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MOTÖRHEAD
No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith (40th Anniversary Edition)
Deluxe edition for Motörhead’s tinnitus-inducing chart peak
SANCTUARY/BMG
8/10
Talk about beware the ides of March. Recorded over three nights at the end of March 1981, No Sleep… was the album that gave Motörhead something like celebrity status. When the album entered the album charts in late June, it did so to do battle with Shakin’ Stevens and Stars On 45. It wasn’t a fair fight, really. The shows recorded at Leeds (28th), and Newcastle (29th, 30th) found Motörhead in peak form, their set drawn from their classic 1979–80 material, during which a very fast and heavy thing swung hard too. There’s “Ace Of Spades”, of course, but also “No Class”, “Bomber” and “Overkill”. This expanded edition adds paper bits, full shows from the three nights (with more dedications and banter than you need) and a soundcheck that reveals how Ace Of Spades mastermind Vic Maile captured the band’s power. “Can you hear me, Vic?” asks “Fast” Eddie Clarke, during a brief lull in the tumult. “Just about,” Vic replies.