Released on November 8, 1980, it peaked at number 4 on the UK album charts. It was preceded by the release of the title track 'Ace of Spades' as a single on October 27, which peaked in the UK singles chart at number 15 in early November. The album was recorded in August and September 1980, produced by Vic Maile at his Jackson's studio in Rickmansworth. This is the first of what would be a series of projects with Maile, and members of the band commented at the time about finding the right producer. whereas the band had previously had an input at the mixing stage, Maile took sole responsibility here, clarke explaining that the result was that "you can finally hear everything that's going on". Of the performances, Lemmy claimed that "Vic got me singing instead of just shouting all the time", while Taylor added "and he got me playing more solid".