The only thing you see, you know it's gonna be, the Ace of Spades, The Ace of Spades. This was an interesting book for me to read. I was fully introduced to Motorhead in the early 2000s. To think that I followed them for the last 15 years of their existence was something to think about. To see what kind of person Lemmy was really got my attention. The more I learned about Motorhead the more I hoped to one day see them live. That won't happen but my appreciation for them has only grown since I first had a real deep dive into what Motorhead was all about. The book does a good job of laying things about the band out for the reader. I think this and the Lemmy documentary compliment each other. Read the book, watch the documentary and you see what one was saying through the eyes of the other.

Most of the chapters cover a two year period because the band had a two year tour/album cycle. Some of the earlier chapters only cover one year. This is an interactive eBook with links to songs and playlists and plenty of great photos. I really enjoyed that part. This edition is an updated reissue of the original 2012 version and has an added last chapter to cover the deaths of Lemmy, former guitar player Michael "Wurzel" Burston and original drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor.


This was a good book and I learned a lot more about Motorhead and Lemmy. I'm not their biggest fan or anything, but I like their music. The book has left me with a greater appreciation of their impact on rock music and a list of songs that I need to hear. Since they're from England, the book is very British with slang, English spelling and such. There's also lots of swearing and mentions of sex, drinking and drug use. If any of that bothers you, this is not the book for you. I'd recommend it to anyone whose a fan of the band.

My favorite quote from the book is "My ethic is 'eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die'. You can be as careful as you want, but you're gonna die anyway, so why not have fun?" I rated it 4/5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This is more of a coffee table book than a serious biography. Many quotes were repeated, some many times. Often this felt like a poorly assembled Wikipedia article or oral history. As far as band biographies go, a very weak offering.

Copy provided by Netgalley and Omnibus in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this biography of the heavy metal band, Motorhead, a legend in their field. I have listened to them a bit, so I was interested in this. I also found Lemmy to be quite the person in life. I found the book to be well written, with parts from Lemmy himself. I enjoyed it and do recommend it, especially if you are a fan of the band.

The original book was published in 2011, however since Lemmy’s death back in December 2015 the book has been re-issued as an enhanced eBook. Basically it adds a newly written chapter covering Motorhead from 2011 to date, plus you can click on links within the book to Spotify playlists of Motorhead classics and band’s influenced by them. A pretty neat idea, although if reading off a Kindle you’d need Wi-Fi access for Spotify.

The book gives a potted history of Motorhead, covering all their albums – although once you hit the mid-90’s onwards not much is said about the recording process, an album’s reception etc. Joel McIver is a big fan of the band and draws on three of his interviews with main man Lemmy for much of the text, along with fellow writer’s interviews with Lemmy and past and former bandmates including Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee and Eddie Clarke. There is some repetition of themes, particularly Lemmy’s collection of Nazi war memorabilia and his lifelong hate of heroin. The band’s history is only touched upon briefly in many parts and you do want to read more at some stages, although the band’s interviews give a good idea of what they thought about a particular album and the various record labels the band has been on. Like many 70’s bands Motorhead were royally screwed by record labels in their early days and suffered from endless rehashed live and compilation albums that often detracted from the band’s newer albums and songs.

For a concise overview of Motorhead this book does the job and do make sure you read Lemmy’s ‘White Line Fever’ as well.