After years of lackluster sales and feuds with record labels in the late 1980s, Motörhead had enjoyed an incredible turnaround by 1992. After the critical success of 1916, which was nominated for a Grammy, Motörhead secured a second album deal with Sony. In addition, vocalist and bassist Lemmy Kilmister had co-written four songs for Ozzy Osbourne's 1991 blockbuster album No More Tears at the invitation of Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, including "I Don't Want to Change the World'," "Desire," "Hellraiser," and the hit single "Mama, I'm Coming Home," generating much needed income. In his autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy recalls:
Recording
The band reunited with producerPete Solley, who produced their 1991 Grammy-nominated album 1916, to record March or Die. Early in the recording, drummer Phil Taylor parted ways with Motörhead for a second time as his abilities and commitment came into question. Taylor had quit the band in 1984 to work on a new project with guitarist Brian Robertson but rejoined in 1987. In Joel McIver's Motörhead biography Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead, guitarist Phil Campbell discusses Taylor's second departure: In the same book, Lemmy – while maintaining that Taylor's skills had deteriorated – admitted: Following Taylor's sudden departure in the midst of recording an album, the band scrambled to find a replacement. Subsequently, March or Die features three drummers: Taylor, Tommy Aldridge, and Mikkey Dee, who would later join the band as a permanent member. Another drummer, Garry Bowler, worked on the drum track for the demo of "Stand" during a 1991 session in London with Würzel and Campbell. In the documentary The Guts and the Glory, Dee – who had earlier been asked to join Motörhead before he elected to join Dokken instead – spoke about replacing the longtime Motörhead member Taylor: Ozzy Osbourne duets with Lemmy on the track "I Ain't No Nice Guy," which also features Slash from Guns N' Roses on lead guitar. Slash also performs on the track "You Better Run". Considering that both Osbourne and Guns N' Roses were enjoying immense popularity at the time, "I Ain't No Nice Guy" seemed poised to become a major radio hit, but according to Lemmy's memoir Sony tried to suppress the single because it was utilizing WTG Records as a tax write-off: The album includes a cover of the 1977 Ted Nugent classic "Cat Scratch Fever." The track "Hellraiser", earlier recorded and released by Ozzy Osbourne for his 1991 albumNo More Tears, appeared in the 1992 movie Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. The band re-recorded "You Better Run" in 2004 as "You Better Swim" for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The March or Dierecording sessions took place in Los Angeles and coincided with the eruption of the Rodney King riots in the city. The studio where the band was recording lay in the path of the violence. Lemmy later recalled to Classic Rock Revisited:
Reception
Reviews for March ör Die were mixed. The AllMusic review states:
