1916 (album) - History

History

1916 was Motörhead's first studio album in nearly four years, and their first release on WTG after their legal battle with GWR Records was resolved. 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." Some of the 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 live on Motörhead's 1989 and 1990 tours.

The title track is a reflection on World War I killings, it is an uncharacteristically slow ballad in which Lemmy's singing is only lightly accompanied. "Love Me Forever", a ballad which was later covered by Doro Pesch. "R.A.M.O.N.E.S.", a tribute to punk band the Ramones, was later recorded by the Ramones, which can be found as one of the two studio tracks on Greatest Hits Live. The Ramones also performed it at their final show with Lemmy, with that show being released on video and CD as We're Outta Here.

In the studio the band recorded four songs with the producer, Ed Stasium, before deciding he had to go. When Lemmy listened to one of the mixes of "Going to Brazil", he asked for him to turn up four tracks, and on doing so heard claves and tambourines Stasium had added. Stasium was fired and Pete Solley was hired as producer. The story, according to Stasium, was Lemmy's drug and alcohol intake had far exceeded the limitations of Stasium's patience so he quit.

Due to an unintentional oversight, the French, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Portuguese flags were not featured on the album artwork.

The postergramme would be the last programme for the band until the 30th Anniversary Tour in 2005.