We Are Motorhead Album: Inside the 2000 Statement Record
The We Are Motorhead album arrived in May 2000 as a title that doubled as a mission statement two decades into the band’s career.
Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell, and Mikkey Dee used the record to reassert exactly what the band stood for, right down to a defiant cover of the Sex Pistols.
Recorded across two continents and two separate sessions, the album carries a scrappier, more varied feel than its immediate predecessors.
Twenty five years later, the We Are Motorhead album still reads as one of the band’s clearest self portraits.
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⚡ Key Takeaways
- Motorhead released the We Are Motorhead album, its fifteenth studio record, on 15 May 2000.
- The album was recorded across two sessions at Karo Studios in Germany and American Recorders in California.
- It features a cover of the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen, one of the band’s most notable studio covers.
- The album peaked at number 91 on the UK Albums Chart in 2000.
- AllMusic gave the record 3 out of 5 stars, praising the grimy attitude that has always driven the band’s best work.
What Is the We Are Motorhead Album About?
The We Are Motorhead album is a defiant, self referential record built around the band’s own identity two decades in.
The title track functions almost like a mission statement, restating exactly what the band has always been about.
Elsewhere the record mixes fast, riff driven tracks with a Sex Pistols cover that underlines the band’s punk roots.
The result is less a concept album and more a confident reintroduction from a band that never needed one.
Who Recorded We Are Motorhead?
Lemmy Kilmister handled vocals and bass across the entire record.
Phil Campbell continued as the band’s sole guitarist, his third full studio album in that role.
Mikkey Dee played drums throughout, maintaining the same steady lineup that had held since Bastards.
Production duties were shared between the band, Bob Kulick, Bruce Bouillet, and Duane Baron.
Where and When Was We Are Motorhead Recorded?
Motorhead recorded the We Are Motorhead album across two separate sessions between June 1999 and March 2000.
The first sessions took place at Karo Studios in Brackel, Germany, during the summer of 1999.
The band finished the record at American Recorders in Calabasas, California, between December 1999 and March 2000.
Steamhammer released the finished album on 15 May 2000.
Why Did Motorhead Cover the Sex Pistols?
Motorhead covered the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen to underline the punk energy that had always run through the band’s sound.
Lemmy had deep roots in the UK punk scene, and the cover connected the We Are Motorhead album directly to that lineage.
The band’s version keeps the original’s confrontational spirit while adding its own heavier, faster attack.
It remains one of the most talked about cover songs in Motorhead’s entire studio catalog.
What Songs Are on the We Are Motorhead Tracklist?
The album opens with See Me Burning, followed by Slow Dance and Stay Out of Jail.
The Sex Pistols cover, God Save the Queen, sits at track four, followed by Out to Lunch and Wake the Dead.
One More Fucking Time and Stagefright/Crash & Burn keep the pace aggressive through the record’s back half.
(Wearing Your) Heart on Your Sleeve and the title track, We Are Motorhead, close out the original ten track sequence.
How Does the Title Track Sound?
The title track closes the record with a direct, almost anthemic restatement of the band’s identity.
Lemmy’s lyrics read like a mission statement, listing exactly what the band has always stood for.
The arrangement stays simple, letting the lyric carry the weight rather than any studio flourish.
It became a fitting closer for a record built around reintroducing the band to itself as much as to listeners.
Did the We Are Motorhead Album Chart?
The We Are Motorhead album peaked at number 91 on the UK Albums Chart in 2000.
That placement made it one of the band’s few studio releases from this era to register on the main UK chart at all.
The album also found a receptive audience across continental Europe, matching the band’s usual regional strength.
Its chart run reflected steady, if modest, mainstream visibility rather than a commercial breakthrough.
What Did Critics Say About We Are Motorhead?
Critics generally treated the We Are Motorhead album as a consistent, if not groundbreaking, entry in the band’s catalog.
AllMusic awarded 3 out of 5 stars, writing that the record maintained the generally high standard of the band’s second decade with the grimy attitude that has always driven their best work fully intact.
Kerrang! also gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, while Rock Hard rated it a much higher 8.0 out of 10.
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music was less enthusiastic, awarding only 2 out of 5 stars.
How Does We Are Motorhead Compare to Snake Bite Love?
Motorhead’s Snake Bite Love leaned on varied tempos and a more experimental structure.
We Are Motorhead pulls back toward a more direct, unified sound built around the title track’s mission statement.
Both records share the same trio lineup, though production duties shifted from Howard Benson to a new team for this release.
Reception for the two albums landed in a similar range, with critics generally calling both solid rather than essential.
Why Does We Are Motorhead Matter as a Statement Album?
The We Are Motorhead album matters because it doubles as the band’s own thesis statement two decades into its career.
The Sex Pistols cover ties the band’s roots directly to the punk scene that shaped Lemmy’s earliest influences.
Coming twenty years after the band’s debut, the record proved Motorhead still knew exactly who it was.
As of 2026, read the full lineup history of the members of Motorhead to see how this era fits into the band’s larger story.
People Also Ask
What songs are on the We Are Motorhead album?
The We Are Motorhead album includes ten tracks: See Me Burning, Slow Dance, Stay Out of Jail, a cover of the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen, Out to Lunch, Wake the Dead, One More Fucking Time, Stagefright/Crash & Burn, (Wearing Your) Heart on Your Sleeve, and the title track We Are Motorhead.
The album was released on 15 May 2000 through Steamhammer.
Did the We Are Motorhead album chart in the UK?
Yes, the We Are Motorhead album peaked at number 91 on the UK Albums Chart in 2000, one of only a handful of the band’s studio releases from that era to register on the main chart.
It also found solid reception across continental Europe.
Who produced the We Are Motorhead album?
The We Are Motorhead album was produced by the band alongside Bob Kulick, Bruce Bouillet, and Duane Baron, recorded across sessions in Germany and California between 1999 and 2000.
It marked a shift away from Howard Benson, who had produced the band’s previous three studio albums.
Why did Motorhead cover God Save the Queen?
Motorhead covered the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen on the We Are Motorhead album to reconnect with the punk roots that shaped Lemmy Kilmister’s earliest musical influences.
The cover became one of the most talked about tracks in the band’s entire studio catalog.
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We Are Motorhead
2000
Features a defiant cover of the Sex Pistols.
A confident statement two decades into the band’s career.
Snake Bite Love
1998
The album right before We Are Motorhead in the trio era.
A divisive but honest snapshot of the band mid stride.
Overnight Sensation
1996
The album that introduced the trio lineup behind We Are Motorhead.
Widely considered one of the band’s finest 1990s records.
Hammered
2002
The trio’s next studio album, released two years after We Are Motorhead.
Includes a bonus re-recording tied back to Overnight Sensation.
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The We Are Motorhead album never needed to explain the band’s staying power, it simply demonstrated it.
As of 2026, it still stands as one of the clearest statements of identity in the band’s entire discography.
Two decades after its release, the We Are Motorhead album remains exactly what its title promised.
Last updated: July 21, 2026