My introduction to Motorhead was hearing 'White Line Fever' from their first album, a lumbering, growling song, but good all the same. Then they turned up the heat and the pace. Lemmy might have cut his first records during the old wave era, but by the time this album came out it's probably fair to say he'd influenced many of the so-called 'new wave of British heavy metal' bands. 'Ace of Spades', the single and the album, are just the commercially successful culmination of what Motorhead had been doing for years, relentless, loud, high energy music. They're a far better band than they seem on first hearing. The title track's fame seems to loom large over the rest of the material, but it's all worthwhile. The only danger is that their one-way approach leads to one track sounding much the same as the previous song, but on this album at least it isn't a problem. 'Ace Of Spades' represents a peak; after this, they began to lapse into self-parody, though I never got the impression they were serious. Enjoy without prejudice.