"Overkill" is a song by English rock 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 ...

. It was released in 7" and 12" vinyl pressings in 1979. It is backed with

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Too Late Too Late" which appears on the CD re-issues of the '' Overkill'' album. Early copies came with an "Overkill" badge. The single reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and release

On 9 March 1979, the band played this song on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' to support the release of the single. The song was a live favourite and was frequently featured at Motörhead concerts, often in an extended version. On 13 April 2019, Motörhead re-released the original single edit of ''Overkill'' along with "

Bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

" on picture disc as a celebration of the album's 40th anniversaries on Record Store Day. The single edit was made available digitally on 8 March 2019.

Music

The 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 live ...

's use of two bass drums.

Artwork

The artwork on the sleeve was created by Joe Petagno, based on his design for the album's cover.

Legacy

"Overkill" is widely considered one of Motörhead's best songs. In 2012, ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' ranked the song number three on their list of the top 10 Motörhead songs, and in 2021, ''

Louder Sound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

'' ranked the song number one on their list of the top 50 Motörhead songs. ''

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

'' wrote in 2021: "With two false endings (a trick probably nicked from Status Quo), 'Overkill' was an apocalyptic introduction to a 10-song collection that sent tremors through the hard rock world. Were Motörhead a hard rock band, or were they punks? It could even be proposed that they were responsible for propagating the US thrash metal assault that became popular several years later." "Overkill" was used as the closing song for Motörhead's final tour, making it the last song the band ever played live.

In popular culture

The song is featured as a track in the video game ''

SSX on Tour ''SSX on Tour'' is a 2005 sports video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It is the fourth title in the '' SSX'' series. T ...

'', and was re-recorded by Motörhead to be a playable track in the

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was launched in North A ...

''.

Personnel

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 ...

– bass, vocals *

"Fast" Eddie Clarke Edward Allan Clarke (5 October 1950 – 10 January 2018), better known as "Fast" Eddie Clarke or simply "Fast" Eddie, was a British guitarist who was a member of heavy metal bands Fastway and Motörhead. Of Motörhead's classic lineup, which ...

– guitars *

– drums

Covers

In 1995, during the recording of the album '' Load'', "Overkill", "Damage Case", "Stone Dead Forever" and "Too Late Too Late" were covered by

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, as a birthday gift for

, and released in 1996 on their " Hero of the Day" single. The single was released as a two-CD single; "Overkill" is the second track on the first CD single, and was also used on the second disc of their 1998 cover album '' Garage Inc.''. The single reached No. 60 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 1 on the

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

, and No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Some of the songs were played live on a brief tour along with other tracks from ''Garage Inc.'' in 1998 which concluded at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's Theater District, New York, theater district, on 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street in Manhattan ...

in New York City. The songs were finally played again during the 2009

World Magnetic Tour The World Magnetic Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by American heavy metal band Metallica in support of the band's ninth studio album, ''Death Magnetic'', which was released on September 12, 2008. The tour officially kicked off in October 2 ...

. The song was covered by Overkill, who took their name from the ''Overkill'' album by Motörhead, and appears as the first track on their 1999 album ''

Coverkill ''Coverkill'' is a cover album released by thrash metal band Overkill (band), Overkill in 1999. The album consists of cover songs by artists that influenced the band, including Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Kiss (band), Kiss, Judas Pr ...

''. In 2008, German heavy metal band Grave Digger included a cover version of the song on their EP ''Pray''. On 14 September 2011, members of Metallica,

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, and

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, collectively known as "the big four" of

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

, covered the song live at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

References

External links

Sample of the song at the Motörhead Official Site
(

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required). {{DEFAULTSORT:Overkill (Motorhead song) Motörhead songs 1979 singles Albums with cover art by Joe Petagno Metallica songs Songs written by Eddie Clarke (musician) Songs written by Lemmy Songs written by Phil Taylor (musician) Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller 1979 songs