Overnight Sensation

For other uses, see Overnight Sensation (disambiguation).

1996 studio album by Motörhead

Overnight Sensation

Studio album by

Motörhead

Released| 15 October 1996[1]
Recorded| 1996[1]
Studio| Ocean Studio and Track House Recording Studio[1]
Genre|

* Heavy metal
* hard rock

Length| 41:19
Label| SPV/Steamhammer[1]
Producer| Howard Benson, Duane Baron
Motörhead chronology
| Sacrifice
(1995)  | Overnight Sensation
(1996)  | Protect the Innocent
(1997)

|
|

Overnight Sensation is the thirteenth studio album by British rock band Motörhead. It was released on 15 October 1996 via Steamhammer, their second on the label. It is their first album to feature a trio line-up since Another Perfect Day (1983). It would also mark the band's last lineup change and longest remaining one prior their dissolution in 2015.

## Recording

[edit]

The album was Motörhead's third album with producer Howard Benson. Following the departure of Würzel (Michael Burston) in 1995, the band returned to the same three-man "classic Motörhead line up"; bass guitar/vocals, lead guitar, and drums. In a rare outside songwriter credit, Swedish Erotica guitarist Magnus Axx contributed to writing the song "Civil War". This album was also the first since Ace of Spades (1980) to have a picture of the band on the cover. Despite being only a three-piece band, the band had a heavier style on this work than on its previous album, Sacrifice.[2] Vocalist and bassist Lemmy Kilmister recalls that, amidst the touring, the record took about four weeks to write new songs and two months to record in the studio.[3] Lemmy talked about the return to being a three piece:

> "It went the same as a four-piece except one guy wasn't there! Or the same as the Everly Brothers plus one. It was a bit more fraught, but that was just because Phil, being the only guitarist, felt that there was a lot riding on his shoulders (which there was). So he was under added pressure, but he proved himself well. Overnight Sensation is a great album for him. Mikkey was his usual perfect self – he always finishes his drums tracks well ahead of schedule. This time around he did them in one day."[3]

## Release

[edit]

In Joel McIver's 2011 book Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead, drummer Mikkey Dee is quoted saying that the songwriting was affected by guitarist Würzel's departure:

> "Würzel, I used to say, was more Motörhead than me, Phil and Lemmy put together. He was a true Motörheader, you know. He wrote super-hard songs and riffs, and I miss that sometimes. Because me and Phil, we might sometimes write a little too ... not soft, but maybe too musically correct songs, where Würzel was very simple, straight, very hard riffs. Nothing complicated with him whatsoever."

The album is notable for featuring a picture of Lemmy without his trademark mutton chops. He regrew them in 2001 and would retain them until his death.

Lemmy appraised the album in the 2004 Motörhead documentary The Guts and the Glory, stating:

> "That was a great album, I liked Overnight a lot. I was very pleased with that."

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
Rock Hard| 8.0/10[5]
Sputnikmusic| 3.5/5[6]

Overnight Sensation was the band's first official record for CMC. Sacrifice (1995) was already partly in the States on import, but the label proved itself with Overnight Sensation and it became the best-distributed record the band had for some time.[3] It charted in Germany, Sweden and Finland. AllMusic calls the LP:

> "[...] the band's most eclectic in years, its tracks range from pedal to the metal stompers like 'Civil War' and 'Eat the Gun' to mid-paced groovers like 'Listen to Your Heart' (featuring acoustic guitars – shock!) and the classy 'I Don't Believe a Word.' Always a great lyricist, vocalist/bassist Lemmy takes it up a notch with the highly ironic title track and what is quite possibly the band's greatest song of the decade, the exceptionally funny ′Crazy Like a Fox.'"

Lee Marlow of Classic Rock stated in 2013 that Overnight Sensation was:

> "immediate proof that the latest three-man Motörhead line-up was more than a match for all previous incarnations."

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Kilmister, Campbell, Dee[1] except where noted

CDNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Civil War"| Kilmister, Dee, Campbell, Max Ax| 3:01
2.| "Crazy Like a Fox"|  | 4:32
3.| "I Don't Believe a Word"|  | 6:31
4.| "Eat the Gun"|  | 2:13
5.| "Overnight Sensation"|  | 4:10
6.| "Love Can't Buy You Money"|  | 3:06
7.| "Broken"|  | 4:34
8.| "Them Not Me"|  | 2:47
9.| "Murder Show"|  | 3:03
10.| "Shake the World"|  | 3:29
11.| "Listen to Your Heart"| Kilmister| 3:45
Total length:| 41:19

## Personnel

[edit]

Per the album's liner notes.[1]

* Lemmy – lead vocals, bass, harmonica on "Crazy Like a Fox", acoustic guitar on "Overnight Sensation" and "Listen to Your Heart"
* Phil Campbell – guitars
* Mikkey Dee – drums

### Production

[edit]

* Howard Benson – producer
* Duane Baron – producer, mixing
* Ryan Dorn – producer, mixing
* James Ornelas – assistant engineer
* Evan Levy – assistant engineer
* Dwayne Baron – assistant engineer
* Dan Hersch – mastering
* Motörhead – executive producers
* Diane Medak – production coordinator
* Annamaria DiSanto – album cover
* Shannon Crawford – album cover

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (1996)  | Peak
position

|

Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] | 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 71
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] | 60
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[10] | 22
Chart (2021)  | Peak
position

|

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] | 70
Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] | 34
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[13] | 18
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[14] | 8

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f Overnight Sensation, Motörhead, SPV/Steamhammer, SPV 085-18302, 1996 liner notes, page 8, 9, 10 & rear
2. ^ "Motörhead—Overnight Sensation (1996/CMC)". Metal Reviews. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
3. ^ a b c Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss White Line Fever (2002) — Simon & Schuster pp. 276—277 ISBN 0-684-85868-1.
4. ^ AllMusic review
5. ^ Jaedike, Jan (1996). "Review Album: Motörhead – Overnight Sensation". Rock Hard (in German). No. 114. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
6. ^ "Review: Motorhead - Overnight Sensation | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. 27 December 2017.
7. ^ "Motörhead: Overnight Sensation" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
8. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Motorhead – Overnight Sensation" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
9. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Motörhead – Overnight Sensation". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
10. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Motörhead – Overnight Sensation" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
12. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
13. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
14. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Sample tracks at Rolling Stone
* Motörhead official website

* v
* t
* e

Motörhead

* "Lemmy" Kilmister
* Phil Campbell
* Mikkey Dee
* Larry Wallis
* Lucas Fox
* Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor
* "Fast" Eddie Clarke
* Brian "Robbo" Robertson
* Michael "Würzel" Burston
* Pete Gill

Studio albums|

* Motörhead
* Overkill
* Bomber
* On Parole
* Ace of Spades
* Iron Fist
* Another Perfect Day
* Orgasmatron
* Rock 'n' Roll
* 1916
* March ör Die
* Bastards
* Sacrifice
* Overnight Sensation
* Snake Bite Love
* We Are Motörhead
* Hammered
* Inferno
* Kiss of Death
* Motörizer
* The Wörld Is Yours
* Aftershock
* Bad Magic

EPs|

* The Golden Years
* Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers
* St. Valentine's Day Massacre
* Stand by Your Man
* '92 Tour EP

Live albums|

* No Sleep 'til Hammersmith
* What's Words Worth?
* Nö Sleep at All
* Live at Brixton '87
* Everything Louder than Everyone Else
* 25 & Alive: Live at Brixton Academy
* BBC Live & In-Session
* Better Motörhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith
* The Wörld Is Ours (Vol. 1 / Vol. 2)
* Clean Your Clock

Compilations|

* No Remorse
* All the Aces
* The Best of Motörhead
* Protect the Innocent
* Deaf Forever: The Best of Motörhead
* The Best Of
* Over the Top: The Rarities
* Tear Ya Down: The Rarities
* Hellraiser: Best of the Epic Years
* The Essential Motörhead
* Under Cöver

Singles|

* "Leaving Here"
* "Motorhead"
* "Louie Louie"
* "Overkill"
* "No Class"
* "Bomber"
* "Ace of Spades"
* "Iron Fist"
* "I Got Mine"
* "Shine"
* "Killed by Death"
* "Deaf Forever"
* "Eat the Rich"
* "Ace of Spades (live)"
* "The One to Sing the Blues"
* "Hellraiser"
* "Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me"
* "Born to Raise Hell"

Box sets|

* Stone Deaf Forever!

Videos|

* The Birthday Party
* Deaf Not Blind
* Motörhead Live: Everything Löuder than Everything Else
* 25 & Alive Boneshaker
* The Best of Motörhead
* Classic Albums: Motörhead – Ace of Spades
* Stage Fright
* The Wörld Is Ours (Vol. 1 / Vol. 2)
* Clean Your Clock

Tours|

* Metal for Muthas Tour
* No Remorse Tour
* Orgasmatron Tour
* Operation Rock & Roll
* Metal Masters Tour
* The Wörld Is Yours Tour
* Mayhem Festival 2012
* Kings of the Road Tour
* Aftershock Tour
* 40th Anniversary Tour

Miscellaneous|

* Discography
* Members
* Hawkwind
* Joe Petagno
* Headgirl
* Bronze Records
* GWR Records
* Fastway
* The Head Cat
* White Line Fever
* Lemmy

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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