Vinyl Record

Motörhead - Overkill

Motörhead - Overkill on LP vinyl. A 1979 Metal record available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel, Ireland.

LP · Metal · 1979

Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.

Buyer notes: 1979 LP, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection Metal shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel or ship within Ireland for EUR 5.50.

Overkill is the 1979 album where Motörhead becomes fully Motörhead. The self-titled debut had already named the threat, but this second record, the band's first for Bronze, focuses the classic trio into something sharper and more dangerous. Jimmy Miller's production leaves room for dirt and swing while making the impact unmistakable: Philthy Animal Taylor's double-kick barrage on the title track announces a new physical grammar for heavy music, Lemmy's bass takes up more space than most rhythm sections, and Fast Eddie Clarke's guitar gives the speed a rock and roll bite rather than a polished metal sheen. Stay Clean, No Class, Damage Case, Metropolis and Limb from Limb make the album more than a one-song landmark. Released in the same year that Bomber would follow, Overkill catches British hard rock mutating in real time, with punk's impatience, metal's weight and old rock's stubborn groove all forced through the same amplifier.

Overkill matters because it is one of the root documents for speed metal, thrash attitude and the harder edge of punk-metal crossover, even though Motörhead always insisted they were rock and roll. It made the classic trio's formula undeniable and set the pace for the band's greatest run.

For collectors, Overkill is a cornerstone Motörhead LP. It is the point where the band stops being a promising brute force and becomes a standard others have to answer. Keep it beside Bomber and Ace of Spades to hear how quickly the 1979-1980 legend was built.

Fast, bass-heavy hard rock with double-kick drive, distorted low end, lean guitar hooks, sneered vocals, blues-rooted swagger and a severe lack of softness.

Recommended for: Collectors building the core Motörhead canon; Fans tracing the roots of thrash and speed metal; Listeners who want heavy rock at its most direct and combustible.

When was Overkill released? Overkill was released in 1979 as Motörhead's second studio album. Why is the song Overkill so influential? Its relentless double-kick drum attack and repeated false endings helped define Motörhead's speed and influenced later extreme metal. Which tracks beyond the title song are important? Stay Clean, No Class, Damage Case, Metropolis and Limb from Limb show the album's range within its aggressive frame.