Summertime Spin-MAMMOTH -WVH (2021)

 

Well friends. A first ever Summertime Spin review of a current album that was released in this current year! What is going on here???

It pays to wake up early.

Back in March of this year I was up at my usual time of 5am getting ready for work. I had some time  to spare before I left the house so I thought I would take a spin around the earth via the Internet.

One site I had been keeping an eye on was Wolfgang Van Halen’s page as he had been mentioning about doing a preorder on his debut self titled release calling itself Mammoth WVH.

Well that March morning there it was, WVH’s debut would be  released on June 11th 2021 in various streaming formats as well on CD and Vinyl.

Vinyl! I was in. I clicked the order link and lo behold there was two options for double “clear” vinyl one of them being an autographed copy.

Plus a gatefold sleeve. I sure do love the gatefold!

I thought for a second that a signed album by the last name being Van Halen can’t be cheap.

Well to my amazement it was cheap! A signed insert (see below) copy on vinyl for 40 U.S!

I clicked and after all was said and done including the shipping and currency exchange rate the cost was $65 Canadian!

Sure, to some still a little steep but I didn’t care as I normally don’t go after this kind of thing but since opportunity knocked…

I friggin answered!

The album was shipped  out on June 9th and by the end of the month I had this record in my hands.

After spending the last few months listening to this  new sound from a Van Halen, I have to say its a very good modern contemporary rock record.

As we all know over the last few years Wolf has been recording and doing all the vocals himself (in between VH Tours) at his Pop’s 5150 studio with the help of producer Michael Baskette (AlterBridge-Myles Kennedy).

Give Wolf his due. On this album’s 14 tracks he forges his own path musically and in saying that if you’re looking for “Hot For Teacher” like boogie rock party tunes that his father mastered, you would be better to keep on passing by. However, you would miss out on some great rock.

The records opening three pack of tracks “Mr. Ed,” “Horribly Wright,” and “Epiphany” have  that modern day rock sound. Yes there is a bit of tapping on the strings as that would be expected.

But Wolf can also make a left turn and take the foot off the gas pedal as well on songs like “Think It Over,” “Circles” and of course the bonus track tribute to his Dad, that being “Distance” which is  at over 5 million plus views on Youtube is impressive.

Speaking of “Think It Over”. This one needs to be released as a single and yup I’m pretending to play A&R guy!

Make no mistake though as Wolf shows what a great multi instrumentalist he is on three of my favourites that being  “Don’t Back Down”, “Resolve” and “You’re To Blame” which are filled throughout with enough hooks to keep any hard rock fan happy.

Mammoth WVH is a stellar debut and worthy of your attention.  I look forward to hearing what Wolf has up his sleeve now that he has put a band together and has hit the road supporting this record.

See Folk’s, It pays to get up early!

Thanks for reading along over the last two months and commenting as well now that summer is coming to an end so is this series.

 

Summertime Spin: Bryan Adams- Reckless (1984)

I can admit that it wasn’t until the Summer of 69, oops  I mean the Summer of ’85 that I really got on board with the “Reckless” opus that was selling like hotcakes but had already been out in the shops since November ’84.

Bryan Adams was everywhere that summer as it was only a matter of time before I took the plunge and originally bought it on cassette tape.

Why the wait you ask? Simple. I had to stretch my funds until my summer job of washing dishes at the hospital. If Maiden, Priest, AC/DC, RUSH were to release music they took priority over everyone else musically that is.

Oh yeah add Rock Mags to that list!

So once young dEke’s had a little money in his pocket going Jing a little Jing I liked what I heard from the continuous rotation of Adams videos on MuchMusic!

“Run To You*,” One Night Love Affair”, “Heaven”, “It’s Only Love”, “Summer of ’69”, “Somebody”, basically more half the album was already out as singles so I liked what I heard especially the guitar chops of Keith Scott** who its say to safe is in my all time TOP 10 of 6 stringers!

But I have to say its those other four songs that seal the deal and they are not fillers by any stretch of the imagination.

“Kids Wanna Rock” (listen to those guitar licks courtesy of Mr. Scott), “Long Gone”, album closer “Ain’t Gonna Cry” (what an end of the album scorcher) and one of the best songs on “Reckless” that being “She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancing”  which has a Stonesy like guitar riff during the chorus and features the great Lou Gramm on backing vocals!

An absolute beginning of the record GEM! (see what I did there Mr. Geoff Stephen?)

After “Reckless” I was onboard with what ever Adams was putting out up until after his “Unplugged” release as for some reason Adams found the light fluffy avenue of rock and decided to stay on that street.

Fair enough…

But..

“Reckless” and the one that followed “Into The Fire”(1987) are such great pieces of rock that always deserve a spin at Arena Rock HQ’s!

I have an VHS insert in case Ladano wants to order a copy..

*- Adams offered Blue Oyster Cult “Run To You”  in which B.O.C turned Adams down so Bryan recorded it and kept it for himself.

Adams= Genius

Blue Oyster Cult= Dumb Ass Move

**- When Eddie Van Halen lists you as one his fav’s, I think it’s safe to say your doing something right on that 6 string!

Summertime Spin-Top 10 Albums Too Listen To Before The End of Summer.

How about a SummerTime Spin compilation post? I thought it would be neat to compile what I have been streaming and spinning recently as well as this post is an request from a good pal of mine…

One of the first guys to follow my blog a bunch of years ago was my good pal RockStar Supa Paulie whom a few years  back moved to Southern Ontario after being placed in the  Witness Protection  Program!

Just joking…

But Paulie did reach out to me  to check in and that he still enjoys my nonsense and asked if I would be willing to do a Top 10 list of what I have been listening to this summer.

That’s a damn fine idea and to appease my huge audience (insert laughter here), why not tell you all what I have been streaming or spinning  the last few months.

Some of these I have reviewed and a few I haven’t yet but may do so at some point.

Without further ado here we go…

Styx- Crash of the Crown (2021)– Styx go all late 70s early 80s prog and deliver a stellar album with a ton of acoustic guitar but enough snap crackle n pop in the tracks to keep you coming back for more. All Hail Gowan. The best thing that Shaw did was hire Larry. Take that all you Dennis DeYoung fans. Fight Me!

Mammoth WVH (2021)- A real fine rock record that proves Wolf is his own man and will forge his own path of Rock. Great catchy songs plus added points as Wolf is a hoot on Twitter.

Polychuck-Shadows Exposed (2021)- This fine 5 song EP has some wicked playing and has a total different vibe then what is out there currently. Polychuck also told us when we talked to him that his first full-length releases may be a concept album. This dude not only has balls but he will kick your ass as well!

George Lynch- Seamless (2021)– In a what took ya so long to do. One of my favourite guitar hero’s George Lynch is about to release a full length guitar  driven instrumental record. I’m not big on these albums, but considering George is one the best  he gets a pass. George looks like a great interview (dry sarcastic humour) as I just watched one the other day and he can’t remember the name of the guy who played bass on this record lol.  First single  “Death By A Thousand Licks” you should all check out. Great song. Mr. Scary is coming for ya!

Lee Aaron- Radio On! (2021)– Does Lee Aaron age? Wowzer’s man and Radio On! is an album with a lot of rock swagger especially when you have guitar slinger Sean Kelly co writing and laying down big bombastic riffs of rock over and over!

The Tragically Hip- Saskadelphia (2021)– The Hip don’t mess about on this 6 track EP, 1  live tune and 5 (and I’m not calling them leftover) studio tracks from 1991. These tracks are Gold! Stream this one, buy this one on vinyl or buy it on coaster(CD’s). Just get it dammit!

Stone Temple Pilots-Tiny Music ..Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop (1996/2021)–  I always will and still do dig STP. Great live act when they opened for the Stones back in ’94. Great studio act that had a great run of albums  throughout the ’90s as well. This reissue is mega with a bunch of outtakes and a live show from ’97 which is the real deal for me. I loved the look of this band as you had a drummer (Eric Kretz) who looked like a surfer. You had a lead singer (Scott Weiland R.I.P) who was not only  a great vocalist/frontman but a slick dresser as well. Plus you had two brothers. One being on bass (Robert DeLeo) who looks like a slick D.E.A officer while his brother on Guitar (Dean DeLeo) who looked like a member of the Narcos Cartel. Somehow they made it work.

KISS-OFF THE SOUNDBOARD(2021)– Gene and Paul do the right thing and release a KISS show from way back in 2001 with the real Ace and fake Peter in the lineup and it’s a stellar listen. Like many I hope Eric Carr gets his long overdue with one of these live ‘soundboard’ releases at some point.

Metallica- The Black Album(1991/2021)– Crazy to think that The Black Album is 30 years old. Where does the time go? Metallica is reissuing this in a huge way. Every single format possible. Demos, live stuff, the whole nine yards. Myself I have preordered the double vinyl of the The Black Album which I have never owned except for on coaster (CD) upon its original release back in ’91. I will be streaming all the extra stuff from Apple Music as I want to hear all this music  and how they built it up from scratch!

IRON MAIDEN- The Writing On The Wall (2021)– September 3rd 2021 drops the new Maiden 82 minute  opus “Senjutsu” and we all will be better off. Debut single ‘The Writing On The Wall’ written by Bruce and Adrian have Maiden doing what they do best. Writing 6 minute plus like tracks that continue to push the band  on the ledge known as Prog Rock yet still retaining that Maiden Sound!

Jared James Nichols- Shadow Dancer (2021)- I love this guy as JJN has a throwback sound yet an ear to whats current in the  hard blues rock genre. “Shadow Dancer” is a 4 song EP that will drop in early September yet Jared has put out a couple of cool tracks beforehand.  “Skin N Bone” and “Bad Roots”. “Bad Roots” I have to say is bad ass  as I love that fuzzy Geezer Butler like Bass vibe that is laid down with Jared doing what he does best over top of it! Rawk!

How about a bonus 11th pick….!

Night Ranger- ATBPO (2021)– You would have thought Tbone was lurking around these parts with a Night Ranger pick popping up on this page. Night  Ranger I do like, well the rock stuff is good whereas I always found there ballads were a ploy to sell records so to me there “meh”. In 2021 with a new album calling itself “ATBPO” whatever that means is a pretty good kick at revisiting the hey day of the 80s. What I mean  by that is you still have Jack Blades singing about “school girl” and “cocaine” so I guess 2021 isn’t all that bad.

Two more “SummerTime Spin” coming up on the next couple of weekends than thats a wrap for another summer!

 

 

 

SUMMERTIME SPIN- THE GEORGIA SATELLITES: OPEN ALL NIGHT(1988)

Summer of ’88  comes and  another one of my favourite spins (on cassette) was “The Georgia Satellites” when they dropped the follow up to the platinum selling self titled debut.

“Open All Night” is a great title for an album and look at that cover as its like the four dudes that make up the band are up all night as well.

Dan Baird as you all know was the driving force on all three of the Satellite major label releases not only singing and playing guitar but was also the main songwriter.

I’m always  surprised as how much pressure it must have been on guys like Baird back in the day to produce hits.

‘Keep Your Hands To Yourself’ was the biggie hit back in ’86 so come ’88 what batch of Georgia Fried Sizzle Rock could Dan come up with?

Out of the albums eleven tracks, Dan wrote eight along with  two cover tune’s, Ringo Starr’s ‘Don’t Pass Me By” and Whole Lotta Shakin Going On.” Lead slide guitarist Rick Richards contributes Hand To Mouth which is a borderline Stones  tune.

Baird though seals the deal on this album with his songs especially as he is a very crafty lyricist.

Open All Night has the band zipping around almost in ZZ Top land whereas second song in  Sheila is the perfect example of Bairds lyrics.

“Living here in this old town
There ain’t a lot to do
And after work I just ride around
Looking out for something new
When I saw you standing in a drugstore
Trying on your diamond ring
Had to run in jump through the front door
Grab your hand and start to sing about”

Plus the fact that Baird has a awesome Southern drawl seals the deal for me.

That’s the thing with these guys is they don’t deviate to much from their sound.

Lot’s of great driving summer rock stuff on here. “Down And Down” is a ball’s out rock track and that’s where the band excels as these guys had musical chops as well. “Mon Cheri” should have been a single. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t but it has that “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” vibe about it.

I read somewhere that Baird said this album was difficult to make and left it at that.

As a fan of the band, sure it falls a little short if your were to compare it to the debut and even the third album, ’89s” In The Land of Salvation and Sin” which considering was the swan song of the Satellites, they went out on a high note.

If you want to rewind back to 1988 and get a fix of some barroom boogie rock, look no further than “Open All Night”.

Summertime Spin-WHITESNAKE: Live…In The Heart of The City (1980)

Looking back when I first heard the name of Whitesnake forty years ago this summer its only fitting that “Live…In The Heart of the City” would be a summer time spin as it was the summer of 1981 that I ever had my first taste of the ‘Snake.

Also when I think about looking back at a lot of bands, live albums were my entry point into discovering them. “KISS ALIVE 2”, “Cheap Trick at Budokan”, “Judas Priest with Unleashed In The East” and now Whitesnake with this stellar release of “Live…In The Heart of the City.”

No wonder I still love albums even to this day.

Rewind back to the Summer of ’81 shall we?!

I never had a big brother or sister in which I could raid their record collections to discover music. It was pretty much up to me for discovery.

I can recall two times though that this wasn’t the case. Back around 1981 a good close personal friend of my Dad’s, Ken Schmidt (RIP) passed onto me Aerosmith’s “Draw The Line” record which I had only read about in the magazines at the time (Creem, Circus) and that was my entry point into Aerosmith. Needless my mind was blown upon first hearing the title track!

The second time was at my high school pal’s house Darcy. Now Darcy had an older brother named Stacy and one day when I was at there place Stacy called us over to the stereo and he showed the cover of this new (to me) band called Whitesnake!

Before I heard a note I had already judged the cover!

To my 15 year old eyes at the time that cover looked like a mix of a hippy ( Micky Moody on the left side of the cover) and a bunch of old farts. (take your pick!)

Before I could outright dismiss it, Stacy dropped the needle on the last track of Side One that being “Love Hunter”.

I was blown away I never heard this kind of hard rock before. I was basically mesmerized that here I am in Thunder Bay listening to that hippy Mickey Moody slam through some serious slide guitar and how about that hookup with mutton chops on the drums Ian Paice as they go to town together for a little side ways jam before the band comes back in?!

So good..I didn’t need to hear the rest I needed my own copy and shortly after I did.

“Come On” begins the proceeding as lead throat David Coverdale lays down the law vocally. It’s a great opener which slams right into the guitar mashup of both Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody that takes off right into “Sweet Talker”!

What a great track and even better the late Jon Lord pounds the hammond which goes right into Moody’s solo.

David Coverdale being the boss man of Snake put together a great lineup of course by adding his old homeboys from Deep Purple(Paice and Lord) which I’m sure helped sell albums and tickets  in Europe.

“Walking In The Shadows of the Blues” is a great track. Lots of great tempo changes and a really stellar performance by the band. Wow just Wow!

Side Two is three songs only beginning with the bluesy “Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City “complete with crowd participation followed by what I would consider the best Snake version of “Fool For Your Loving.*

“Take Me With” ends the album on warp speed and its amazing that these geezers could lift off and play at this speed.

What a friggin brilliant live album!

Funny how in North America Whitesnake wouldn’t make a dent til about ’84  when Geffen Records, well basically John Kalodner came in and told Coverdale to  get rid of these hippies so adios Moody but thats another story for another time.

Going back to 81 I still remember going to my good pal Muc’s house in the fall of that year (before the snow came) and there was a copy of the new Whitesnake album ‘Come And Get It!”

So here we are in forty years later in August 2021 and a new mint copy of this album was due! I ordered this ‘Snake album from the Ladano approved Encore Records in Kitchener Ontario and got myself an updated coloured copy of this record!

Fab!

*- Coverdale thought it would be a great idea in ’89 to release another version of “Fool For Your Loving” with Steve Vai. My 2 cents on this matter is even though Vai is good on some of the original songs on Slip of the Tongue. Vai though wacking off  on that wang bar on his  guitar on “Fool For Your Loving” is all wrong!

Coverdale should have brought back that old hippie for that track!

 

SUMMERTIME SPIN: RATT-INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY (1985)

Another big release that had just come out in my world in June 1985 was RATT with the followup to there 3 times platinum debut (Out of The Cellar) was “Invasion of Your Privacy”

I originally purchased this one on cassette tape so when I pedalled my bike to my summertime job I could crank up the RATT N ROLL so to say and plus it was a good pick me up when I was working that summer of ’85 with a starting time of 6 am!

The whole RATT team was brought back together again( Beau Hill once again was producing) and just like on the debut a supermodel was featured on the cover of the new album.

Sex Sells….

It worked as myself and Tbone grabbed this tape basically the day it dropped into the shelves of the local record shops. Like many we needed another hit of some sleaze ball L.A Rock and Stephen Pearcy and crew delivered.

Looking back on this album in 2021 I have to say it’s probably my favourite RATT album and I can honestly say I liked all of this bands output in the 80s. (even the patchy Reach For The Sky had some decent moments).

Where “Invasion” works is in the theory of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Realistically this record is Side 3 & 4 of “Out of The Cellar” and that’s not a knock but a compliment as the tracks that are on this record are still strong.

Opener “Your In Love” gets the party started (or continuing I guess in regards to the debut) and this tune features Warren DeMartini leading the charge on the 6 string not only on this song but all the songs throughout as Warren is one of the best to come out of LA at this time. (George Lynch would be the other).

From there the party continues as Stephen tells us to “Never Use Love” followed by Pearcy telling us all to “Lay It Down” (first single).

“Give It All” has a great pre chorus where Ratt flex’s some musical muscle which at time can be lost in the how these guys looked at the time.

Is there such a thing as RATT Ballad? “Closer To The Heart” may just be that. A tune I don’t mind and  usually when bands from this genre would do the the quote on quote ‘Power Ballad’ I would puke in my mouth as I knew that was the game to be played..

Side 2 begins with “Between The Eyes” which is a sleazy slow cooker of a track that goes into “What You Give Is What You Get” which is another slow paced cooker of a track.

If your an old fart like me (take a bow Tbone) than you will remember the old answering machines where you would record  a message on a  cassette tape so if somebody called they would hear your voice and at the end leave you a message.  In other words old school voice mail. Well, with “Got Me On The Line” the tune begins with a phone ringing and Pearcy answering “Hello” than the band kicks in..

That back in the early 90s when I was living on my own was my message so if you were on the other line you would get blasted with Pearcy answering and the band firing it up.

Young goofy people do young goofy thing’s!

I always liked “Got Me On The Line” which is a great little ass kicker of a 3 minute RATT track which Steve-O tells us all at the end of the song “Nobody hangs up on me!!” 

BAM!!

Straight into “You Should Know By Know” which is another great  track with DeMartini laying down some snazzy fret work. 

“Dangerous But Worth The Risk” which was the opener on the “Invasion Tour” ends the album with another stellar track. I like Blotz’s drumming on this tune as he drives that RATT rocket ship forward.

RATT comes out with two strong albums and by looking back at things the summer of ’85 if rocking was my business than business was FRIGGING GOOD!

 

 

SUMMERTIME SPIN: RATT-OUT OF THE CELLAR (1984)

My pal Tbone was first out of the cellar, oops I meant to say gate  picking up the major label debut of RATT’s “Out of The Cellar” back in March ’84.

Growing up in Thunder Bay there is no such thing as a Sunset Strip but at that time in ’84 we would cruise around in Tbone’s parents Ford green machine family van and would blast “Out of The Cellar” for all the city to hear!

Shortly after though  I had to have my own copy of “Out of The Cellar” and what a  decent debut. Some great playing within the band as the songs were good, production was good and singer Stephen Pearcy had that sleazy L.A drawl liked he swallowed a pack of razor blades.

The ace in the hole within the band is of course Warren DeMartini who plays a bunch of solo’s suited to the bands needs. Dude has his own style and wasn’t really the hot dogging type on the six string.

“Wanted Man” leads off the charge basically its about these guys blowing into town, playing the show, hooking up with ladies and blowing out of town(ahem) to the next show! Warren seals the seal the deal with a great guitar solo!

“Round And Round” the debut single went through the roof especially on the video front which at the time was really crafted smart video. The guitars of DeMartini and the late Robbin Crosby are stellar on this song and many others.

Plus the fact that RATT could shake up the musical tempo in there tunes as well. Some quick little shifts in the songs which made me notice as a listener that they cats could play.

Don’t believe me check out the second track “You’re In Trouble” which at the  start with the rumbling bass from Juan Croucier and the offbeat drumming by Bobby Blotzer  sounds like Duran Duran hyped on speed. “She Wants Money” has the RATT X-Press clipping at a fast pace down the track shows that when they wanted to power rock they could.

LOVE THAT OLD ATLANTIC LOGO ON RECORDS!

No dip on Side 2 as “Lack of Communication” has Pearcy and Croucier trading one liners on the song which if anything is an appropriate title in 2021 I would add!

“Back For More” is the second single and has that nice little acoustic opening before launching into an all out frontal rock attack. Once again the boys mix it up in the tempo department! (for an even better version of Back For More check out the RATT EP issued in 1983)

When I talk about end of album GEMS “The Morning After” is one of them. Why on Gods green earth was this not released as a single. It’s all here. Tight musical chops with Pearcy’s sleaze ball vocal delivery. Simply a stellar tune…

“I’m Insane” has the band driving forward with a quick hit between the eyes while end of the album tune “Scene of The Crime” is a real good album closer as Pearcy tells the tale about being duped by some cold hearted bitch. His words not mine folk’s. Once again another cool solo to round things up.

Looking back and listening to this one again takes me back to that summer of ’84 when so many records were coming out that year. RATT held there own in hanging with the big boys and give these guys props for not putting a single ballad on here!

SUMMERTIME SPIN: Ozzy Osbourne- THE ULTIMATE SIN (1986)

I purchased “The Ultimate Sin” on cassette tape back in the spring of ’86 right before summer hit and this one (along with some others) for the longest time, was a favourite of mine in my trusty old Walkman!

Ozzy was on a creative roll after the awesome debut of Jake E Lee on ’83’s “Bark At The Moon” in which Jake showed up with a bag of riffs and laid down some serious guitar chops and continued Ozzy’s success . The thanks Jake got for “Bark At The Moon” was squat in the songwriting credits but this would change for the “Ultimate Sin”.

Ron Nevison fresh from bringing the band “Heart” off of  life support a year earlier in which that self titled album sold millions. Ron was tasked at hand at dialling it in with Ozzy and the band.

“Ultimate Sin” in 2021 is kinda the forgotten album in the Osbourne solo catalog. Why? I have no idea but I’m sure its business related and personal as we all know Sharon’s deal right?

Anyhoo…

Ultimate Sin has a good batch of tunes. Is it as good as “Bark At The Moon”? In my opinion no but this record had some killer riffs and songs.

Actually listening to it now there’s really no bad tunes it’s just that Nevison tried making a heavy metal Heart album. Whereas Bark At The Moon had a production style to its own Ultimate Sin doesn’t.

The songs can’t be knocked as the title track opens the album and it just crushes and launches right into “Secret Loser”. Thats a good starter pack right there as Jake smokes that fret board.

I will say that each song has some good Ozz and Jake value. The crowning achievement on this record is the stellar “Killer of Giants” which slowly builds up until it lifts off. What a great track as Jake delivers the goods on this track.

“Shot In The Dark” (written by Ozzy and Bassist Phil Soussan) was the big video/song from this record and helped propel the album up the charts.

So for Ozzy having Jake along (Bob Daisley co wrote 8 of the tracks with Jake and Ozzy) in the drivers seat helped keep Ozzy playing the arenas whereas his old band Black Sabbath was changing lineups quicker than a McDonalds worker flipping patties!

In what has to be one of my rock n roll blunders was when I had an opportunity to catch this tour In Minneapolis in early July of 86 in Minneapolis as I had to decline as I working full time that summer.

My thinking was no biggie I will catch Ozzy next time.

Well that was partially true. I caught Ozzy not o the next tour but on Ozzy’s “No More Tour Tours” back in July ’92!

That was no big deal but what I missed out on was that July ’86 show was Metallica opening for Ozzy when Cliff Burton was still alive.

Damn…

I have this on vinyl which my pal El Donko passed onto me. It’s a little worn but I have never seen this out there in the wilds so this beat up copy will do for now!

 

 

 

Summertime Spin- Motley Crue: Theatre of Pain (1985)

Hey Folk’s! Welcome back to another round of “Summertime Spin” where I transport you all back to those good old days of the 80’s, where certain albums had those kind of impact moments on me as a listener upon there release when I was young, much younger!

Summer of 85 and I was starting my second summer working for a living as I was going on 18 my job washing dishes was basically funnelling my addiction to all things hard rock. Magazines, the odd purchase on cassette and mostly on vinyl ruled my world when payday would roll around.

One such album that came out right when I was finishing up Grade 12 was the very eagerly awaited new album from Motley Crue!

Now Playing- Theatre of Pain.

Crue was huge in 85 for some of the wrong reasons as we all know about the car accident in which Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle was killed as Crue singer Vince Neil was charged with vehicular manslaughter. A few people in the other car that Neil plowed into also were hurt.

I’m not going to go down that whole road as there has been enough written about it but come that summer, how would the Crue respond.

Before I get to far into this you have to transport yourself back to that summer of 85 with me.

Sure over time “Theatre of Pain” has been trashed by many a fan and fair enough as if you bought this at the time I bet ya liked some if not all of it.

I’m calling you out!

My point being there wasn’t much Crue to compare it to as this record was the third major release by them. (“Too Fast For Love” and “Shout At The Devil” came out in 1981 and 1983 respectively)

See thats the thing with 20/20 hindsight. What is maybe considered meh in 2021 was awesome in 1985!

So anyways with Vince Neil freshly out of the clink and back with Motley out comes “Theatre of Pain” in which I was fully invested what the band was selling upon its release.

At the time I dug that look the Crue was going for. Back in 85 I was an imperishable teen who lapped up what Nikki Sixx was pouring my way.

Let’s go Glam says Sixx and the masses bought into it. Crue must have been the first act or close to it as come a year later in 86 Poison releases on the world their debut(” Look What The Cat Dragged In”) and that Poison front cover had many fooled. You know what I’m talking about.

Actually looking back some good stuff oozed itself off this album like the Aerosmith driven “City Blues Boy”. I thought this style of sleaze rock was good.

I was burnt out at the time and still am ironically enough in regards to cover tunes as “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” I found somewhat boring on the album but I thought the video was funny enough and I could handle watching it in 1985 times so to speak.

Speaking of video. “Home Sweet Home” is a good one as this song I believe saved the album from going to the cheapie bins rather quickly. Once again I liked the video over the album version. As I loved that live and backstage footage of the band.

Sixx was smart or someone at the management was as they knew how to sell the show to a yahoo like me at the time and this video went bonkers and I bet ya sold a million copies of this record alone on that track.

The rest of the record was good not great with “Keep Your Eye On The Money” being perhaps my favourite off this album back in 85 and even now in 2021.

Sixx hit one out of the park on that one…

“Comedy and tragedy
Entertainment or death
Like Sister Morphine
Hooked on her game
Time to place your bets“

Considering the Crue was kinda in a mess at this time personally its amazing that they could pull it together and put out a record at all.

I guess back in 1985 that was saying something as Sixx, Lee, Mick and Vince were partying and pulling all nighters, a young deKe’s was getting up at 5 am to go to my summertime job at the hospital to fuel my addiction to rock and in doing so in buying albums like “Theatre of Pain”.

Your Welcome Sixx!