Background: 1916 Is The Ninth Studio Album by British

1916 is the ninth studio album by British rock band Motörhead, released in January
1991.[1] It was their first on WTG Records. The single "The One to Sing the Blues"
peaked at number 45. The album was the final Motörhead album to feature Phil
"Philthy Animal" Taylor on drums in its entirety.
Background
[edit]
In 1990, Motörhead frontman Lemmy moved from England to the U.S., settling
in West Hollywood within walking distance of the Rainbow Bar and Grill. With Phil
Carson managing the band, the sessions for what would become the
album 1916 began with Ed Stasium, best known for producing the Ramones, Talking
Heads, and Living Colour. The band recorded four songs with the producer before
deciding he had to go. When Lemmy listened to a mix of Going to Brazil, he asked
him to turn up four tracks, and on doing so heard claves and tambourines Stasium
had added without the band's knowledge. Stasium was fired and Pete Solley hired
as producer.[2]
Recording
[edit]
1916 was Motörhead's first studio album in nearly four years, and their first release
on WTG after a legal battle with GWR Records was resolved. Some of its songs –
including "The One to Sing the Blues", "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)", "No Voices
in the Sky", "Going to Brazil" and "Shut You Down" – were originally performed on
Motörhead's 1989 and 1990 tours.[3][4][5] The title track – an uncharacteristically slow
ballad in which Lemmy's singing is only lightly accompanied – is a tribute to, and
reflection on, young soldiers who fell in battle during World War I. In his 2002
memoir, Lemmy reveals that the song was inspired by the Battle of the Somme:
"'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' and '1916' both relied heavily on keyboards, which was
very different for Motörhead – or any heavy band in 1990. I wrote the words before
the music. It's about the Battle of the Somme in World War I...Nineteen thousand
Englishmen were killed before noon, a whole generation destroyed, in three hours –
think about that! It was terrible – there were three or four towns in
northern Lancashire and south Yorkshire where that whole generation of men were
completely wiped out."
Although songs like the ballad "Love Me Forever" and "Angel City" (which includes
a saxophone) were stylistic departures for the band, the album still contained
Motörhead's ear-splitting brand of rock 'n' roll, including "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't
Care)" and "R.A.M.O.N.E.S", a tribute to punk band the Ramones, by whom it was
covered. In the 2002 book Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones, Everett True
quotes singer Joey Ramone as saying: "It was the ultimate honour – like John
Lennon wrote a song for you."
In the album's liner notes, the band says:
"To the people we left behind – we didn't want to leave ya, but we really had to go!
This album is the better for it. Stale and on a treadmill in our career, a change was
needed. We decided a change of locale was an idea to try, and we think its done us
good musicially, and attitude wise (which is even worse)."
The absence of French, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Portuguese flags from the
album artwork was explained as an unintentional oversight. "Love Me Forever" was
later covered by Doro Pesch, and Beyond the Black.
The Yugoslavian release of the album on ZKP-RTVL was the final record to be
released in Slovenia prior to its independence and the renaming of the label to ZKP-
RTVS.[6]
Critical reception
[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
[7]
AllMusic
Robert Christgau A−[9]
Classic Rock (reissue review) 9/10[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10[10]
Entertainment Weekly A+[11]
[12]
Kerrang!
[13]
Q
[14]
Rolling Stone
[15]
Select
The LP received mostly positive reviews from contemporary critics. Robert

Christgau rated it an A−, calling it "sonically retrograde and philosophically
advanced."[9] Rolling Stone remarked how the album "..manages to mingle
ruthlessness and listenability like never before... creating a new threshold of
sharpness for the genre. Fortunately, the crisper approach only makes the cruelty of
the group's playing more pronounced."[14] Q also praised the album and wrote that "at
45 the godfather of thrash metal still won't give the old folks a break...Motorhead's
ninth studio album is a mad morass of noise, the turbocharged twin guitars of Wurzel
and Campbell adding a modern machine sheen to the more primeval approach of
Lemmy's shot-blasted vocals."[13] Select reviewer called 1916 "the most cohesive and
downright ferocious record to appear under the Motorhead banner since the timeless
blast of 'Ace of Spades' in 1980... Motorhead badly needed an album like this, but no
one could have guessed they'd do it so convincingly."[15]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Alex Henderson wrote that "the band's sound
hadn't changed much, and time hadn't made its sledgehammer approach any less
appealing... whether the subject matter is humorously fun or more serious,
Motörhead is as inspired as ever on 1916."[7] Reviewing a reissue on the Hear No
Evil label,[16] Kris Needs wrote in Classic Rock: "One of their most well-rounded sets,
this memorabilia-stacked reissue comes with two non-album belters, 'Eagle Rock'
and runaway hell train 'Dead Man's Hand'."[8]
In the Motörhead documentary The Guts and the Glory, Lemmy stated:
"That was really the renaissance album for Motörhead, 1916... It got great reviews,
which [its predecessor] Rock 'n' Roll didn't."
The album was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1992 Grammys, but
lost to Metallica's Metallica (The Black Album), released approximately six months
after 1916.
Track listing
[edit]
All tracks are written by Kilmister, Burston, Campbell, Taylor except where noted
No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "The One to Sing the Blues" 3:08
2. "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)" 3:14
3. "No Voices in the Sky" 4:12
4. "Going to Brazil" 2:31
5. "Nightmare / The Dreamtime" 4:42
6. "Love Me Forever" 5:28
7. "Angel City" Kilmister 3:57
8. "Make My Day" 4:25
9. "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." 1:26
10. "Shut You Down" 2:42
11. "1916" Kilmister 3:48
Total length: 39:28
Castle Communications 1996 reissue bonus tracks
No. Title Length
12. "Eagle Rock" 3:11
13. "Dead Man's Hand" 3:31
Total length: 46:15
Personnel
[edit]
Per the album's liner notes.[17]
 Lemmy – lead vocals, bass

 Phil "Wizzö" Campbell – guitar
 Michael "Würzel" Burston – guitar
 Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor – drums
 James Hoskins – cello on "1916"
Production
[edit]
 Peter Solley – producer, mixing

 Ed Stasium – producer ("No Voices in the Sky", "Going To Brazil" and "Love Me
Forever")
 Casey McMackin – engineer
 Paul Hemingson – engineer ("No Voices in the Sky", "Going To Brazil" and "Love
Me Forever")
 Steve Hall – mastering
 Graig Nelson – album cover
 Toni Hanzon – album cover
 Joe Petagno – Snaggletooth

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1916 is the ninth studio album by British rock band Motörhead, released in January

In the album's liner notes, the band says:

Robert Christgau A−[9]

Classic Rock (reissue review) 9/10[8]

Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10[10]

Entertainment Weekly A+[11]

The LP received mostly positive reviews from contemporary critics. Robert

No. Title Writer(s) Length

 Lemmy – lead vocals, bass

 Peter Solley – producer, mixing

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