswick released the ''
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 prec ...
'' album in white vinyl, to keep the momentum going. In the ''
Classic Albums
''Classic Albums'' is a British documentary series about pop, rock and heavy metal albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.
Format
The TV seri ...
'' documentary on the making of ''
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 or ...
'',
Gerry Bron
Gerald Lincoln "Gerry" Bron (1 March 1933 – 18 June 2012) was an English record producer and band manager.
Early life and education
Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the elder brother of actress Eleanor Bron. Their fathe ...
of Bronze Records admits:
Sales of the single brought the band their first appearance on
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...
's ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'', which gave Bronze the confidence to get the band back into the studio to record a second album.
In the 2011 book ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', biographer
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 ...
quotes guitarist
"Fast" Eddie Clarke:
Speaking to James McNair of ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
*Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* '' ...
'' in 2011, 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 w ...
concurred:
Recording
''Overkill'' was co-produced by legendary producer
Jimmy Miller
James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of t ...
, who had previously worked with
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
and the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
, and recorded at
Roundhouse Recording Studios
Gerald Lincoln "Gerry" Bron (1 March 1933 – 18 June 2012) was an English people, English record producer and band manager.
Early life and education
Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the sibling, elder brother of actress ...
and Sound Development Studios in London. "Damage Case" was co-written by the band and Mick Farren of
The Deviants. In his autobiography ''White Line Fever'', Lemmy claims that he wrote the words to "Metropolis" "in five minutes" after seeing the movie of the same name at the
Electric Cinema in Portebello Road, and also claims that he always wanted
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
to record "I'll Be Your Sister", insisting:
The title track is notable for
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 liv ...
's use of two bass drums. In the documentary ''The Guts and the Glory'' the drummer recalls:
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-Sagot ...
, the sleeve artist, had this to say about the cover of the album, which he felt rushed into because the band could not find him:
Release
The first release from those sessions was the single release of the title track backed with "Too Late, Too Late" in 7" and 12" pressings. In June 1979, "
No Class
"No Class" is a song by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was released in 1979 in 7" vinyl pressings. The song first appeared on the 1979 album ''Overkill'', and became one of the "cornerstones" of the classic 1981 live album ''No Sle ...
" was lifted from the album as a follow-up single, backed with a previously unreleased song, "Like a Nightmare". While the Chiswick album ''Motörhead'' had been a hasty affair (although it had a sub-bootleg quality which some fans found appealing) ''Overkill'' had more spring and bounce, and
a title track that would become a show-stopper for years to come. Three weeks after the initial release of the album in black vinyl, the album was released in a limited edition of 15,000 in green vinyl.
With a view to increasing the sales, the single was released in three different covers, one each of Lemmy, Clarke and Taylor. The album was reissued on Cassette, CD and vinyl by
Castle Communications
Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's productio ...
in 1988, coupled with ''
Another Perfect Day
''Another Perfect Day'' is the sixth studio album by British rock band Motörhead. It was released in May 1983 by Bronze Records, which would be the band's last full-length original album with the label. It is the band's only studio album to fea ...
'', Bronze having issued a cassette of the album coupled with ''
Bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
'' in 1980.
Reception
''Overkill'' was an unexpected success, reaching No. 24 on 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 ...
. It is considered by many to be a vast improvement over the band's debut and the album where they laid the foundation for their classic sound.
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 dat ...
: Motörhead's landmark second album, ''Overkill'', marked a major leap forward for the band, and it remains one of their all-time best, without question. In fact, some fans consider it their single best, topping even ''Ace of Spades''. It's a ferocious album, for sure, perfectly showcasing Motörhead's trademark style of no holds barred proto-thrash – a kind of
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
-inflected heavy metal style that is sloppy and raw yet forceful and in your face."
In 2005, ''Overkill'' was ranked number 340 in ''
Rock Hard
"Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song " Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdrawn. ...
'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. However, it has also been criticised for being one dimensional, sloppy and unskilled
Writing in the 2011 book ''Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead'', biographer
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 ...
called the album "a revelation. To this day it contains six all-time classics, which is saying something from a band whose career has lasted 35 years or more."
Track listing
Original release
All tracks are written by Kilmister, Clarke and Taylor, except where noted.
Sanctuary Records 2005 2-CD deluxe edition
Disc one includes the original album without bonus tracks.
*The track list in the liner notes incorrectly have 18 tracks listed, as they have repeated tracks 9 & 10 as track 9 twice. They also have Richard Berry incorrectly credited for disc 1 tracks 1, 5 & 9, when correctly it is disc 1 tracks 1-3 and disc 2 track 10. The rear of the cover has all this printed correctly though.
Personnel
Per the album's liner notes.
Motörhead
*
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 w ...
– bass, vocals, first solo on "Stay Clean", second guitar solo on "Limb from Limb"
*
"Fast" Eddie Clarke – guitars
*
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 liv ...
– drums
Production
*
Jimmy Miller
James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of t ...
– producer, remixer
* Neil Richmond – producer
("Louie Louie", "Tear Ya Down")
* Ashley Howe – engineer
* Trevor Hallesy – engineer
* Giovanni Scatola – mastering (2005 remaster)
*
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-Sagot ...
– cover design
* Curt Evans – cover design (2005 remaster)
2005 deluxe edition remaster
* Steve Hammonds – release coordination
* Jon Richards – release coordination
* Malcolm Dome – sleeve notes
* Mick Stevenson – project consultant, photos and archive memorabilia
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
Motörhead official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overkill (Motorhead album)
Motörhead albums
1979 albums
Albums with cover art by Joe Petagno
Albums produced by Jimmy Miller
Bronze Records albums
Mercury Records albums
Speed metal albums