Motley Crue/Saints of Los Angeles(2008)

 

Nikki Sixx man! You gotta hand it to him as once again I drank from the Motley Kool Aide and was duped….

This time it’s 2008 and I’m about to turn 41!? I’m still being fooled! Haha… If you recall from my other Crue reviews I was in my late teens(Mid 80’s) when the Crue were riding high with Multiple Platinum albums/Sold Out Tours/Tons of Press and I was lapping it all up!

Funny though that some of their 80’s output which I reviewed haven’t really stood the test of time…If you dig around the site I have reviewed a ton of their stuff…

To save you time though How about a quick little summary of each review I done…

(for all you Canadian Readers we can call this the Coles Note Section I posted a pic of three titles below! Basically they were cheater books back in the 80s which would explain certain book titles in a lot fewer pages than the actual book and for ding dong’s  like me in simpler english like King Lear. )*****

Too Fast For Love(1981)- Wicked Awesome Debut!

Shout At The Devil(1983)-Not bad..not as good as the debut but a pretty decent follow-up! Bastaaaaaard!

Theatre of Pain(1985)-Oh oh Vinnie destroys a band in seconds(Hanoi Rocks) while Sixx digs in his bag of trixx and tries to save this album from the scrap heap! If it wasn’t for the Home Sweet Home track I think even in the mid 80’s this album would have tanked quicker than Tbone shot gunning back a quick 12 pack of Molson Canadian Beer!

Girls/Girls/Girls(1987)- Crue keeps partying and release this piece of unproduced slop a roo! Sixx I guess is into the brown sugar  and this album limps along and man oh man Your All I Need and Jailhouse Rock are the last two songs on the album  and are awful. This album has a large D.N.R on it(Do Not Recessitate)

Dr Feelgood-Bob Rock finally gives the Crue a big Rock(no pun) sound that still holds up today. The title track is a smorgasboard of all great things that the Crue could do.  Big ass rhythms/pounding bass/cool guitars/tons of percussion and that is just the opening track. Of course there’s silliness in the form of Sticky Sweet and She Goes Down but this can be forgiven ..somewhat!

Motley Corabi(1994)- The self titled album after Vinnie gets the boot and in comes John Corabi  in which the Crue put out what I consider their best studio album since the debut and last real good album. We all know the story of the Corabi album as it tanked. The tour tanked and Nikki/Tommy send Corabi packing like it was his fault! Bullshit I say as Johnnie got a raw deal…..

Generation Swine(1997)- Vince returns to save the day. Well that’s what we’re led to believe but this album is Crue going techno metal and when I reviewed it a while back it kinda grew on me like I wanted to trash it but I kinda didn’t mind it. Sure there’s filler! Glitter is pure yuck but saying that songs like   Black Beauty and Afraid  are brilliant.  To this day love the cover…Pigs! Generation Swine  for myself is like a wart on your body that won’t go away…

There ya have my reviews.  Short n simple if you want the full sordid stories of each one just search around, there all there….

Ok…so Saints of Los Angeles comes out and I want to give a chance! How many times have I been down Tricky Sixx Avenue?

So this is another one of those Crue albums that was tough listen….

13 Tracks and so I dialled this album up on my iPod. After not listening to it since well….2008 would my opinions change?

L..A.M.F is the opener albeit a minute and a half of silliness with  Vince’s voice and devilish sounding guitars  and what not..which leads into

Face In The Dirt is Motley flexing their muscle with a cranked up sound on guitars especially with the production. This tune is actually not a bad opener. Almost punk mashed up with Motley Metal. It’s basically the Crue defying everything around them and instead of conforming they would rather be dead? Um ok! Mars plays a real slick solo…

What’s It Gonna Take is another pretty decent track sounds total autobiographical as these guys had to fight for there right to party! Mars plays again plays some slick guitar. Sleazy Vince’s voice sounds quite good here and for good measure he tosses down a few M’fuckers out for good measure…

Down At The Whiskey keeps the autobiographical Crue tales rolling around Motley’s favourite water hole from yesteryear.  Not a bad track actually. Kinda funny as I was listening to this album I wonder how many takes it took to get Vinnie to sing these songs as live he’s Mr Huff N Puff…

Actually Saints of Los Angeles the title track with its vibe  and song wise harken back to the Feelgood days of yesteryear. Neat groove as Vince try’s  to be a tough guy. Hahaha…Nice drumming by Tommy Lee….

I always find it amusing when dudes who are in there 40’s try to be tough guys and with MotherFucker of The Year ol Nikki is flexing his rock muscle and this tune is real good as the course is so catchy. I mean be careful when this song gets lodged in the back of your brain! Here I am again ….I’m The Motherfucker of The Year! Thanks Nikki I’m in my late 40’s and now I’m a tough guy minus the Tats/Money and Mansion! Love the video edit. Sounds like Vince is singing MotherFuger of The Year!. Maybe that’s why Sixx is flapping his arms around at those security guys in the video…..

Well…

The rest of the album kinda gets lost on me..

Animal In Me….meh!

Welcome To The Machine is a straight ahead slop of a rocker nothing special here folks. One part of this track has Vince panting right before the start of Mars solo…

Just Another Psycho another straight ahead rocker that just does nothing. Vince sings the line “I should be committed for being so Twisted” Ha…. Another Slop Rocker…

Chicks=Trouble Great title but the song just has nothing going for it. No catchy hook…no catchy like MotherFucker of The Year chorus..nothing… Next!

This Ain’t A Love Song has Tommy starting off the song with his straight ahead drum beat. Sounds like a leftover from Generation Swine. 

White Trash Circus does squat….

Going Out Swinging ends the album with a full-out assault with he Crue playing a fast tempo  with nothing to write home about. Even after the song slows down only to ramp back up…Not interested… Safe to say that the Crue went out swinging and striking out as well!

What can I say….

Believe it or not this album started off promising but after M’Fucker Of The Year it was a real hard listen to get through this album. Should have released this an EP.  I  got hosed by Sixx again!

Pass the fucking Kool Aide!

***** -of course all my reviews are in simple English/mistakes and punctuation are a total mess but you get the gist of my silliness right?

 

Motley Crue/The End(2016)

This is an audio only review of the 15 songs that were released on iTunes!

Crue releases or should I say cash’s out the Final ever show recorded in the city where it all began in the early 80’s Los Angeles.

As is tradition with every single rock act nowadays is to release current tour on DVD/CD and since no one buy’s full albums anymore why not!?

The End is indeed here and it was a real interesting listen through this live(Cough Cough) set.

LIVE CD TRACK LISTING:
1.) Intro
2.) Girls, Girls, Girls
3.) Wild Side
4.) Primal Scream
5.) Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
6.) Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
7.) Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room
8.) Looks That Kill
9.) Mutherf***** Of The Year
10.) Shout At The Devil
11.) Louder Than Hell
12.) Saints Of Los Angeles
13.) Live Wire
14.) Dr. Feelgood
15.) Kickstart My Heart
16.) Home Sweet Home

Basically it’s the Greatest Hits Live Album Set…

The Culprits….

Vince Neil – lead  vocals
Mick Mars – guitar
Nikki Sixx – bass
Tommy Lee – drums

Once again I drank Sixx’s Kool Aid and thought this might be a decent spin through but as it turns out it kinda is and isn’t!

I dunno what it is but I’m kinda glad they closed up shop and I hope it stays that way. Will it over time? We’ll see but this Live Set could have been done real good and for starters the audio sounds a little on the sterile studio side with the audience cranked in certain sections. The backing vocals sound  pre recorded on the song  Girls Girls Girls  Are those the original  Female singers from 1987’s Girls album still being sampled live?  Or is that prankster Sixx making me  think that?!

The musical chops of Lee/Sixx/ Mars is pretty solid especially Mick’s playing as the guy in the band who is in a mess physically can still show up and carry the music is very commendable. Still have to give props to Mars playing on the Motley Corabi record as Mickey took his playing to a whole other level back than. Kudos MarsMan!

Vince! Why are you singing so angry  like during the verses of Shout At The Devil? I don’t get it man….Just sing  the tune Dude!  Simmer down Rock Star!

Case in point…where on the studio version of Shout At The Devil  Vince sings the line of…

Sure you’ve heard it all before
He’ll be the risk in the kiss
Might be anger on your lips
Might run scared for the door
But in seasons of wither
We’ll stand and deliver

The live version sounds like this to me…

Aaaaaaaaargh fore….grrrrrrrrr ar kiss ……crawwwww lips…blah door….waaaaargh wither…arrrrrrgh deliver……

I was going to post the video but nah! Brutal at times….haha….but at time’s like on Don’t Go Away Mad Just Go Away Vince steps up and sings even on Same Ol Situation and he carries it well but ah man where’s Corabi?

I mean this guy gets repeatedly  ripped for his Live performance and in spots here it’s decent enough but at times Sleazy Vince just makes me want to skip the whole song….Next!

I really wish these guys would have released a Live Dr Feelgood album back in 90/91 and capitalized on their success. Me and Tbone caught the Feelgood show and it was a great indoor Rock Show. Instead in 1991 they released the first of many Greatest Hits sets/Canned Vince and even after Corabi took the fall for whatever reason  after Vince returned it was over as the Crue could never regain that momentum that they had built throughout the 80s into the early 90s!

Some may say I’m being harsh here..maybe, but I dumped a ton of Loot into the Corporation Crue’s Pockets so I’m gonna say it how I hear it!

I will still say that one of the best quotes came from Mars back in 1987 when they cancelled some shows and he stated that “The snow caved in the roof” or something to that effect! Haha…Mick earned a ton of street cred in my book for that one liner! (literally)

Fret not Kids. Sixx has a new band calling itself Sixx AM.(cool name but I just cannot get into it) Tommy Lee? Who knows what he’s doing spinning  albums with his baseball cap spun a little to the left. Vince is out playing parking lots/pizza parlours/basement’s/fairs and playing Crue tunes(Yawn). I should hire Vinnie to play at Tbone’s 50th Bday Party!  Mick Mars from what I have read is recording a solo album and has recruited John Corabi to sing on a few tracks! Now, what Mick is doing is actually something I’m interested in! Atta Boy Mick! In this day and age of Social Media Mars is the only one I follow on FaceCrack…can’t be bothered with the rest of  em!

Check out My Blog Pal 2Loud2OldMusic’s spin on The End as well by clicking the link below….

Motley Crue ‘The End: Live in Los Angeles’ – DVD & CD Review 

Don’t Go Away Mad Crue….Just Go Away!

 

 

Motley Crue/New Tattoo(2000)

The 90s were kinda brutal for Motley Crue…

QuickTime Line…..By Deke…

1992- Vince Neil (singer) gets canned! 

1994-Crue release what I would consider there second best album (after the debut) in the self titled Motley Crue or as I call it Motley Corabi  featuring John Corbai as the new singer.. Album and Tour Flop!

1997-Corabi gets the Boot. Sleazy Vince returns and the Crue release Generation Swine(Flop #2) which I consider a better record than most others but  doesn’t really do much sales wise!

1999-Tommy Lee splits and is replaced by Randy Castillo(RIP)….

So at the start of the New Millennium( 2000) Nikki Sixx dusts off his Dr Feelgood Leather Trouser’s for one more kick at Hair Metal  Throne Of Yesteryear to see if there’s another shot  at Success…

And Guess What Folks?! This one kinda fuses out but there are a few good ones here….

Now for me at the time I bought all this stuff the day of or the week of when new releases would come out….I would play the album non stop of course but over time some fall to the wayside and New Tattoo does.

Having not listened to this album since 2000 pretty much I’m gonna steamroll through some tracks and to be quite honest let’s see how my memory holds up….

 

Hell On High Heels- Pretty decent track. I thought it was a typical throwback Crue tune which would have fit nice and snuggly on Side 2 of 1987’s Girls/Girls/Girls album. These are the kind of tunes that Motley could excel at but by this time not too many were caring. Motley raised the Musical Bar High(and probably drank it dry) on the 94 Corabi album. There playing on that album is phenomenal to say the least as they went from Chucky Cheese Rock of Dr Feelgood into a Music Blender stuffed full of Pissed Off Feelings mixed with a slab dose of Dirty Grunge tunings and no one Fuckin cared! Except Myself/Robbo and Tbone!

Treat Me Like The Dog I Am- No dice Amigo….

New Tattoo-The Title Track and well …….Next

Dragship Superstar- Oh Boy a pattern is developing here…

1st Band On The Moon-Ah …Sixx reaches down into his Musical Bag of Trixx and nails off a Gem! This has those 80s Trimmings of a Kewl Chorus. Go figure as Sixx is the lone co writer on this song. Perhaps he should have taken a few more years and just wrote the album himself.

She Needs Rock n Roll- ?

Punched In The Teeth By Love- I wish Nikki would have had this title back in the Crue’s 80’s Heyday and used Punch In The Teeth By Love and written a Power Ballad for it and placed it once again on Side 2 of the Girl’s album and taken off that Your All I Need track. Yeah that one where it Sounds like Vince has taken his cue from Mr Stanley from KISS’s 1984 Album Animalize and sung in the Highest Vocal Registry possible. Hey don’t bash me I actually like Animalize but man Stanley sang so high-pitched on that album my cat went bonker’s……Since were keeping score here…I have no idea what this song is about but what a  Great Fackin Title!

Hollywood Ending-  For $1  Alex (Trebek) I’m thinking Ballad? Can’t recall….

Fake- I like this track. Sixx writes whats Fake around him. Fake People/Fake This/Fake That. Great Sludgey like tune, Dirty Crue  even Vince sounds Sleazy Good on this track, They should have called the album Fake/Fake/Fake. 

Porno Stars- No recollection of remembering this tune Judge Judy.

White Punks On Dope- This is an Iggy & The Stooges cover and I don’t even know how this tune goes…..

I’m sure there are some out there that Dig this album and for that I Salute You! Seriously I do…

For me …Man it’s on my iPod but I skip it all together. Maybe I’m being a tad harsh but cut me some slack man I littered Sixx’s and The Crues pockets full of dough through the 80s into the 90’s so if its  dud  I’m calling  ya out on it!

If anything the titles on this album are Cool! Sixx though was trying to keep the Crue afloat by  putting out product and touring. By the time  the tour rolled around Castillo got Cancer and had to give up his drum stool….I think Ladano reviewed this album so check out all the Nitty Gritty Details over at his site……

I even bought the new Crue album  Saints of Los Angeles.

See! Bands still can put out mediocre at best stuff and I will still stick around. I’m Kinda like the Dude who doesn’t  know when to leave the party after everyone has left and all you wanna do is sleep off your Late Night Drunkenness…

Party’s Over So Get The (Bleep) Out!

 

 

Mötley Crüe /Dr Feelgood(1989)

As 1989 was ending its Decade Of Decadance  Motley Crue decided to give us one more shot of syrupy,somewhat cheesy sleazy tunes all finely produced by Bob Rock. How about one more  kick at the crash cart with Dr Feelgood as we roll into 1990….

The biggest change is of course Nikki Sixx,Mick Mars,Tommy Lee and Vince Neil recorded this album sober and in Vancouver British Columbia.

Magazines such as Kerrang,Circus and Rip were all over the pre hype sober Crue and so we’re myself and Tbone! I bought whatever was printed about the Crue (back in 1989) and then would spew it at Tbone verbally to keep him up to date!

Crue was big news and what way to get even bigger hype about  a new Crue album than to start a fight with Bon Jovi over in Russia of all places when a bunch of Metal Acts gave their time (hahaha) to play a music festival called Make A Difference Foundation(say no to drugs kids) to give a jail free pass card to Doc McGhee at the time who was Motley and Jovi’s manager!( Doc got nailed with tons and tons of weed so too not got to jail he rallied all his bands to help him  out! Doc is literally Dr Feelgood! Haha)

The story goes is that when the show took place the Crue were promised things and when they didn’t get them and Bon Jovi did whatever they did it pissed off the Crue and they fired McGhee on the spot flipped out on Bon Jovi so much that when Tbone and myself caught the Crue Feelgood tour in the summer of 1990 Tommy Lee chirped “Bon Jerkoff” more than a few times during the show!

Silly multi millionaire tattooed boys looking for trouble with  non tattooed boys! Can’t we all give Peace A Chance! Hahaha…Actually I would have loved to seen a dust-up of Alec John Such (Jovi) and Mars. Ha! I could see it now….Alec putting Mars in the sleeper hold and Nikki coming in from behind with the steel chair and cracking Such over the head to free Mick!

Ok,I’m getting carried away here so back in Sept 1989 here comes Motley rocking and rolling and man when I just wanna listen to Silly Dumbo Rock! Look no further folks…..

TERROR N TINSELTOWN-Mars and his guitar along with Nikki slobbering all over his bass and Tommy smashing around the drums enter the Emergency Room and after the power opening you hear a heartbeat and some dispatcher calling for Dr David and slam your into..

DR FEELGOOD- Big loud bass rumblin along with Tommy slamming his drum kit  into overdrive! This is the new and improved 1989 Crue featuring a ton of percussion,different rhythms with Vinnie not sounding as squeaky vocally on previous albums! The Sonics here are mega huge and you got Bob Rock to thank for that! He makes Motley sound tough like they mean business and hell Bob makes Mick sound demonic in that talk box thingy and Mars even pushes  his fretboard into full-out rock mode during his blistering solo! Sheeeit Mars has stepped up, gone is the droney echoey guitar sound from the Tom Werman produced previous Crue albums….

SLICE OF YOUR PIE-Steve Tyler does his “dippy da da yah yah ” jibber at the beginning of Pie and the Crue rip into a Aero Groove with this tune! It slinks sleazy LA Rock and were all the better for it! This song is quite decent and even as I type this in 2016 it’s a solid piece of horny Cheeseball rock. In other words I lapped this shit up sonically back in 1989 and well in 2106 yeah ummmm I’m still diggin it! The end of this tune the Crue kind of monkey around with or swipe if you like The Beatles ‘She’s So Heavy” ha…Beatle Crue! Slick move and the end sounds heavy in a slow prowl groove like stomp on your neck kinda way!

RATTLESNAKE SHAKE-Tommy and his cowbell along with Count Chocula Err I mean Mick Mars leads off with some neat slide picking and here’s another Aero Like Groover complete with horns and Tommys driving drums and “Do The Shake Shake Shake” Gosh I miss the late 80s when all you had to worry about was when the next album release or tour was hitting the road or in Tbones case when the next Bad English record was gonna drop!

KICKSTART MY HEART-Mars leads the charge with Kickstart My Heart doing a Dippin N Doodlin with his wang bar and Kapow here’s Tommy and Nikki locked in and this song just slams! How can it not get you pumped. Sleazy Vinnie delivers a good lead vocal and toss in some “Whoah ……Yeahs!” You can never go wrong when you add Whoahs and Yeahs now can Ya? I always like how they chilled in the middle part of this tune where Vince yammers on about when they started the band. The song than lifts off and Mars does his talk box deal and power out a real super-duper balls out ending which goes into..

WITHOUT YOU-The ballad! Ha! Shifting gears and compared to that complete diaster of a ballad from the Girls Girls Girls Abum (Your All I Need) this is a better tune. The chorus musically is pretty good I mean the lyrics of “I’ll wilt and die!” are cornholio like yuck but still I recall Tommy Lee on MuchMusic saying that Nikki wrote this tune about Tommys marriage to Heather Locklear and  like all music like marriages it imploded! Nice gesture Nikki did  for Tommy though he probably would go bonkers if he heard this song now! Hahahaha …..

SAME OL SITUATION-This is a cool no frills straight ahead rock track that works well within the song structure of the Crue! Vince finds some coolness and rolls with it. As always, Tommy’s drums are mega huge and slam down some more cowbell please! The chorus is catchey and Wowzers,listen to Sixx  play that bass line under Mar’s guitar solo! Atta boy Nikki and whoosh this is a great track

STICKY SWEET-Some more Aero like groove and Steve Tyler is doing once again his “yippity yap yappy” schtick and we’re off! Sticky Sweet is late 80s excess kind of song and it’s friggin amazing that Sixx when the decade  went from the 80s into the 90s Sixx and his songwriting stepped up lyrically speaking in the 90s starting with Primal Scream and the opening line of “Broke Dick Dog” classic and of course the lyrics were along with the music on the 1994 Motley Corabi just gold! But here we are still in 1989 and “Shes soooo Stickeeeeeee!” Hahaha….Friggin  Sixx!

SHE GOES DOWN-Hey this song was probably my pal Rockin Roberts theme song back in the day! Ha! Hey who sampled Mars doing up his fly at the beginning of this track? Crank the video posted and listen to the guest appearances from the Cheap Trick fella’s as well! The music is quite good (cowbell and a shift of the tempo)the lyrics well its 80s cheese mo dumbo rock! Gene Simmons would have sold his soul to have these lyrics  for Kiss’ Asylum album a few years earlier!

DONT GO AWAY MAD,JUST GO AWAY-Decent single! Nice blend of electric and acoustic guitar on this track. The prechorus is well written piece of schmooz ear candy Rock! Do you remember the video to this tune when Neil was away form the Crue and then halfway thru the video they all hook up with high fives and slaps on the back like they missed each other! Friggin actors…hahahaha! Of course less than two years later (1992) Neil gets shit canned from Motley and they go all verbal postal on him in the press and well guys Don’t Go Away Mad….Just Go Away with lawyers and a payout!

TIME FOR A CHANGE-Yep in the lead singer department eventually! This tune is a departure from basically everything before it that’s on this album. Slow kinda like tune, not sappy but kinda there….

FINAL YAMMER- Ha… so Nikki pulls one more out of the hat with some decent Rock and for all intent purposes this was their last anything kind of seller! Nothin came to close after for the Crue In regards to record sales than the millions that they sold back in 1989-90.

 

Motley Crue/Girls Girls Girls (1987)

1987 and I turn 20 years young while that same year Tbone turned 30! Hahahaha…Nope he didn’t he’s just 6 months older than me but hey when opportunity Knocks you gotta kick the door in to bug your best friend!

This post on The Crue came to me when myself and Mikey Ladano were yacking about how a lot of 80s band just put out album after album tour followed by tour and sometimes the bands recorded material suffers…..

Case in point….Girls Girls Girls….

Hop aboard the Arena Rock Tour Bus as we dissect just what the hell went haywire in the Crue Camp….

Nikki Sixx(bass and main songwriter) Vince Neil(when he could  sing) Tommy Lee(drums) and Mick Mars(guitar) are the culprits  here…..

Time for another installment of 3/4s Filler and as per protocol I only toss albums that I have purchased sometimes twice over (like this one) on vinyl and later on cd so my blog, my rules! Hahaha!

Mikey Ladano did make the point over at The KMA site that most Motley Crüe albums half sucked anyways …hahahaha….and Ladano does make a pretty decent point!

For Every Crue Classic Album that I would consider top notch rock (Too Fast For Love and Motley Corabi) there are some duds(Theatre Of Pain and Girls) ….you can read about my yammerimg on Theatre Of Duds here…..https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/34s-filler-motley-crue-theatre-of-pain/

Consider the Bastard dead!  Is that  me?

WILDSIDE-Wowzers Sixx nails a grand slam right off the bat with this tune! With what Sixx is shovelling I’m digging it here! Wildside is a well written piece of LA street rock! From the opening of  Mars wang bar diddle doodle and Lee playing some hard rock cool drum beats  Sixx slams a straight ahead Cliffy Williams of ACDC fame bass line and Boom were off and running and hey Vince man sings this real good and the opening line of Wildslide is the best written opening verse by a LA Glam Rock band ever….”Kneel Down Ye Sinners To Streetwise Religion,Greeds Been Crowned The New King,Hollywood Dream Teams,Yesterday’s Trash Queens,Save The Blessings For The Final Ring,Amen…..Amen indeed! Check out the live vid posted from the Girls Girls Girls Tour! This 8 minute vid has all the trimmings of 80s Arena Rock. You want Vince dropping F Bombs and plugging the new album?  Check! You want a couple of floozie back up singers whose backing vocals are jacked up way to high too the point of hilarious? Check Check! You want a Mars guitar solo in the middle of Wildside? Triple Check! How about a huge live production with pyro,lights and screaming women? Cheque Please Waiter! Yup ,I miss 1987 hahaha…kinda!

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS- ok let’s face it this when I was  20 this was cool. You know the background to this! Sleazy Vince tells the tales of how many bad ass stripper clubs The Crue has visited like The Body Shop and The Marble Arch! I mean the middle part where Tommy and Vince are whistling and calling each other’s names to check out the women is plain dumbo! Thought it was back in 87 and more so in 2015! So for that Blah! Poor Mick Mars by this point he has no choice to go along with the gimmick he plays some good guitar on this record but man it’s amazing you go from a deadly start with Wildside and quickly you start to meander around by track 2! Last time I went into a strip club here in Tbay was  with Tbone,Darr and Rugg and some other yahoos it was for Tbones  Stag night   we got tossed out over the fact that someone punched in some roof tiles! Yup there Ya go we’re bad ass like Sixx and company minus the blow,hookers and Tats! Ummmm I’m gotta think about this one for a sec!

DANCING ON THE GLASS-a big problem for me listening to this album is the production! Tom Werman handles the producers chair here and man the sonics sound weak and sterile! Dull I guess would be the word. Dancing On Glass i dunno Tommy pounds the drums into the ground but Dancing On Glass is really not a spectacular tune!  Just never registered with me…

BAD BOY BOOGIE-kinda like the somewhat Aero Groove here that starts the song! That’s about it. Actually Mars plays a decent solo with Sixx slobbering all over his bass and laying down a decent line(ahem!) The lyrics about getting your hands caught in the cookie jar and getting banged in the back seat of your car are just plain out goofy doofus rock 101! Wonder if Tbone got a lyric writing credit for this Hodgy Podgy piece of rock?

NONA-hey this is about Sixxs GrandMother so  it’s his band his deal and who doesn’t  love there G-Ma! (That’s what my daughters call there Grandma!) it’s all good here man all good!

FIVE YEARS DEAD-side two starts with some promise! I dig Mars and his slide guitar playing over the years I like  his style more now than I did back in the day as poor Mick was buried under a avalanche of LA Hot Shots!  Yeah this song has a neat groove and aero like shuffle ….pretty damn good….

ALL IN THE NAME OF ROCK N ROLL-Drugs,Boobs,Sex,Young Girls are on tap for this tune. Tommy smashes the drums at the beginning and Mick joins in as well Nikki plays a decent bass line but the over dubbed guitars just ruin this song I mean there a ear sore to me anyways if that means anything! Not to Sixx as he cashed his zillion dollar cheque at the bank on the sales of Girls Girls Girls …..

SUMTHIN FOR NUTHIN-Track 8 and pure genius! This is a great great song! Love the groove as it just reeks old school rock! The chorus is just plain sick! Cowbell Tommy and the band lay down a real solid song! Sumthin For Nuthin In and Out Is Never Free yodels Sleazy Vince and man I’m buying what there selling! Hahaha….like the Gang like backing vocals. Crank the video posted!

YOUR ALL I NEED-Sleazy Vince sings in a register so high that my parents probably thought i was skinning the family cat! Ha…seriously though I guess Sixx thought “we hit paydirt with Home Sweet Home” so let’s do it again. Not exactly! Guess this song is about some guy who offs his ex girlfriend  you know the deal when he doesn’t want anyone else seeing his ex! Not really PowerBallad material hahaha….like if EveryRose Has It Thorn went cuckoo is Your All I Need! I remember at the time thinking that if Journey did this kind of tune they would be locked up! Don’t Stop Believin Chop Chop!

JAILHOUSE ROCK(live)- Live? Blah? Not? This is a waste man! Poor Elvis! Let’s slap some audience on a studio track and call it live! This is brutal man..this album finished after Sumthin For Nuthin! Arena Rock Filler these last two tracks and I bought this album twice! DeKEs + Girls Girls Girls Album+$$$ Spent = Sucka!

IN CONCLUSION- Sixx Sixx Sixx and his bag of Trixx fooled a young me and you know what in my rock circles no one ever really talked about this album. What people did talk about was the live show with Lee going 360 in his drum cage and the cool looking strip club stage. That’s what people talked about and when myself and Tbone went to see the Crue on the Feelgood tour (1990)only Girls and Wildside were played and that pretty much tells the tale of said record. Even Sixx,Lee,Sleazy V and Mick M even know the deal!

I can say what I want but bands like Maiden,Leppard,Priest and Crue are firmly implanted in my DNA so i guess Sixx is having the last laugh after all ……

Maybe 3 songs I dig here 4 tunes tops! And I bought the damn thing twice??! I think I should be committed!

 

Mötley Crüe/ Generation Swine(1997)

 

So 1997 rolls around Motley Corabi is no more after they booted John’s ass into never never land and lookie Vince Neil slides back in at the mic position and all is forgiven and being reunited doesn’t it feel so good??

Umm in this case kinda, mostly….this is a hodge pot of Crue wanting to be current and hello Mr Sixx lets all jump on the what’s current and popular at the time and make a Mötley Crüe record that sounds more in common with the Smashing Pumpkins than Too Fast For Love.

Hey man there are some good things about this record( the cover I love with them wearing Pig masks) so it isn’t all that bad but considering 8 years had lapsed between Dr Feelgood ( Vince’s final album at the time) what would the public think and more importantly what would Robbo ( Arena Rocks Official  Crue Head!) think?!

In goes the  knife,out goes his life….Ummm those Crue Daze are gone!

Tommy Lee,Nikki Sixx,Mick Mars and Vince Neil make a late night Techno Metal Album! You buying?

FIND MYSELF-it’s 1997 and the Crue wanna be bad ass 80s in the late 90s so they drop a ton of  F Bombs on the opening number and it’s a mish mash of vocalists on this track  until the prechorus and there’s Vinny’s vocals and the music once it gets to the chorus reminds me of Cheap Trick! Cheap Trick cranked  thru a ton of heavy synths and what nots. Give Sixx credit,if you came here looking for Dr Feelgood,he coded and is DOA. Gone are the daze of Sticky Sweet and She Goes Down. This is Techno Metal Sixx shoving in our faces a new Crue! Not a bad start,different sounding but not bad!

AFRAID-Holy Heck,Sixx second song in delivers a absolute scorcher of a Gem! Who saw that one coming? This has all the trimmings of a great rock song! Love the opening bass line that drives the tune forward and Lee’s Synthy drums smashing forward along with Mars who does not solo on this record to much but this song with  no solo just hooks galore! “It’s only life..blurts Neil ‘Shes so Afraid to…..” I really dig how the Crue mashes up this song and stays current but doesn’t over do it unfortunately some songs do not measure up to Afraid on this album! Ok I’ll say it ..this is the best track on the album.

FLUSH-I dunno the jury is still out on this one Judge Judy! Kinda ok ..kinda lagging at times..kinda decent …kinda don’t wanna talk about it.  Crue is covering some new ground and this one tries to be a rocker but today as I write this (Oct 11 2015) Meh!

GENERATION SWINE-now were back on track. Great driving track especially with Tommys drums leading the charge! Also of note Count Chocula eeer I mean Mick Mars steps up and plays a pretty mean tune on his 6 string! I like the fact that the Crue reached deep into there bag of tricks and knocked one out of the park! Extra bonus points must be awarded for the studio feedback of the guitars in this tune! Sixx actually has a real deadly bass tone on this album it’s friggin heavy sounding and mixed well….Crank the video posted!

CONFESSIONS-big ploddy kinda dragging and holy shit Mars guitar sounds out of tune at the beginning of this song it limps along at a pace of a liquored up turtle trying to cross the road. Dunno about this track. It’s Crue wanting to be U2! Mission fail Sixxer!

BEAUTY-next to Afraid this is another great track! Beauty is unlike the Crue its features a real heavy bass synth mashed with electronic gadgets during the verses with I believe Sixx handling the lead vocals in which he has a good voice for this track! Vinny takes over in the pre chorus and the song dips into a psychedelic territory before the song hits the cool groove of the chorus with Sixx and Neil doing a techno metal duet! The bass during the chorus is drop dead sick!( Actually Mars’ guitar playing on this album is like if The Edge from U2 got concussed and turned his amp to 10 and got rid of that jingle,jangle friggin guitar tone) Love this tune. For all you early am readers that read this blog(Thank Yooooou!) I included the video for Beauty and for a added bonus it includes the lyrics to the tune! So when your sitting at your breakfast table eating your French toast in the morning reading Arena Rock Thunder Bay and your kids are spilling there Cheerios all over the place and your significant other is telling you not to forget to pay the cable  bill just Crank up Beauty and sing along I mean doesn’t get any better with lyrics like “Shes HIV….VIP…!” Nope it doesn’t…….

GLITTER-hmmm this song Shoulda been on a Bryan Adams album as Adams cowrote it with Sixx! It’s different Crue here it’s a ballad(yuck) I mean I always found Crue were lousy at ballads except for Home Sweet Home I guess. This song is a skipper! I mean that ballad  Your All I Need  from the Girls album was brutal as Neil’s voice was so high like he sucked a huge hit of helium out of his Crue bong. Blah next…….

ANYBODY OUT THERE-Iggy And The Stooges with Special Guest Nikki Sixx! This song kicks out the jam and it rips fast and furious and it’s a ass kicker especially after the let down of Glitter! Sixx punches us in the faces with a straight ahead rocker! Thank you sir for this ….

LET US PRAY-I have to say Tommys drums and his playing on this song are soooooo friggin good! He’s locked and the drums sound and are mixed heavy! Techno Metal Sixx hits paydirt with this track! It rocks even in 2015 I’m cool with it! Keep in mind it’s sound is not happy days Crue it’s pissed off grumpy Crue looking for Hook and Blow on Hollywood and Vine and a chick named Beauty…ha!

ROCKET SHIP- Nikki grabs a acoustic and plays a decent tune that is more in line with  David Bowie than Crue and well since there dabbling with different sonics and gadgets  Sixx as well pulls off a decent lead vocal.

A RAT LIKE ME-not a bad tune actually,dark sounding,gadgets and tweaks setting off and I dig the title. This song is good and it rocks in a post Crue Glam kinda way….solid playing from the Fella’s. I’m sure a bunch of you’s read the Crue official biography The Dirt as i recall this album was a mess to make according to Corabi and the record company hated it….

SHOUT AT THE DEVIL 97-i perfer Shout At The Devil 1983 thank you very much! I never understood this move by the Crue. Fill up more space as some of this album is filler oriented? I Recall the hype in the press about the Crue playing the American Music Awards in 97 before Generation Swines release. Of course I tuned in and watched Vince’s much talked about arrival and the Crue saunters out and plays this version and I think at the time it looked like a lip synch job a roo! 2 thoughts popped up in my noggin right away that night watching the reunion on tv…1- why this? Is there new stuff weak? And 2-Corabi was heaved out the door as there was talk he was gonna stick around as a second guitar player…Nope Sixx punted him….

BRANDON-Tommy loves his kid and I get all that but on a Crue album? I listened to this once so I have no recollection of this song…fell free to chirp in with comments…..

IN CONCLUSION- Hoooo Boy! A few weeks back i was talking about this album with Robbo at work and told him I was totally gonna rip this one apart! At times yeah the material is bizarro(Flush) out of place(Glitter) but there are some moments of brillance (Afraid and Let Us Prey).

Sixx and Lee go all techy metal on our asses while Mars I think is along for the ride and Vince is hanging out with mud wrestling Strippers so out of all of this Swine this appears.

Too be honest I thought this album would be tossed Into the Filler pile but to be honest once I plugged in my iPod and powered down a sunny October afternoon walk with Fender The Wonder Dog i was mildly surprised that this wasn’t all bad….

8/13 tracks are good …Motley Sixx should have cut this album off at 10 tracks …..

 

 

SONIC WAVES….Motley Crüe/Shout At The Devil

So Motley lays down the ground work with an absolute killer of a debut(Too Fast For Love) and now the big leagues call their name as record labels come sniffing around and smelling $$$$$! The Crue sign with Elektra Records and so it begins!

Myself? Well enough hype was written about the Crue I mean there starting to get mention in all the Rock Mags(Hit Parader,Circus,Kerrang,Creem) so it’s all there in the makings of the Crue going huge…and Yep,huge is where they went!

Iron Maiden with new lead throat Bruce Dickinson release the classic Number Of The Beast and you have Ozzy Osbourne with some people thinking he is the devil with his antics(biting bat heads off,pissing on the Alamo)calling his album Bark At The Moon, so yeah the Crue especially bassist/leader Nikki Sixx sees what’s selling so why not  jump aboard the Devils Ship and while you’re at it call your record Shout At The Devil and well let’s cash cow it while we can…..

Following trends which would become a pattern for this band.

Sept 1983 and the Crue having done the legwork like I said earlier on the hype machine(adds in the music magazines ) before SATD is released and when that day comes where all flocking like a bunch of seagulls down to all the record shops to buy it!

The cover is Black with a Pentagram and red lettering. Simple yet effective I’m brainwashed the Album Is a gatefold sleeve with big pics of the guys Sixx/Vince Neil/Tommy Lee and Mick Mars…lyrics and just good all around packaging and of course the Crue is bad ass right? So they tell us for all to see what they recorded the album on and let’s say it’s a hodgepodge of everything to make you ummmmm Feelgood?! Krell anyone?

Crue in Tbay is big news and here we go……

IN THE BEGINNING- Some eerie sounding synth with a spoken word intro sets the pace for this record….’in the beginning’ and wow man they’re preaching some kind of jibber jabber evil and don’t fuck with us cuz we’re the Crue and before Ya know it Stand Up and ….

SHOUT AT THE DEVIL- Wowzers Mars slams his guitar like quick little lightening bolts at the beginning of the song and the MVP from the first record Tommy Lee pounces the drums and here comes the chant SHOUT….SHOUT ….SHOUT…and Vince takes over and man listening back to these records this guy tossed away his own legacy in later years but whatever that’s Vince’s deal but back in 83 he was the deal kinda of. Yep so The Crue are off to the races and when they tell me to SHOUT……I shout and say how loud! Sixx is somewhere at the time counting his cash and snickering how he’s fooling all of us young punks! Guess what? At the time I’m good with that!

LOOKS THAT KILL- Crue borrows all of Kiss’ leftovers from the sets of Kiss’ Lick It Up Videos and you want desolate wasteland/Scantily dressed women and Mick Mars looking sketchy just like Simmoms did in the Lick It Up vids this is your one stop shop for all things Freaky Dekey! Ha….’Now listen up” sez Vince and the boys lead the charge and man its full assault of drums/guitars and bass and with good measure a “Hey” is thrown in to appease the concert goers at future Crue shows!

BASTARD-Ok so here we are by track 3 and were hanging with the Crue and we have gone from Shouting At The Devil to the chicks with the Looks That Kill and now we’re into a knife fight! Like holy shit i don’t know if I can keep up with this pace of hanging with Sixx and Crue! Seriously though this is one of the sleeper tracks on here …I mean I remember awhile back at work my buddy Dabrando walked by me and chirped ‘Out go the lights,in goes my knife,pull out his life consider the Bastard dead!” I howled ,it’s at moments like that when no one else is around at work  who knows what the hell were talking about but just the two of us! Hahahaha…..Bastard rocks with Tommy double bassing and  Sleazy Vince chasing the lyrics put forth by Sixx! They even throw in some Whoooooah Whoooooooooah Bastard!

GOD BLESS THE CHILDERN OF THE BEAST- Mars Bars puts done a little piece of acoustic and towards of it there’s someone saying and telling us to God Bless The Childern Of The Beast that segues into…..

HELTER SKELTER- Crue shows some real balls by covering the Beatles I mean they get away with it with a pretty decent version! Crue sleazeballs it to the nines and make it their own and hey let’s keep the Dark brooding theme going..and going and the cash registers ringing…ringing ..ringing….

RED HOT- Tommy starts off with his double bass drums going full steam ahead! The sonics of this album and this song is the problem I have with how Tom  Werman produced. I mean listen to the drum mix on Too Fast For Love it’s warm aND fuzzy but with always an inch away from kicking you in the ass with Tommys ferocity! This kinda disappeared on Shout At The Devil and man the drum mix on Theatre Of Pain is fuckin awful to my ears, maybe it’s just me? Who knows…but yeah Tommy leads the charge Mick rolls in and Sixx and Neil run and scream thru the night! Love the chorus….Red Hot…Red Hot….to the top we are Red Hot!….hahaha…Brent Jensen you are right! (I’m not telling you what he says..go and buy his great book No Sleep Til Sudbury)

TOO YOUNG TO FALL IN LOVE- Remember the vid..the Crues eating sushi and banging birds! Hahaha….this was the single and yep the Crue are tough guys kicking ass and don’t forget just earlier they were in a knife fight with Bastard! So don’t mess with them! Mars peels off a decent solo and this is a good song. Like many others Tommy drives the bus with his drums……

KNOCK EM DEAD KID- love this track.Sixx nails a winner with this tune with a real catchy verse and chorus! Drums/bass and guitar are top-notch on this tune in a 1983 kinda way!

TEN SECONDS TO LOVE-Sex by Sixx and he tries to be ACDC with the words but these are kinda dumb  and then I read in the magazines  back than how they had girls in the studio when they were recording this track! Yeah ok sure …but man the lyrics are fuckin funny…”touch my gun but don’t pull my trigger’ hahaha…but man goofball lyrics aside the verse and chorus are real catchy and man the melody sticks in your head like if someone crazy glued your brain to listening to Ten Seconds To Love on a continuous loop! This is just like a Sleazy Simmons Kiss tune! Just big OL dumb Arena Rock!(ha)

DANGER-Nikki Dixx with a synth and out comes Danger to end the album. Crue is telling us that we’re  Danger when the boys are in town! Hollywood mafia meet Motley Crüe! This I guess is the song to end the album on a serious note and hell why not! Sixx and his posse knows that even though there will be a car crash that wipes out a great band(Hanoi Rocks) Nikki knows young Deke will be getting on his 10 speed bike and hauling ass 2 years later to buy the Crues next album when it hits the shops and ……he’s right!

IN CONCLUSION – I think for the majority of Crue  fans out there they would say this is there best! Fair enough but for me I really like the debut And over time and to be honest SATD has been on iPod and to write this I spun it a few times and man the production is ok not great! But hey at the time  I was 16 and who am I to tell  how to produce records! Even now 32 years later who am to tell how to produce records? But I can say it cuz I spent the cash on said product. Make sense?  But Sixx and Crue deliver it at the time and build an empire that would go for about another 8 years until well…….

 

Request Of Vinyl…Motley Crüe/Too Fast For Love

Robbo is a Cruehead from work so he’s been waiting for this one! This Crue’s for you!

So it’s sometime 1982 and I’m flipping through Music Express magazine and in its pages there’s a add for these 4 rocked up glam guys with a bunch of Canadian Tour Dates called Cruesing Through Canada and for all you Tbay readers yes the Crue was gonna play here in our fair hometown at the Landmark Inn(Hahahaha ) seriously I remember seeing a add also about Kim Mitchell playing the Landmark as well so I guess it was a rock bar at one time?  Anyways to make a long story short The Crue got kicked out of Canada(Alberta I think ) so they didn’t even make it here and if they did Ummm I was 15 so me,Muc and Tbone woulda been Shit Out Of Luck at getting into that show.

But the add in Music Express peaked my curiosity level as to these long hairs from California…Motley Crüe was the name warping DeKEs young mind was there game….and ummmm…

Crue won!

LIVE WIRE- Mick Mars opens the album with that riff which we all know and bam here comes Tommy Lee and I tell Ya next to the Motley Corabi record (from 94) and parts of Dr Feelgood(89) this is Lee’s best drumming the mix on the debut is mint man! Shit Tommy gets my vote for MVP on this album! He’s the captain of the ship here folks,yeah stop your giggling he’s on fire and he plows this record from the get go! Vince sounds good a little light weight in the vocals but thats cuz he’s still young. Mars can play guitar and well he should I think he was like 55 years old(ha)when this album was recorded in 1981. Nikki Sixx chips in and keeps the bass simple….what a opener and man listen to the break at the end when Tommy nails the cowbell. Recorded  gold with the sonics!

COME ON AND DANCE-guitars/bass and drums rocket this song into space and its evident that Nikki Sixx has the knack (on this album ) for writing the hook! The verses are straight ahead catchy sing alongs…..the chorus hell man more Tom Lee cowbell…bam bam bam C’mon On Dance…Mick nails down the hatch a quick little solo and its back to the sing along catchy verse…..with more cowbell!

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER 1 – Sixx goes for the throat on this track and it has all the elements of a great early 80s nugget! Cool riff/ some heys thrown in/Mars doing diddling things on his guitar / Sixx playing some cool grooving bass/ more kick ass cowbell from Tommy Lee with Vince rolling it all up vocally into one big fatty of a memorable rock track!

MERRY GO ROUND- a rock ballad before the term power ballad reared its ugly head on the Theatre Of Pain album(Home Sleaze Home) but give Sixx credit man,he’s young figuring out shit musically and I mean if he doesn’t have the tunes who the hell is gonna supply the music? Vince?(hahaha)…..this song is ok,that’s it all I mean mellow,chill acoustic verse and than Mars Bars lays it on thick with his sludge sounding riff a rolla! Geez the more I talk about Merry Go Round I’m kinda digging it now…..is that a buried under the mix cowbell I hear at the start of the second verse ?

TAKE ME TO THE TOP-Tommy Lee starts off this song and man it’s another straight ahead rock track! Nikki and his bass aid the song and this is a flat out rocker! Mars lays down the solo and Vince lays down a great vocal(shit did I just say that?)

PIECE OF YOUR ACTION-hmmm what i remember about this tune from all those years ago is Mars lays down a solo by himself with Tommy keeping the count going! I mean I’m 15 and here’s a dude throwing down power chord solos on a studio album of all things! I mean that’s ballsy! The song itself is good the verses are cool the chorus is catchy….another great Crue track!

STARRY EYES- Nikki knows Tommys the man so Mr Lee starts Starry Eyes (oh oh….Starry Eyes) this is glam cranked up and no holds barred rock n roll!  This has a real good chorus ..ok how about a real damn good chorus! Geez and there’s Tommy nailing his cowbell yet again!

TOO FAST FOR LOVE- whoah no…….this is the title track and Sixx nails another gem. Cool verses Tommy leading the charge with everyone following him(Nikki with his bass,Mick with his walker..oops I mean his guitar and Vince nailing down the lead vocal) cool chops all around in this song! Dig the drumming man!

ON WITH SHOW- whenever I hear On With The Show I think of the times after a few beers with the Erickson bros(Tbone/Darr/Rugg)  when the beer buzz is wearing off and your dead tired and it’s late at night and your about to pass out Rugg would babble out ‘Frankie died just the other night”..,..and BOOM…..laughter would erupt man what a quote….but yeah I guess this song was about Nikki as he was really Frankie or so the story goes On With The Show!

IN CONCLUSION- For the Crue I tell Ya next to the Corabi album of 1994 this one that one no matter what one those two in my mind are there best recorded studio works! What a great mix and production on the debut. Tommy Lee before he discovered 360 drums cages and rollar coaster drum solos and before Tom Werman took over production duties on the next three Crue albums(Shout At The Devil/Theatre Of Pain/Girls,Girls,Girls) and basically ruined the drum sound(to me anyways) is a tour de force. Tommy like I said earlier drives the album into uncharted territories for a debut! As well for a debut album how many albums can you name out there that has that much cowbell action?

Toms Cowbell Action-6 Songs that’s how many!

But yeah Hombres I love this record! The Crue is starving here and they go for the throat with a nothing to lose approach and of course in the end it payed off in spades!

SONIC WAVES…..Motley Crue/Motley Corabi)

So fresh off of signing for Multi millions…the Crue boot Vinny too the curb and things have changed in the musical climate from the time of Dr Feelgood(1989) to the release of the self titled release of Motley Crue(1994). We all know the fallout of many a successful act from the 80s into the 90s especially the hard rock genre kind so I won’t go into great detail bout the whole Seattle deal that’s been written a million times over. Instead I will yak on about my observations of what happens when a very successful band from just a few years earlier tries to change with the times and instead the wheels completely come off in the eyes of the public!(well most of the public!)

Now that it’s been 21 yrs since the release of Motley Crue/ Motley Crue I can see the total parallel between this album and Creatures Of The Night by Kiss from 12 yrs earlier (1982) and for me personally I would say this Crue album with new singer John Corabi at the time is next to,Motleys debut Too Fast For Love there best as I feel that next to Kiss Alive that Creatures Of The Night is one of Kiss’ best work. Kiss was dead in the water from The Elder whereas the Crue was in a different headspace where they had finished a huge tour in 1991 and put out a greatest hits set that sold well. But than Crue for whatever reason divorced Vince and got themselves a new singer in Corabi and figured were huge….we will sell….wrong-o! Kiss was the same(1982) I think we will go heavy and people will come back….we will sell….wrong -o!  Too bad even all these years later outside of the diehards people forget about those two gems so let’s focus on Motley shall we!?

Let’s see what the Hooligans have on tap!

POWER TO THE MUSIC- the first thing that comes to my mind upon first listen is no cheese! Holy Crap Mick Mars starts the pace and here comes the Tommy and the Nikki show and finally the new throat in John Corabi who sounds like he swallowed a 6 pack of razor blades and man what a set of cool pipes! It took me all of about 30 seconds that there was gonna be no She Goes Down on this album! It’s 1994 people! Wake up Crue is serious here!

UNCLE JACK- man I think I read years ago that this song is a true story about some perv in one of the guys family’s whose name is Uncle Jack and you have Corabi bellowing that he’s gonna rip Uncle Jacks god damn heart out! This is serious shit. Two songs in and all bets are off! This Crüe is now into heavy Groovin…..

HOOLIGANS HOLIDAY-the lead single and this song rocks! I liked it than and I like it now. It’s well written/ performed and produced! All the making of a successful single right?  Too bad this song should have been as big as the Dr Feelgood single(1989) but 5 yrs later (1994)peoples tastes change and the Crue suffers from it! Poor bastards!

MISUNDERSTOOD- is Crue jamming it out like there  Zeppelin! I know ,I know but listen to how the song build a and builds and weaves around. Just like a Zep song or so to me. Not saying Crue is Zeppelin just saying Crue is wanting to mash it up with Bonzo and the boys! Deke just shut up!

LOVESHINE – is a Folky Crue, kinda like sitting around a campfire with Tommy,Nikki,Mick and John and they pull out some acoustics and mandolins. LOVESHINE could be another little Zeppy thingy as well!

POISON APPLES- is catchy as hell. This could have easily been another single. Here we are at the sixth song and there’s two singles calling! This has a real cool Chorus and in case your wondering Nikki still loves his Mott The Hoople! The Crue must have spent a lot of time on these songs. To me there well crafted rock ditties!(the album was produced by Bob Rock)

HAMMERED- tommy smacks the cowbell from hell on this song and the lyrics,man the lyrics are deep now if Vince was singing on this album this song would be about doing just that getting Hammered but Corabi and the boys are talking getting hammered on by all aspects of life when everything is crashing around around you feel like your getting Hammered by society! Holy shit I’m getting deep here and this is a Crue review for God sakes! Or maybe it’s a song about Vince?

TIL DEATH DO US PART- no one has ever said it but I will. This has the best guitar solo ever by Mars! It’s just sick,and rivets around the upper canister area of my brain Everytime I here it! It’s that good! The solo section is just plain out groove laden heavy! Great great song!

WELCOME TO THE NUMB- could be a sleazy Aerosmith leftover say from 1970 sumthin! Cool Aero like. Groove as well. This whole damn album is one big groove!

SMOKE THE SKY- is just that you know about good ol Mary Jane and what she brings to the table ! The lyrics are awesome cool they even name drop said prez at the time B.C inhaled it Heaven..I inhaled it to..hahahaha ..ok your honor were all guilty! Cool cool song!

DROPPING LIKE FLIES-love this title and this is a another good song. It’s the Crue 1994 ! Album is once again into groove mode! Sloppy Aerosmith mixed with Serious Crue results In Dropping Like Flies!

DRIFTAWAY- is once again going in a direction I think the Crue were exploring along with actually a lot of this record I thought they were headed that way. It’s too bad it imploded but that’s what happens you sign million dollar deals and than you can your lead singer and the record company freaks out and well read the Dirt by the Crue and you will get the whole picture of record company red tape!

IN CONCLUSION- this is a leaner meaner Crue. Vince was gone and took all the Kraft cheesey single slices with him and moved on and the Crue got real heavy with everything! Lyrics/ sound even there look had changed! Whenever I refer to this album by than I just call it Motley Corabi cuz he had a huge role in this record and it’s too bad that Sixx doesn’t give credit where credit is due. Whatever,Motley 94 was a great rock record!

3/4’s Filler….Motley Crue /Theatre Of Pain

So Vince Neil is in a ton of trouble in 1985  and believe it or not so is the Crue though I didn’t realize at the time as I was 17 and everything was Crue  especially in the press where a ton of magazines were being sold to the Dec 1984 car crash that forever ruined Hanoi Rocks(Razzle/RIP)so it came as no surprise that in June of 1985 Motley stumbled out of the recording studio and fed us Theatre Of Pain.

Crue ditches the holograms,black leathers,fire,smoke and the general Helter Skelter and goes into a fashion swing with bright colors,cool threads,makeup,Nikki yapping about this is our best record blah blah blah speech to the magazines,Mick Mars is getting  older by the minute and a band that wants to punch you in the head with there music with Shout At The Devil put out Theatre Of Pain and  in all honesty it’s more like a little slap to the cheek!

Crue with Theatre Of Pain was at the time of there release I thought a pretty good album but over time and now at almost three decades old I think the Crue were on life support and this album is as close to a flatline for them as any!

Let me pretend to be Dr Feelgood and diagnosis what I feel what went wrong and why I have a real hard time listening to this thing now.

So like I said earlier,June of 85 the start of summer vacation and here’s the Crue and I still remember like I said digging the look and I was a first day buyer as so were many others and the first thing I notice is the production of this album is to me muddy sounding it just not does sound good. Tom Werman produced this I mean what the hell! Werman produced Cheap Trick and Nugent that were in my collection and those sounded allright but he also did some bizarre shit sonics to Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister and if ya don’t believe me go and read Dee Sniders Shut Up And Give Me The Mic book! Anyways…City Boy Blues starts of the festivities and it’s clear there is a shift in sound as well. The Crue is gonna give us a sleazy ol school Aerosmith track complete with Mick Mars sliding around the neck of his guitar and to be honest it’s not a bad start. I was,ok with the shift in sound as was TBone but you what we never really ever talked about this one that much. Why I dunno? Ask him!

The rest of the songs I found were some throw together jobs of work like Raise Your Hands To Rock,Fight For Your Rights and Tonight(We Need A Lover) come to mind buried pretty much at the end of the record and the single Smokin In The Boys Room. Na,what sold that song was the video it was goofy and since Roth was gone out of Van Halen at that point and Twisted Sister was pretty much defunct and chucked into the bargain bins I guess someone at Crue HQ’s decided to tell em to do goofy videos  to pick up the slack,and by the rotations of Smokin,well it worked ! Some songs did have some good moments like Keep Your Eye On The Money which I think is the best song on this album followed by Louder Than Hell and even Use Or Lose It but man the production of this record just drags it down for me! Of course the power ballad of one Home Sweet Home  probably pushed the sales of this thing past the point of what they shoulda been. The Theatre was packed The  Nikki and the Tommy Lee show were thanking all of us for the cash donation. Ya think they could thrown in some popcorn at least!!

As for the video filmed in 1985 in Detroit two things jump out at me. How good Neil’s voice is and the fact that some dude who filmed this on his camcorder actually gets a better sound out of his camera than the copy of the album that I owned!