The last gasp of the Lemmy/Fast Eddie/Philthy Animal lineup, Iron Fist is generally viewed as a disappointment by band and fans alike. Though they started out working with Vic Maile, who’d done an incredible job producing 1980’s Ace Of Spades, he left early in the recording process, and guitarist Clarke took over. Unfortunately, he’s not a producer — he’s a guitarist, and given that the band wasn’t even ready to make an album (Lemmy says at least three songs were written in the studio), he was guaranteed not to be up to the task. As with almost every Motörhead album, there are a few good songs, most notably the title track, which was also the only single. “Go To Hell” is decent, and “(Don’t Need) Religion” is a midtempo stomper with a suitably contemptuous lyric from Lemmy. But most of the other songs are terminally forgettable, coming off like Motörhead-by-numbers.

The album was released in April 1982; two days into the subsequent tour, on May 14, Clarke left the band. Motörhead took exactly one week off to find a new guitarist, and resumed touring on May 21 with former Thin Lizzy member Brian Robertson in place.