source : shop.mtv.com about the deluxe edition of Ace of spades.

I never paid attention to the fact that Miller had produced the 2 excellent Lp's Bomber and Overkill which I have for more than 25 years in my collection...and I just checked this on the covers.

Ace of spades is for me the greatest rock'n'roll album of all time.

"With the 1980 release of Ace of Spaces, Motörhead had their anthem of anthems -- that is, the title track -- the one trademark song that would summarize everything that made this early incarnation of the band so legendary, a song that would be blasted by legions of metalheads for generations on end. It's a legendary song, for sure, all two minutes and 49 bracing seconds of it. And the album of the same name is legendary as well, among Motörhead's all-time best, often considered their single best, in fact, along with Overkill. Ace of Spades was Motörhead's third great album in a row, following the 1979 releases of Overkill and Bomber, respectively. Those two albums have a lot in common with Ace of Spaces. The classic lineup -- Lemmy (bass and vocals), "Fast" Eddie Clarke (guitar), and "Philthy Animal" Taylor (drums) -- is still in place and sounding as alive and crazed as ever. The album is still rock-solid, boasting several superlative standouts. Actually, besides the especially high number of standouts on Ace of Spades -- at least relative to Bomber, which wasn't quite as strong overall as Overkill had been -- the only key difference between this 1980 album and its two 1979 predecessors is the producer, in this case Vic Maile. The result of his work isn't all that different from that of Jimmy Miller, the longtime Rolling Stones producer who had worked on Overkill and Bomber, but it's enough to give Ace of Spaces a feeling distinct from its two very similar-sounding predecessors. This singular sound (still loud and in your face, rest assured), along with the exceptionally strong songwriting and the legendary stature of the title track, makes Ace of Spades the ideal Motörhead album if one were to choose one and only one studio album. It's highly debatable whether Ace of Spaces is tops over the breakthrough Overkill, as the latter is more landmark because of its earlier release, and is somewhat rougher around the edges, too. Either way, Ace of Spades rightly deserves its legacy as a classic. There's no debating that. [Sanctuary Records reissued the early Motörhead albums in 2005/2006 as remastered double-disc deluxe editions. The Ace of Spades volume includes a B-side ("Dirty Love"), 11 alternate versions, and a three-song BBC Radio 1 session. There are also liner notes and excellent packaging, including booklet photos.] ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-05-09 13:18 by toomuchforme.

I remember Jimmy also produced Johnny Thunders during 1982 - 83, long after Thunders had blown any chances of getting signed to a major label or having a budget to make real music due to the fact his music, image and heroin addiction were inextricably entwined. Miller produced a so-so casette of uneven live stuff and five studio tracks that sounded like they'd been recorded in a trashcan ("Too Much Junkie Business", 1983); an ep, "In Cold Blood" (1984) featured different and superior recordings (five studio, three re-done from TMJ laid down in Revere, Massachusetts - better sound, lo-fi but grungy, grime-encrusted in a more effective way. It seemed to be a long strange trip from "Blind Faith," Delaney & Bonnie, Traffic, "Beggars Banquet" and "Sticky Fingers". I met a local musician - we were on the same methadone clinic - whose band had contributed a track to a Stones tribute cd, and his memories (when I could get him to focus) of working with Miller were sad indeed.

sad memories ? rude Miller ?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-24 06:45 by parislocksmith.

Overkill and Bomber are two classics...

I knew Miller did the Motorhead albums, didn't know he recorded Thunders.

somewhat OT even for the post, but one thing I always wonder about Johnny Thunders is how did he make any $? I mean to live, let alone afford dope. The Dolls had no hits, and he rarely had a label during his subsequent career. Whence came the income to last as long as he did? You'd think he would have been more desperate to put out a solid record, do some real touring...

He actually did quite a bit of real touring, much of it in the U.K., rest of Europe, and later Japan and I think that was his main source of income. If you look at the very exhaustive gigography on the excellent chatterbox forum, you'll see that through most of the 80's he was playing upwards of 70-80 shows a year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-05-09 01:37 by andrewm.

Johnny calling Miller an old junkie is like...well the pot calling the kettle an old junkie. Johnny toured, Jimmy mostly stayed home. Both were such great talents so sadly interrupted. "In Cold Blood" really captures the rickety old subway train, screeching and rumbling along the tracks, bathed in soot & reverb, as the announcer (Johnny) yacks about the Guardian Angels. Love it myself.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-24 06:46 by parislocksmith.

Nin Antonia's fly on the wall authorized bio makes up in intelligent empathy what it lacks in analysis. Thunders and (just for instance) Keith make a nice contrast in luxuriant drug use (wealth) vs getting by day to day as a junkie (poverty), and poverty strips the romance out of the idea of JT as rock 'n' roll outlaw. He's just vulnerable, his career brilliant but unfulfilled. Jerry Nolan, right after JT's death, told the author about Keith sending flowers, and later a meeting on the street where he embraced Nolan with real sympathy and understanding toward's Jerry's grief at losing his best friend. Of course within months Nolan too was dead.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-24 06:45 by parislocksmith.

Yeah, Nina Antonia's book is a good read and her writing has certainly improved over the years. The first edition of the JT bio was her first effort and it kind of showed. It was updated and reissued after Johnny's death and she had revised it significantly and become a pretty decent rock writer. She's since written books on the Dolls('natch), Peter Perret of the Only Ones and her own youth by way of her obsession w/ the obscure glam artist Brett Smiley ('Prettiest Star').All worthwhile.

Always found that anecdote about Keith and Jerry Nolan very touching.

nothing against Motorhead, but I'm pleased to find this thread being hijacked by Johnny

yep but Motorhead wins. lemmy sings in 1916 album 'i'm older than a rolling stone'

Some nice stuff about JT in Nikki Suddens autobiography.... if it ever gets released.