Motörhead "1916"

1916 is the ninth studio album by Motörhead, released 26 February 1991. It was their first on WTG Records (a subsidiary of Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music International). 1916 reached number 24 in the UK and 142 in the US. The single "The One to Sing the Blues" peaked at #45.

In 1990, Motörhead vocalist and bassist Lemmy Kilmister moved from England to the U.S., settling in West Hollywood within walking distance of the Rainbow Bar and Grill. With Phil Carson managing the band, the sessions for what would become the album 1916 began with Ed Stasium, best known for producing Living Colour. The band recorded four songs with the producer before deciding he had to go. When Lemmy listened to a mix of Going to Brazil, he asked him to turn up four tracks, and on doing so heard claves and tambourines Stasium had added without the band's knowledge. Stasium was fired and Pete Solley hired as producer. According to Stasium, Lemmy's drug and alcohol intake exceeded the limits of the producer's patience, so he quit.

1916 was Motörhead's first studio album in nearly four years, and their first release on WTG after a legal battle with GWR Records was resolved. Some of its 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 on Motörhead's 1989 and 1990 tours. The title track – an uncharacteristically slow ballad in which Lemmy's singing is only lightly accompanied – is a tribute to, and reflection on, young soldiers who fell in battle during World War I. In his 2002 memoir, Lemmy reveals that the song was inspired by the Battle of the Somme:

"..'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' and '1916' both relied heavily on keyboards, which was very different for Motörhead – or any heavy band in 1990. I wrote the words before the music. It's about the Battle of the Somme in World War I...Nineteen thousand Englishmen were killed before noon, a whole generation destroyed, in three hours – think about that! It was terrible – there were three or four towns in northern Lancashire and south Yorkshire where that whole generation of men were completely wiped out.."

Although songs like the ballad "Love Me Forever" and "Angel City" (which includes a saxophone) were stylistic departures for the band, the album still contained Motörhead's ear-splitting brand of rock 'n' roll, including "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)" and "R.A.M.O.N.E.S," a tribute to punk band the Ramones, by whom it was covered. Both bands have been cited as iconoclasts who ignored musical trends, remaining loyal to their fan base by touring relentlessly. In the 2002 book Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones, Everett True quotes singer Joey Ramone as saying: "It was the ultimate honour – like John Lennon wrote a song for you."

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. We decided a change of locale was an idea to try, and we think its done us good musicially, and attitude wise (which is even worse)." 

Due to an unintentional oversight, the French, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Portuguese flags were not featured on the album artwork. "Love Me Forever" was later covered by Doro Pesch, and Beyond the Black.


The Yugoslavian release of the album on ZKP-RTVL was the final record to be released in Slovenia prior to its independence and the renaming of the label to ZKP-RTVS.

All songs written by Kilmister/Burston/Campbell/Taylor; 7, 11 by Kilmister

Produced and mixed by Peter Soller, engineered by Casey McMackin 

3, 4, 6 Produced by Ed Stasium, engineered by Paul Hemingson