No Sleep 'til Hammersmith is the band's peak in terms of chart positions. In the wake of the success of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP and Ace of Spades album and single, it entered the UK chart at number one. Lemmy believed its success was due to a building anticipation from their fan base for a live album, due to the band having toured so heavily in the past, but also considered it their "downfall" due to the difficulty in following up its success.