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Motorhead is one of the UK's and the world's most famous metal bands. Their fourth album, Ace of Spades, was a standout album with a title track of the same name. We discuss its creation in the article below.

“If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your man” growled Lemmy, on the Motorhead track Ace of Spades. Loaded with iconography that goes far beyond its lyrics, the track became an anthem for the band and heralded the start of speed metal. But what influenced the track and album at the time? 

The Track 

Released in October 1970, the title track was released as a single ahead of the album. It is a calling card, literally a speed metal anthem that opens with gritty bass played at tempo and never lets up. It spent 13 weeks in the UK singles chart and managed to place at number 15. However, it would have a lasting impact that reached far beyond its initial release and became one of the defining metal tracks of all time.  

At the time Lemmy was writing the song, casinos were still a fairly mysterious place to many people. Poker, being one of the most popular games played there and on tour by the roadcrew, was foremost in his mind. Today, casinos are easily accessible using online operators and are much more commonly used than they were in the seventies. This makes them more available to people who can log on to websites like casinos.com, play using bonuses, and not risk their bankroll as they learn titles like poker, blackjack, and roulette. Thus, the gatekeeping of casinos has ended. 

The boom in popularity of these casinos and poker may explain why the song has gained popularity over time. In fact, Lemmy was not a poker fan at all but often visited casinos to play slot games. However, he had noted in interviews that you can't really write a song about slots, because spinning reels and fruit do not have the same impact. Thus, he decided to choose a song about the popular card game instead.  

The Album 

In 1980, the band had already been around for some time. In the previous decade, it has released three critically acclaimed heavy rock albums. However, at the start of the decade metal was starting to gain traction in the UK media, and British metal was at the forefront. The band would be lumped in with this genre, despite always demanding to be a rock and roll band. In fact, the title track had more in common with UK punk than it did traditional metal.  

Vic Maile was the producer on the album, and he managed to take their raw power and make it much sleeker, without sacrificing any of its energy. Maile had previously worked with Led Zeppelin, The Who and Hendrix, so had a packed resume. Crucially, he had also worked with Hawkwind, the previous band from which Lemmy had departed. His method of working was very different to the bands. He didn't drink, or smoke and as the band told Uncut in 2015, didn't shout. Instead, he would question the band and was an integral part of how the title track in particular turned out.  

With both metal and punk audiences behind them, and a new, polished rock sound, the band could do no wrong. In fact, United Artists decided to ride the wave by releasing On Parole. This was their first album that had been seen as commercially unreleasable but was given a new pressing and sent out into the world. This was followed by two EPs: Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, and an EP of four songs that had also been previously unreleased, along with The Golden Years, another EP. 

The Reception to Ace of Spades 

Part of its increasing popularity may also be down to the growth in popularity of poker. In the 2000s, what was known as the poker boom took place as online operators came into play, along with televised events. As online casinos have grown in popularity, Ace of Spades has become a well-used anthem for the game. The iconography of this symbol actually started long before this. In the 17th century, it had been used as a tax insignia. It also had lots of military connotations, being adopted as a symbol for military units from Britain to the US.  

Any fan of metal will know the influence Ace of Spades, both the album and track, has had on the genre. It has been constantly referred to as one of the greatest albums of all time and is often on lists of popular rock and metal tracks. Part of its appeal was how it defied genres. It was both punk and metal. However, unlike the latter, which became a denizen of posturing and cliche throughout the decade, Lemmy remained as unassuming yet cool as he possibly could. There were no fancy clothes or sensibilities, just a leather jacket-clad rocker playing his defining track.