Overkill by Motorhead

Overkill, Motorhead's second studio album, came out in 1979 as the band's first record for Bronze, and it hits like a runaway lorry with the brakes cut. Jimmy Miller produced it at the Roundhouse and caught the classic trio at full throttle: Lemmy Kilmister growling over his bass, "Fast" Eddie Clarke slashing away on guitar, and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor pounding the kit as if it owed him money.

Lemmy always swore this was rock and roll, not heavy metal, and the record settles the argument by playing louder and faster than either camp was used to, which is exactly why punks and headbangers both claimed the band as their own. Along with Bomber, also from 1979, it set Motorhead's reputation in stone. Kerrang! later put it at number 46 on its list of the greatest heavy metal albums, and an American thrash band liked it enough to take its name.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.