Overkill is the second studio album by English rock band Motörhead, released in

March 1979. It was the band's first album with Bronze Records. Kerrang! magazine
listed the album at number 46 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All
Time".[6] American thrash metal band Overkill was named after this album.[7]

Background
[edit]
Bronze Records signed Motörhead in 1978 and booked them time in London's
Wessex Studios to record a single consisting of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie" 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 album in white vinyl, to keep the momentum going. In the Classic
Albums documentary on the making of Ace of Spades, Gerry Bron of Bronze
Records admits:

"The first time I heard Motörhead was when I listened to a single that I put out
without hearing, which is "Louie Louie," and when I heard it I was absolutely
horrified. I thought it was the worst record I've ever heard, so it was a bit of a shock.
The bigger shock was, having put out a record I thought was terrible, it went straight
into the charts at #72. But I actually put the record out as a favour."
Sales of the single brought the band their first appearance on BBC Television's Top
of the Pops, which gave Bronze the confidence to get the band back into the studio
to record a second album.[8] In the 2011 book Overkill: The Untold Story of
Motörhead, biographer Joel McIver quotes guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke:

"We had so many false starts and disappointments by the time Overkill came around
in 1978 we had stored up a lot of energy and ideas – and we were just waiting for the
opportunity to show what we could do. Also we had a great following, and we always
felt we owed the fans who had been with us from the beginning.."
Speaking to James McNair of Mojo in 2011, frontman Lemmy concurred:

"[...] by the time of Overkill we were getting our sound together."

Recording
[edit]
Overkill was co-produced by legendary producer Jimmy Miller, who had previously
worked with Traffic and the Rolling Stones, and recorded at Roundhouse Recording
Studios 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 to record "I'll Be Your Sister",
insisting:

"I like writing songs for women. In fact, I've written songs with women. I've been
called a sexist by some factions of radical, frigid feminists (the kind who want to
change the word manhole to personhole, that kind of crap), but they don't know what
they're talking about."
The title track is notable for Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor's use of two bass drums. In
the documentary The Guts and the Glory the drummer recalls:

"I always wanted to play two bass drums but I always said to myself, 'No, I'm not
gonna be one of these wankers who goes on stage and has two bass drums and
never even fuckin' plays 'em'. Not until I can play 'em. So I got this other bass drum
and I used to get to rehearsals a couple of hours before the other guys and just
practise, you know, just sit there going (mimes kicking with both feet) like running, or
something like that...I was actually playing that riff, just trying to get my coordination
right, when Eddie and Lemmy walked in, and I was just about to stop and they went,
'No, don't stop! Keep going!'...And that was how Overkill got written."

Sleeve artwork
[edit]
Joe Petagno, 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:

"I had about a week and a half to get it finished... But it was always a disappointment
for me, personally. It should have been multi-layered. It was supposed to have a
feeling that there was more to it, there were going to be more bits and pieces. In a
way, I kind of did it on the Inferno thing. I sort of took my revenge on the new trinity.
In a way."[9]

Release
[edit]
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" 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.
[8]
With a view to increasing the sales, the single was released in three different
covers, one each of Lemmy, Clarke and Taylor.[10] The album was reissued on
Cassette, CD and vinyl by Castle Communications in 1988, coupled with Another
Perfect Day, Bronze having issued a cassette of the album coupled with Bomber in
1980.[11]

Reception
[edit]

Professional ratings

Review scores
 Source Rating

[12]
AllMusic

[14]
Blender

[15]
Classic Rock

[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10[18]

Sputnikmusic 5/5[16]

Overkill was an unexpected success, reaching No. 24 on the UK Albums Chart. 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 stated that,
"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-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 magazine's book of The 500
Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[19] However, it has also been criticised for
being one dimensional, sloppy and unskilled[20]

Writing in the 2011 book Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead, biographer Joel
McIver 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
[edit]
Original release
[edit]
All tracks are written by Ian Fraser Kilmister, Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor,[2] except
"Damage Case", written by Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor and Mick Farren

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Overkill" 5:12
2. "Stay Clean" 2:40
3. "(I Won't) Pay Your Price" 2:56
4. "I'll Be Your Sister" 2:51
 5. "Capricorn" 4:06
Side B
No. Title Length
6. "No Class" 2:39
7. "Damage Case" 2:59
8. "Tear Ya Down" 2:39
9. "Metropolis" 3:34
10. "Limb from Limb" 4:54
Total length: 34:30
All tracks are written by Kilmister, Clarke and Taylor, except where noted.

Castle Communications 1996 CD reissue bonus tracks

No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length
11. "Too Late, Too Late" 1979 ~ Overkill (Single) 3:25
12. "Like a Nightmare" 1979 ~ No Class (Single) 4:27
13. "Louie, Louie" Richard Berry 1978 ~ Louie, 2:47
Louie (Single)
14. "Tear Ya Down" 2:39
(Instrumental Version)
15. "Louie, Louie" (Alternative Berry 2:52
Version)
Total length: 50:40
Sanctuary Records 2005 2-CD deluxe edition
[edit]
Disc one includes the original album without bonus tracks.[2]

All tracks are written by Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor except where noted

Disc two
No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length
1. "Louie, Louie" Berry 1978 ~ Louie, Louie 2:47
2. "Louie, Louie" (Alternative Berry 1979 ~ Overkill (1996 2:52
Version) Reissue)
3. "Louie, Louie" (Alternative Berry 1997 ~ Stone Dead 2:45
Version 2) Forever
4. "Tear Ya Down" 1978 ~ Louie, Louie 2:41
5. "Tear Ya Down" 1997 ~ Stone Dead 2:41
(Alternative Version) Forever
6. "Tear Ya Down" 1979 ~ Overkill (1996 2:39
(Instrumental Version) Reissue)
7. "Too Late, Too Late" 1979 ~ Overkill (Single) 3:25
8. "Like a Nightmare" 1979 ~ Stone Dead 4:13
(Alternative Version) Forever
9. "Like a Nightmare" 1979 ~ No Class 4:27
John Peel In-Session (aired 25 September 1978, recorded 18 September 1978)
No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length
 10. "Louie Louie" Berry 1978 ~ Louie, Louie 2:46
11. "I'll Be Your Sister" 1979 ~ Overkill 3:15
12. "Tear Ya Down" 1979 ~ Overkill 2:39
In-Concert – Live from Paris Theatre, London (16 May 1979)
No. Title Original release Length
13. "Stay Clean" 1979 ~ Overkill 3:03
14. "No Class" 1979 ~ Overkill 2:43
15. "I'll Be Your Sister" 1979 ~ Overkill 3:35
16. "Too Late, Too Late" 1979 ~ Overkill (single) 3:24
17. "(I Won't) Pay Your Price" 1979 ~ Overkill 3:19
18. "Capricorn" 1979 ~ Overkill 4:14
19. "Limb from Limb" 1979 ~ Overkill 5:26

 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.[2]
Personnel
[edit]
Per the album's liner notes.[2]

Motörhead
[edit]

 Lemmy – bass guitar, vocals, bass solo on "Stay Clean", second guitar
solo on "Limb from Limb"
 "Fast" Eddie Clarke – guitars
 Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor – drums
Production
[edit]

 Jimmy Miller – producer, remixer

 Neil Richmond – producer on ("Louie Louie", "Tear Ya Down")
 Ashley Howe – engineer
 Trevor Hallesy – engineer
 Darren Colin Burn - tape operator
 Giovanni Scatola – mastering (2005 remaster)
 Joe Petagno – cover design
 Curt Evans – cover design (2005 remaster)
2005 deluxe edition remaster
[edit]

 Steve Hammonds – release coordination

 Jon Richards – release coordination
  Malcolm Dome – sleeve notes
 Mick Stevenson – project consultant, photos and archive memorabilia
Charts
[edit]

Peak
Chart (1979)
position

French Albums (SNEP)[21] 17

UK Albums (OCC)[22] 24

Peak
Chart (2019)
position

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 168

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 96

Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 73

UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26] 25

UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[27] 9

Certifications
[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales

United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Silver 60,000^

^
Shipments figures based on certification alone.