This little series that I’ve half-assed for the past while is now in to 1980. The 1980’s were the most significant decade in my musical development so this whole decade is gonna be loaded with songs I love.
And, as this series has gone, I will only pick five per year. It is more important than ever to remember that this is simply a list of five songs I like a lot from a particular year, this not a definitive list of my five favorite songs from any given year. There are so many awesome songs left off these ’80’s lists that it’s honestly impossible to mess with much – I just go with the vibe and choose five I really like. This stuff does get a hell of a lot easier once I get to the late ’90’s and especially the 2000’s.
But we are in it to win it here, so let’s kick off this look at the best decade the world has ever seen.
Judas Priest – Living After Midnight
In 1980 Priest would finally gain a foothold in the US with their landmark British Steel album, featuring this cut among others. The song is a bit more simple and fun than other things which was a point of debate, but it’s a glorious party anthem and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden
And now we’re on to the debut from my favorite band of all time. Pretty easy auto-include here with their self-named song from their self-titled album. This one is also fun, though much more murdery than the Priest track. Maiden have played this song live more than any other and by quite a margin. While they have a handful of signature songs, it’s pretty clear that this one is the real calling card.
Van Halen – And The Cradle Will Rock
Shocking stuff here, as the band who defined party rock offer up another party anthem. It’s also a rather simple offering, though Eddie makes quite a bit of noise as he often did. Rock on, indeed.
The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me
This one was huge business for Sting and company, a dark tale of a teacher wrapped up in lust for a student all set to the signature reggae-rock catchiness The Police had refined by this point. It’s moody and haunting at its core but a very infectious song on the surface, something the band would nail down again in a few years time.
Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell
Sabbath had a bit of drug-fueled turmoil that saw the exit of singer Ozzy Osbourne. The band were able to regroup with Ronnie James Dio and offer up this massive slab of heavy metal. It features a grand battle between good and evil within a person, something that would be a calling card of Dio’s career. Although Sabbath wouldn’t enjoy the full fruits of the decade of metal, they were off to a very hot start.
And that wraps this one up, five songs of about five thousand great ones from the first year of the ’80’s. The tough sledding continues in the weeks after.
This week it’s an all-time classic, really just me typing the band and album name should suffice for build-up.
Judas Priest – British Steel
Released April 11, 1980 via Columbia Records
My Favorite Tracks – Living After Midnight, Metal Gods, Breaking The Law
Judas Priest were coming out of the 1970’s on a string of albums that slowly gained them recognition and where they shaped a commercially pleasing yet still distinctly heavy metal sound. Their prior album Killing Machine had gained a fair bit of notice and their first live record Unleashed In The East was a hit that showcased the highlights of their early career. And now the stage was set for Priest to truly establish themselves as metal stars at the turn of the decade.
The band’s line-up would hold through the decade – Rob Halford of course holding clinics at vocals, the guitar duo of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, Ian Hill on bass and Dave Holland on drums, he having joined the band a year prior. The album was recorded at Tittenhurst Park, at the time property of Ringo Starr, which Ringo had acquired from John Lennon. Priest were going to use the studio on the grounds but found the house itself more suitable and that’s where British Steel was tracked.
There are 9 songs to go over in a 36 minute runtime, so nothing bloated here but these are some of heavy metal’s most significant songs. I’ll be using the modern reissues as my sequencing guide here, they are in the same order as the original UK/international versions. The US originally had a version with Breaking The Law opening and a few other songs swapped later on.
Rapid Fire
The album opens with a metal attack that kicks in right off the bat. The song chugs along with a monster riff that goes all over the place. The lyrical fare is about the world being done in by a battering ram, which might be figurative but is probably literal as the album has a pretty apocalyptic theme. That’s one big battering ram but the cosmos offers boundless possibilities. The solos on the song aren’t done in a conventional fashion – they’re inserted in vocal breaks on the third verse, creating a vocal/guitar trade-off kind of thing, pretty cool stuff.
Metal Gods
It’s on to another world-ending proposition, as this time robots are taking over and killing everyone. This would be a popular scenario throughout entertainment in the ’80’s. Metal Gods goes hard while also maintaining a steady pace and very smooth and almost quiet chorus.
Breaking The Law
One of the album’s singles and the band’s best-known track. The riff is fairly simple yet so, so effective at hooking a listener in and also making aspiring guitarists want to play it. The lyrics tackle the frustration of working class life in a recession and the ultimate decision to go out and raise some hell with a lack of other options. The simple chorus of chanting “breaking the law” is just as catchy as the opening hook and the song quickly infected airwaves. A goofy music video that features the band robbing a bank to score a gold record for British Steel would only enhance the song’s reach.
Breaking The Law stands as the most recognizable Judas Priest song around, perhaps only challenged by You Got Another Thing Coming. But this one has been all over the place for decades now and hasn’t ever really left the airwaves. The song’s deeper exploration of socio-economic woes might have been left behind, but the simple, catchy effectiveness has people breaking the law all over the world.
Grinder
This one starts out with a nice rock riff but then gets heavier as it goes along. While the song has been misinterpreted by many to be about sex, it’s actually about how the powers that be basically “grind up” the rank and file citizens. The song is a great showcase of the line between rock and heavy metal, and how at the time there really wasn’t much of a line, Priest were significant in taking things in a heavier direction.
United
This was crafted as a stadium anthem, something Priest did a fair bit of during the early ’80’s. It’s a simple song with a message of unity, both within the metal community that had been overlooked by the explosion of punk rock, and the general population who were being trampled by the establishment. It could be said that the song is a bit too simple, but it’s certainly in keeping with Priest’s direction at the time.
You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise
Listeners could be forgiven for thinking that an AC/DC album suddenly came across their speakers. This one is about casting off the chains of society, again an ever-present theme, and going out on your own to blaze a trail. It’s something Priest certainly did during this time frame.
Living After Midnight
This is a good old party song, as usual it’s simple and very effective. While the song celebrates the night life, it was actually conceived because Glenn Tipton was keeping everyone else up with late night guitar playing, Halford eventually told him “you’re really living after midnight,” thus naming the tune. While not quite as renowned as Breaking The Law, this one does present as one of Priest’s most-known songs.
The Rage
The intro begs to be on a Police record but then a full-on heavy metal assault comes in. This one definitely moves the line in terms of heavy metal and where Priest would be off to on the next few albums. This one is a bit unusual as it doesn’t have a chorus, it is a few verses of Halford evoking the same “damn it all and go for it” spirit that embodies much of the album.
Steeler
The tempo goes up on the closer as Halford again embraces a self-motivation sort of theme. This song lets the guitars carry it, as both Tipton and Downing provide some fireworks to wrap up the album.
British Steel was a triumph for Judas Priest. It would hit platinum in the US and Canada, and peaked at number 4 on the UK albums chart. And the legacy of Breaking The Law has carried through over the decades.
The album was a massive point in the evolution of heavy metal. While bearing plenty of rock influence, Priest crafted simple, to the point songs with easy-to-chant choruses that would take hold of live crowds all over the world. Heavy metal was going to move in a whole new series of directions through the 1980’s and Judas Priest were possibly the chief architects of that movement.
Priest would take the British Steel sound and work upon it on their next two albums, crafting a trifecta of heavy metal records that would influence the world over. And a host of British and American bands, and of course many others from all over, would find influence in British Steel and heavy metal would have its golden years through the next decade. This is one of heavy metal’s most important records, hands down.
As of last Friday, April 14, Iron Maiden’s debut album is 43 years old. Seems like as good of time as any to explore it here.
Iron Maiden – self-titled
Released April 14, 1980 via EMI
My Favorite Tracks – Iron Maiden, Transylvania, Phantom Of The Opera
Iron Maiden had spent five years playing in pubs and shifting line-ups in advance of their full-length debut, but the actual recording process for the record took all of 13 days. The band had mis-fired on two attempts to record the month prior and went through two producers before settling on Wil Malone. This would not be a fruitful partnership as Steve Harris recalls that the band did most of the actual production.
The recording line-up would be bassist and band founder Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton on guitar, Paul Di’Anno at vocals and Clive Burr on drums. By album four, only Harris and Murray would remain of this line-up.
The cover art depicts the band’s legendary mascot Eddie. This was not Eddie’s cover debut as a shadowy form of him appeared on the Running Free single and the Japanese single release featured Eddie in full form, but this album still serves as the popular introduction. Derek Riggs was the artist behind Eddie’s appearances through Iron Maiden’s first decade of operation.
The album would release with 8 tracks, but I will be covering the US version which also offered the song Sanctuary. This was added to subsequent re-issues later on, though the current day pressings seem to omit it.
Prowler
The opener slams in with great guitar work between the Murray-Stratton duo and the signature rumble of Steve Harris’ bass. Di’Anno sings a desperate tale of a depraved man out to stalk and flash women.
I am warmed to the album’s production after decades of hearing it, but I will admit that Prowler is one song that maybe could have used a bit more work in the mixing stage. Still a very nice track but I can hear where it could be cleaned up a touch.
Remember Tomorrow
A remarkable song that starts out slow and contemplative but later launches into a Maiden guitar fireworks show fast break, showing that the band would forego typical pop-based song structure in their expressions. The song’s title was a phrase Di’Anno’s grandfather used frequently.
Running Free
This was the band’s debut single and still lives today as an iconic track. It is a simple banger that would get an extended live cut with a call and response passage added. The song is about the simple pleasures of being a wild and crazy youth and was based in part on Di’Anno’s young lifestyle.
For more on the single of this song, visit my recap of it as part of my Iron Maiden singles series.
Phantom Of The Opera
We move now to an extended cut and one with shifts and movement as Maiden take on the famous novel which has been adapted musically far and wide. The groundwork for the Iron Maiden sound to come can be found here, with a focus on epic storytelling. Phantom remained a staple of the live set long after Paul Di’Anno’s exit from the band and the song is hailed as one of the best from the early era.
Transylvania
Up next is the band’s first instrumental. The song was originally intended to have lyrics but after hearing the instrument cuts they decided to keep it as is. This is a fantastic song that plays out just fine without words and I’d say ranks at the top of the band’s handful of instrumental tracks. Transylvania would see a fair bit of stage time in the band’s early years and then again in 1993.
Strange World
Now it’s on to a song that’s aptly titled as this is very strange and a huge departure from what is recognized as the Iron Maiden sound. This is a trippy, atmospheric track that doesn’t feature the distinctive Maiden rumble at all. The song is maybe about vampires, or drugs or who knows what. It’s very odd and it’s jarring to hear when set against the rest of the album but it’s not bad in and of itself.
Sanctuary
The US bonus track slots here on original pressings of the album, note that re-issues can have it in different spots. This song about a killer on the run from the law would be a mainstay of early Maiden setlists. For more on this one, head to my rundown of the Sanctuary single.
Charlotte The Harlot
Here we have one of just a few songs written entirely by Dave Murray. This is celebrating a woman of the night and Murray has stated it’s based on a true story, though that story has never emerged. While the song itself is not the most celebrated track from this album, Charlotte would make three further appearances in Iron Maiden songs before her story was completed in 1992.
Iron Maiden
The album closes with an eponymous song, which is always a treat when a band does that on a self-titled album. And this one is truly a gem – there is no more signature Maiden sound than the guitars and bass on this song. Just as the chorus says, Iron Maiden’s gonna get you, and that they did with this track. This is the band’s most-played song live.
Iron Maiden marked the start of a heavy metal legacy. The album would hit number 4 on the UK charts and get platinum certifications in the UK and Canada. Critics took to Maiden right out of the gate, and the band found ready and willing audiences when they entered new countries to play there for the first time. The days of grinding in London pubs were over and the world was waiting. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal had been bubbling around England for years and Iron Maiden helped bring it into the light for the world to experience.
The raw production gave the album a “metal meets punk” feel, though band members insist they were not chasing punk as a sound. But the identity would follow Maiden through the Paul Di’Anno era and a subset of fans lament the turn toward something more akin to power metal that Maiden took when Bruce Dickinson stepped into the singer’s role. Those fans represent a minority of course, but they are out there.
For me I was a hair too young to catch this on release, I was not quite 3 years old when this album hit. It would be several years later when I got into Maiden and backtracked through the early stuff. This one was always a favorite of mine, I loved the raw energy yet still finding a lot of the band’s signature sound that was present on later albums.
This album was the start of something very special and a legacy that has now run close to half a century. All things must end, but they also must begin and Iron Maiden’s start was a great thing.
This post was part of a series that I called S-Tier Songs. I later decided to abandon the series in favor of a simpler Song of the Week format. I am keeping these posts as I wrote them but removing the old page that linked to the list of S-Tier Songs, so that is why these posts might look a bit odd. Enjoy.
Today it’s time for yet another singer to get his second song on the list. I’m still running with the “only one song per act” rule (it’s almost over), but being in two different projects or one band and solo outing works fine. Joining Bruce Dickinson and Maynard James Keenan as two-timers is the one and only Ozzy Osbourne, who has a prior S-tier song as a member of Black Sabbath and now gets one from his solo catalog.
Ozzy Osbourne – Steal Away (The Night)
Today’s song is the closing track from Ozzy’s debut solo album Blizzard Of Ozz, released in 1980. The album is a banger from front to back, so odds are good that this album will have other appearances on this list in the future.
Steal Away is an experience from the word go, and it starts immediately out of the prior song Revelation (Mother Earth). It is a jarring and pretty awesome way to kick the track off, and an experience that’s almost necessary to have a physical copy of to achieve. Digital music in a lot of forms has inserted gaps between songs, rendering this kind of playback ineffective. Though I did play with it on Spotify and it seems to hold up there with maybe just a nanosecond between the closing and opening notes.
There is a good variety of music on Blizzard Of Ozz, but the closing track is a pretty straightforward, high-engery rocker. There isn’t anything at all wrong with it – everyone is in top form on their instruments – the immortal Randy Rhodes on guitar, Bob Daisley on bass and Lee Kerslake with the drums. Add in Ozzy’s typically underrated sense of melody and we’re off to the races.
The song’s lyrical matter is not some deep plunge into existential lore – this is a song about enjoying the night and having a good time. It’s beyond the “party rock” stuff common to this decade, though. This is Ozzy truly living as the Prince of Darkness. Ozzy and whatever woman of the evening hours he has found are off on an adventure in lyrics that fit the music like a glove.
There is no talking about an early Ozzy song without talking more about the guitars. Randy Rhodes is in fine form here and playing a very nice riff that is certainly more than what the average guitar player would have brought to a tune like this, but also is not “full Rhodes” either. The solo, which gets a fair amount of time in this short song, does have a bit more of Randy on offer but even then he is playing more to the song in the full instrumental break as opposed to getting up to any virtuoso stuff.
Being that Steal Away The Night wasn’t a single, there isn’t a lot of statistics or lore to go over. The song did get played hundreds of times in the early Ozzy setlists, though it was taken out after 1985 and hasn’t been played live since (at least according to Setlist.fm) There is a live version on the 1987 Tribute album dedicated to Randy Rhodes – the song boasts an 8 minute runtime but is the song played normally then followed with a Tommy Aldridge drum solo.
Why is this an S-Tier song?
Steal Away The Night is a blistering track that showcases a great collection of talent. It is primarily the work of Randy Rhodes that shines, but this was a songwriting and recording effort that fires on all cylinders. It it a fun song that adds to the aura that Ozzy Osbourne would develop through the 1980’s and is also a great track for the ’80’s in general.
On through the singles series we go, today we essentially re-visit the very first one. While Live Plus One was a Japan-only release, this one was released in a wide variety of formats and to many different countries.
Already with the cover art we have some differences in versions. Posted above is the typical cover for most of the versions. It features British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in an army uniform with a gun, ready to ambush Eddie as he strolls along with a few lovely ladies. Maggie’s revenge is for Eddie killing her on the cover the of the Sanctuary single.
Now you can see that I have a different version of the release and a fairly generic cover that’s just the debut album cover with some hype text. I don’t know if they did this in case they needed a censored version of the cover, but it seems the Thatcher original got to market in good shape.
Women In Uniform
On now to the songs, and the feature track this time is a cover. The original was a very recent tune from 1978, the original artist were Skyhooks, an Australian glam rock act. Skyhooks had achieved some level of success in their home country but didn’t break through internationally. Women In Uniform as a Skyhooks single charted at number 8 in Australia and hit a modest 73 on the UK charts.
Iron Maiden were persuaded to record the song by their management team and record label. The recording process did not go the way Iron Maiden wanted, with information provided in Mick Wall’s 2004 edition of his biography of Iron Maiden, Run To The Hills: The Authorised Biography Of Iron Maiden.
Steve Harris and his outfit were keen on recording a heavy version of the song. The record label hired producer Tony Platt, who had worked as an engineer when Mutt Lange produced his run of AC/DC albums. Platt was under instructions to get a hit out of the Maiden recording sessions, and tinkered with the mix behind Harris’ back. When Harris found out, he canned Platt and did the final mix himself.
Harris was always dissatisfied with how Women In Uniform came out and this led to a deep distrust of outside interference in his music after that. It wouldn’t matter much, as Iron Maiden’s remarkable run with Martin Birch as producer was just on the horizon. But the incident might have contributed greatly to a “control freak” approach from Harris, which has been a topic of much discussion in Maiden circles in years since.
Women In Uniform was a decent single for Iron Maiden, heading to 35 on the UK charts. The band also filmed a music video for the song, the band’s first. This was also a bit before MTV was a thing so it was something of a novel concept for an up and coming act to film a video. This was the only time Maiden released a cover as a single – while that statement isn’t technically true, the other instance is a very limited promo item and also I don’t own that one so as it stands, this one is all we need to worry about.
The single is noteworthy as the final work of guitarist Dennis Stratton in Iron Maiden. Stratton left the band soon after, citing musical differences, but truly due to conflicts with Steve Harris and manager Ron Smallwood. Stratton reportedly was complicit in helping Tony Platt attempt to re-engineer this song as a radio hit, so this might actually be his reason for exiting. He would be replaced by some guy named Adrian…
There is another issue surrounding the song, and that is how it is viewed in a modern context. In short, it isn’t viewed highly. It is considered crude and objectifying to women, and has been dismissed by a fair number of people. Sure, it’s a bit raunchy, but there’s far worse out there. I honestly don’t see the huge problem with it – the lyrics are pretty dumb on the surface and this isn’t a song that should be taken seriously. I don’t think the song is that bad and I feel like it’s a bit of posturing over what are some juvenile at worst lyrics. I don’t have a problem with people wanting their music to be more conscientious, but I think this song is barely a blip on the radar and isn’t worth the hassle.
The rest of this 12-inch single has two live cuts that are also found on the Live Plus One release – Phantom Of The Opera and Drifter. I’ve already been over them (link is below on the list if you missed it) so I’ll just leave things at that.
Three more cuts from Paul Di’Anno’s tenure in Maiden await. Also the list continues growing, at least for as long as I keep finding decently priced stuff. That time might soon be at an end.
On we go through the Iron Maiden singles series. There is still a handful of Paul Di’Anno stuff to get through and today’s 12-inch record sports a studio track, two live songs and a cover tune.
Sanctuary was released in a variety of formats, though most everything has the same contents. Mine is a press from the Netherlands, totally no-frills packaging, just a sleeve and record. The cover art is its own bit of lore, of course. We clearly see Eddie having just finished with the act of gutting then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The cover was designed because Thatcher had just finished a visit with the then-USSR, who dubbed the PM the “Iron Maiden.” The band was not into having to share their name with the politician, hence the cover.
Some pressing covers were “censored” by having a strip placed over Thatcher’s eyes so as not to recognize her likeness, as though that would work. The idea to censor the cover actually originated from Maiden manager Ron Smallwood, who guessed that the whole thing might get more press. He was right, and Maiden’s salacious cover art got news articles and condemnation from Thatcher fans.
The following video has 3 of the single’s 4 tracks, omitting only Prowler.
Sanctuary
Our title track was not released on the debut album in England but did get added to the album pressings for the US. Sanctuary worked its way through the UK on a compilation record and then this single.
Sanctuary is a good mash-up of rock and punk, the hybrid sound Maiden took out in their early days. The rolling guitar is signature early Maiden and the lyrics plead the case of a fugitive needing a place to hide out after doing some really bad stuff. It has been a staple of many live sets over the years and I’d guess it’s one of their most-played songs overall.
Prowler
This is a bit of a bonus to the single and only available on the 12-inch vinyl format. Prowler was the opening track to the debut album and a pretty big statement from the band – it introduced the band’s sound in a big way and even has the feel of stuff Maiden would do after the first few albums. I’ll save the discussion for whenever I cover the debut record, but this is one of my favorites from that album. The main riff on this just screams MAIDEN! It is something to behold.
Drifter
The B-side opens with a live version of Drifter from the Marquee Club in London. While a live version of Drifter from the Marquee was on the Live Plus One EP, this is actually an earlier gig from April of 1980. It’s a good performance with an extended call and response bit where Paul Di’Anno mimics the end refrain of The Police’s Walking On The Moon. Pretty funny stuff. Drifter would appear in studio form on the band’s next album, 1981’s Killers.
I’ve Got The Fire
And we head out with a slightly modified title and a cover of the Montrose song I Got The Fire. Maiden do kind of pound through it, which is fair for both their sound at the time and the live club setting. While this doesn’t outshine the original by any stretch, it is a pretty good rendition. This won’t be the last time Montrose comes up in one of these Iron Maiden singles, either.
That wraps it up for Sanctuary. Next week is a special treat because I’m going to talk about a handful of songs I already talked about before. That’s why I didn’t really talk much about one of them last time. And we’ll get to see ol’ Maggie again.
It’s time to get back into the series and an actual, proper single this time. This is one of a very few 7-inch Maiden singles I own. It makes today simple as it’s A-side and B-side, the 12-inch singles have some beefy contents sometimes.
There are some different versions of this single around, but in this case they’re mostly just territorial presses and all of the versions have the same content. Mine is a UK pressing in a cardboard sleeve, nothing special to it.
This was the true debut multi-territory single from Iron Maiden, in so far as conventional single releases go. It was put out in advance of the debut album. This is the first official cover appearance of Maiden’s most famous member, Eddie. But as you can see he’s not that easy to make out – the band wanted the album to be his true “reveal” so here you see his face obscured. Putting his face on the label of the single’s record itself probably didn’t generate much suspense for the future “reveal.”
This official video from IM’s channel features both sides of the single in one clip.
Running Free
Maiden’s first single is a very simple and basic rock song, one of the relative few the group recorded. Paul Di’Anno penned the lyrics about being wild, young and free, somewhat inspired by his own young life.
The song is a long-time staple – it’s been played live a trillion times (don’t quote that) and is still one of the band’s best-known even in a career with 17 albums and a peak a few years away yet. A live version got its own single release a few years down the road, which I’ll cover when its time comes.
While Running Free doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of a quintessential Iron Maiden song, it’s one I enjoy quite a bit. It’s simple and pleasing and it works great live. It’s a massive part of the Maiden lexicon even if it got technically outclassed by other material.
Burning Ambition
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Maiden B-sides, and honestly a lot of it isn’t good. But we come out of the gate with what might be the best B-side the band ever did. The song comes out with a classic rock vibe uncommon in Iron Maiden’s music but hits pretty hard once Di’Anno starts singing. The song deals with someone who warns his significant other not to hold him down as he pursues something beyond the mundane life.
Burning Ambition has a bit of band trivia behind it – it marks one of the few recorded performances of drummer Doug Sampson. Sampson played on the famous Soundhouse Tapes demo and a handful of other demo tracks, but that is all of his Maiden recording history for his year or so in the band.
Burning Ambition is on the short list of “best Maiden B-sides.” It does feel like enough of a departure to excuse its absence from an album but its quality is undeniable. The song has surfaced on some reissue and archive material over the years but is still a bit of a hidden gem in the catalog.
That’s all for today. It’s on through a run of 12 inch singles next, all with a bunch of stuff on them. Also the list will get a bit bigger next week – I’ve got a few CD singles in, and also I discovered that I have a few more records that what I thought I did. Thanks for not updating, Discogs.
Today’s single is a massive force from one of the most innovative and pioneering bands in the punk and hardcore scenes. Bad Brains wrote the book on fast, ferocious music and one of their signature songs is the feature of this single.
Also I chose not to air the title of the song out in my post title, I figured I’d use an ounce of discretion and leave it out. But in the post anything goes, so here we are with Pay To Cum!
My version is a 2021 reissue of the landmark single, which was the debut release from Bad Brains. The original pressing goes for an amount of money I’m not paying, it’s at least several hundred dollars and has sold in the thousands before. This very easy to obtain reissue sits on my record shelf just fine.
While this is a huge song in the canon of several music subgenres, there actually isn’t a hell of a lot to talk about as the title song is whopping 1:33 and the B-side gets a hefty 2:25 to flex its muscles.
Pay To Cum
The feature song is a monster flex of speed and energy. It is a musical lightning attack, in and out before the inattentive even know something happened. Yet it is a juggernaut that commands that attention by being one of the damnedest things ever heard. No point in searching for layers of meaning or subtle flourishes – just jam it out and get crazy.
Stay Close To Me
The B-side does offer a contrast to the heavy hitter on the other side. It’s a track that offers a bit of reggae, another style Bad Brains would work with extensively over the years. This isn’t an all-out reggae song but does hint at the style. This song could easily be taken as an early template for ska (not that I know much of anything about the history of ska, but this song gives off that vibe in places).
That’s about all for this single. Bad Brains would go on to ignite several 1980’s scenes with their distinct blend of styles and their blistering live sets. While not a global best-seller, they are easily one of the most influential bands to ever pick up instruments. I could spend the rest of my life simply typing the names of bands and acts who honor Bad Brains as an influence. I won’t, but I could.
This post was part of a series that I called S-Tier Songs. I later decided to abandon the series in favor of a simpler Song of the Week format. I am keeping these posts as I wrote them but removing the old page that linked to the list of S-Tier Songs, so that is why these posts might look a bit odd. Enjoy.
Motörhead – Ace Of Spades
This homage to gambling would not just serve as a band’s hit, it would become the signature song associated with one of heavy metal’s most influential acts. Motörhead would not find massive commercial success, but after decades of recording and tearing up the pavement all the world over, they would become a stud in the crown of metal music.
Ace Of Spades was a single release a month ahead of the band’s fourth album of the same name. The song got noticed and hung out on the UK charts for a few months, it would also receive a UK gold certification for sales in excess of 400,000. The album Ace Of Spades would chart modestly well throughout Europe and also go gold in the United Kingdom for sales over 100,000.
And those fairly modest sales figures would be one of the biggest commercial successes of the band’s 28-year career. Motörhead were never a super popular or financially successful act, yet they endure as one of the heavyweights of the metal genre. Bassist and vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, praised in many circles as God, would make far more money writing songs for Ozzy Osbourne than for his own band.
Yet, when all comes due, it is Lemmy’s vehicle Motörhead that remains as a bastion of heavy music.
And even among the “great unwashed” who aren’t radically familiar with the music of Motörhead, it’s a damn safe bet that a lot of people have heard this song. It’s known far and wide as one of heavy metal’s greatest tunes.
The song is pretty simple in its premise – it is a buzzsaw, but with enough subtlety to distinguish it from the later-to-come death and black metal. It embodies rock, punk, speed and thrash, the latter two terms not even yet existing when it was released in 1980. Motörhead were already an edgy gambit in the few years leading up to this release – this song would cement a young legacy.
The tale of the song’s construction is fairly simple, and told in great detail in this 2017 article by Louder Sound. Drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor and guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clark were jacking around in the studio with producer Vic Maile, who was familiar with Lemmy from the latter’s time in Hawkwind. A series of riffs had been thrown around and the band worked them up while Lemmy was out on the prowl.
The lyrics would come from Lemmy later – he truly just slammed a bunch of gambling references together. It might have been in the back of a van while speeding along a freeway as he recalls, or it might have been on the shitter, as Phil Taylor would guess. Either way, the band had their title track down.
And in the wake, one of heavy metal’s immortal songs was born. Again, there is no mentioning Motörhead without Ace Of Spades. And there isn’t a lot of what we call heavy metal without Motörhead – everyone was influenced by the speedy, punkish outfit. This blend of nasty, noisy rock would give way to thrash in just a few year’s time, and by the end of the 1980’s, extreme metal was well on its way to being more than just a footnote in history. And much of all this noise owes its presence to Motörhead and principally Ace Of Spades.
It’s fair to say that this is Motörhead’s most famous song. Hell, their second most famous song is probably a pro wrestler’s theme song that the band didn’t even write. The group never really “got their due” in terms of huge success, yet they are almost without exception mentioned as a forefront influence on the music that has come from the decades since 1980. And while the band have a hefty catalog with several worthy albums and songs to choose from, there is little doubt that Ace Of Spades is the calling card that rallies all points home. When anyone mentions Motörhead, no doubt it is this gnarly riff and Lemmy’s gruff vocal delivery about losing your ass at cards that first enters one’s mind.
Why is this an S-Tier song?
Ace Of Spades is the banner by which Motörhead flew under for decades. It is a barnstormer of a song that both used and defied the music of the time to offer a new construct upon which much of the heaviest music of the ensuing years would be based off of. Everyone knows that Lemmy and Motörhead kicked ass, and everyone knows that Ace Of Spades is the signpost for the ass kickings.
The Crooked Wanderer 