nikki sixx

REVIEW: Motley Crue – Theater Of Pain (remastered, bonus tracks)
 
MOTLEY CRUE – Theater Of Pain (1985, 2003 Motley Records remastered edition)
Crue’s third was a mess, a smokey muddy mess of an album that served only to confuse and disappoint those who were enthralled with Shout at the Devil. The Crue, now wearing ridiculous striped (stryped?) jester suits had dropped the chromium metallic sheen of Shout, and replaced it with nothing but a notable lack of direction.
Theatre of Pain was one of the most anticipated albums of the ’85, and one of the most biggest disappointments. Yes, “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” is a fun jokey novelty, but it is also a novelty cover. “Home Sweet Home”, billed by the band as their “Dream On”, is not really. Broken down, it is a cliche-ridden proto-ballad, the type of thing that every L.A. band has done at least once. And usually, better.  I mean, think about it — you can name better ballads by Bon Jovi or Cinderalla, can’t you?  I can.
There is precious little metal on this album, the terrible “Use It or Lose It” being the only foot on the gas pedal, but itself also being nothing more than a grade C song worthy of most bands’ album outtakes. There is absolutely nothing on this album that would have made the cut on the great Shout at the Devil. Even a track like “Louder Than Hell”, one of the better songs, was demoed for Shout and dropped; the band obviously lowered their standards.
The mix is muddy, an alcoholidaze of robotic drumming and lifeless, uninspired vocals. You can hear the wasted band barely trying. Or, rather, trying as hard as they were capable given the chemicals. If a major band released this today as the followup to a beloved classic, it would be a career-ender. Not so with the Crue, as the 80’s were much kinder.
Bonus tracks on the remastered edition are laughable. Did we really need three versions of “Home Sweet Home”? The vaults must be a lonely place indeed. Tommy’s sleepy “drum piece” is worthy only of the skip button.No standout songs, terrible mix, and dull performances aside, the one guy who swims to the top is  Mick Mars, who plays several solos that rise above.
1.5/5 stars
1. City Boy Blues
2. Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room
3. Louder Than Hell
4. Keep Your Eye on the Money
5. Home Sweet Home
6. Tonight (We Need a Lover)
7. Use It or Lose It
8. Save Our Souls
9. Raise Your Hands to Rock
10. Fight for Your Rights
11. Home Sweet Home [Demo Version]
12. Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room [Alternate Guitar Solo-Rough Mix
13. City Boy Blues [Demo Version]
14. Home Sweet Home [Instrumental Rough Mix]
15. Keep Your Eye on the Money [Demo Version]
16. Tommy drum piece from Cherokee Studios
CD-ROM. Home Sweet Home [Video – Bonus Track]

REVIEW: Motley Crue – “Sex” single (2012)

SEX

MOTLEY CRUE – “Sex” (iTunes, 2012)

Nikki Sixx – “Sounds like it could have been on our first album.”

LeBrain – “Bullshit!”

Don’t be fooled by the hype.  “Sex” is a good song, but it sounds nothing at all like anything on Too Fast For Love.  It sounds like it could have been on Saints of Los Angeles.   Which is fine, if you like that album.  I do like that album, I think it is a good Motley album.  Not a great Motley album like Too Fast, but certainly better than, say, New Tattoo.

I think what Nikki did with “Sex” was to try, on purpose, to write a single.  A single in a particular style, that being, hard rock Motley Crue.  And I think that is what I don’t like about it, it sounds contrived.

So, that’s what “Sex” is:  An overproduced single with lots of backing vocals, loud drums, and some guitar effects.  The chorus is fine, copping the “woah, yeah” from “Kickstart My Heart”, only not as good.  I’ve heard the song a few times now, for $1.29, it was painless to buy.   It just fails to excite me.  Not the way “Feelgood” did in the summer of ’89, and “Primal Scream” did in ’91.  Those summers, I could not get those tunes off my deck!  I don’t think I will be going back to listen to “Sex” too often, unless there’s something going on here that I’m just plain missing right now.

Having said that, Mick’s solo is cool and I think he’s an underrated player.

2.5/5 stars

(NOTE:  I hate downloads!  I like physical product!  I want liner notes!  Who produced it, who wrote it?)

REVIEW: Motley Crue – Shout at the Devil (2003 Remastered edition)

MOTLEY CRUE – Shout at the Devil (2003 remastered edition)

If Too Fast For Love was nothing more than a gloriously wreckless demo pressed to vinyl, then perhaps Shout is the first “real” Motley Crue album. It is certainly among the best, with only Too Fast and ’94’s self-titled coming close to the metallic goodness of this disc in my world. It is a shame that the original cover did not survive to CD (a pentagram embossed on a pure black cover) because it was a statement of purpose: You are about to Shout at the Devil.

Instead, the CD (and cassette!) cover had four makeup wearing dude-chicks scowling, primping, preening and teasing. However, it was the 80’s, and it was OK then. Don’t let the cover scare you away.  The Japanese vinyl replica CDs also have a replica of the original pentagram cover.  I had one years ago, but sold it off to buy the remaster with bonus tracks.  But we’ll get to those later.

The album opens with a piece that, when we were kids, I loved and played over and over again because it just sounded cool: the spoken-word “In The Beginning”. “In the beginning, good always overpowered the evil of all man’s sins…”  It sounded cool, so we used it on Halloween tapes and just about anything else we could think of.

Then, the opening chords of “Shout At The Devil” hit you right between the eyes, Mick’s guitar as wreckless and hammering as ever. The man had yet to really discover his bluesier talents; for now he was just content to sloppily riff you to death. All is well. Vince Neil drunkenly slurs every lyric, but it works. Tommy’s drums are as simple but as hard hitting as ever.  Really, Tommy’s not a great technical drummer but his hard hits give him a great sound perfect for this album.

lebrain hides away

You should know most of these songs: The adrenaline rush that is “Looks That Kill”, the mid-tempo harmonies and drama of “Too Young To Fall In Love”, and even the Beatles cover “Helter Skelter”. Side two of the album is the real surprise, loaded with non-singles that kick as much butt as the singles. “Red Hot” is a proto-thrash number, while “Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid” is as good as anything on side one. There’s also the equally good but controversial “Bastard”. The PMRC attacked it for the line, “In goes my knife, I pull out his life, consider that bastard dead.”  When I was 12 years old, we owned this on cassette. There was no lyric sheet and Vince Neil slurred so much, you couldn’t make out the lyrics. I had no idea at all what he was singing until about a decade later. By then I was old enough to understand that it’s just storytelling.

There’s a bit of filler in “God Bless the Children of the Beast”. It’s nice for Mick Mars fans, a caveman version of neo-classical guitar, but otherwise it’s just an intro to the manic “Helter Skelter” cover. Kind of like how Sabbath used to throw in a slow instrumental just before hammering you once again with riffage, just that I think Sabbath’s stuff was a little better executed.

The bonus tracks here are rough and not nessesary, except for collectors (like this guy!). “I Will Survive” was completely unreleased until the first run of Crue remasters came out.  It’s a decent track but not up to the album’s lofty standards. “Hotter Than Hell” is a demo version of “Louder Than Hell” from the next album. (Not availablke on this CD is a great track called “The Black Widow”, finally released a little later on Red, White & Crue.  Also missing is “Sinners and Saints” which is on Supersonic & Demonic relics.)

There are also three more demos from the albums sessions:  “Shout”, “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young”.  The 1999 remastered edition did not have “Too Young To Fall In Love”.  That was a Japanese bonus track instead.

There’s also a music video for “Looks That Kill” for your PC if you care, but I don’t.  All the Crue vids were made available on the Greatest Hits DVD.

I believe Shout At The Devil is the essential Crue album to own, and also a great metal album for any collection. Yes, Priest, Sabbath, Maiden and Purple are the cornerstones, but Motley Crue for a short time were the flag bearers. This is a great sloppy metal meal, a burger and fries with all the works. Enjoy the meal.

5/5 stars.

Original LP artwork, and remastered CD back: