Ace of Spades is the fourth
album by the
British band
Motörhead. Released on 8 November 1980, it peaked at #4 on the
UK album charts and reached Gold status by March 1981.Burridge, Alan
Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing p70. ISBN 0-9695736-2-6. It was preceded by the release of the
title track as a single on 27 October, which peaked in the UK singles chart at #15 in early November.
History
The album was recorded in August and September 1980, produced by
Vic Maile at his Jackson's Studio in
Rickmansworth. This is the first of what would be a series of projects with Maile, and members of the band commented at the time about finding the right producer. Whereas the band had previously had an input at the mixing stage, Maile took sole responsibility here, Clarke explaining that the result was that "you can finally hear everything that's going on".
Of the performances, Lemmy claimed that "Vic got me singing instead of just shouting all the time", while Taylor added "and he got me playing more solid".
Sleeve
It was the first of the band's albums to feature a photograph of them on the cover, dressed as
cowboys. The 'Arizona desert-style' pictures used on the album sleeve...
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