No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith

No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith is the band's first live album, released by Bronze in June 1981. It entered the UK albums chart at number one, and the live single Motorhead followed on 3 July, backed with Over the Top, reaching number 6.

Taylor said later that the more famous the band seemed, the more they worked, and the less money they saw. In March 1981 they played the Short Sharp Pain in the Neck tour. The album was recorded at Leeds and Newcastle, apart from Iron Horse/Born to Lose, which came from a 1980 show. The dates were 27 March at West Runton Pavilion in Norfolk, 28 March at Queen's Hall in Leeds, 29 and 30 March at City Hall in Newcastle, and 3 April at the Maysfield Leisure Centre in Belfast. Despite the title, the Hammersmith Odeon was not on the list. The sound at Leeds was not good, and most of the record comes from Newcastle. Backstage in Leeds and Newcastle the band were given silver and gold records for their earlier albums.

Lemmy said they originally meant it to be a double album, but had enough material for three sides. He said the band were in the middle of a 53-show tour and on automatic, tight, and that he overdubbed a couple of lines of vocals. At release they were on their first North American tour, supporting Ozzy Osbourne. Lemmy believed the success came from anticipation among fans for a live record, and also called it a downfall, because it was hard to follow.

Robert Christgau wrote that Vic Maile's power-packed definition obliterated his bias against live recording. The biographer Joel McIver called it the peak of the Lemmy, Clarke and Taylor line-up's career. The album title is echoed in the later live album Nö Sleep at All and in the Beastie Boys' No Sleep till Brooklyn. A 40th anniversary edition appeared on 25 June 2021, with a four-disc version that adds full concerts from Leeds on 28 March and both Newcastle nights.