Before Motley Crue became a pathetic, bloated and, oddly enough, a commercial gold-mine, they were a lean & mean, street-wise rock band roaming the Sunset Strip. Albeit with high heels on and a ton of make-up. “Too Fast For Love” was a great debut. It featured 9 tracks, all written by Nikki Sixx, with a couple of song-writing credits given to Vince Neil and one to a man known as Mr. Grey. It was released on Elektra Records in 1981 and clocked in at 46:16.All 9 tracks are great. The band lacks technical chops, but makes up for it with attitude & pure hunger. ‘Live Wire’ straight through to ‘On With The Show” are terrific. The production is a little thin but other tracks such as ‘Take Me To The Top,’ ”Piece Of Your Action’ and the title-track stole the show. Vince Neil (vocals), Mick Mars (guitar), Nikki Sixx (bass) & Tommy Lee (drums) turned in a great debut that still sounds good today. In ’99, this record was re-released on Motley/Beyond Records with the title track containing a different introduction and three other previously unreleased songs. That 1999 version is definitely worth picking up. For information on a band that’s been milking it’s fans for years despite two great records early in their career, go to www.motley.com and see what other kind of crap they’re trying to sell you these days. Even rock stars need pension plans. Though their’s are in the millions!P.S. Extra props go out to the band for one of the best hard-rock covers in history. It says it all right there in that photo of Vince Neil’s crotch! [Source]

This was & is by far Motley Crue’s greatest record. It has the primal energy of their debut, some extra chops and growth thrown in and it was before the band started to rake in millions and make records that, for the most part, sounded like absolute shite! But let’s stick with this one.”Shout at the Devil” was released on Elektra again, this time with 11 tracks and a running time of 44:10. ‘In The Beginning’ has an eerie, goth mood to lead of the record, Mick Mars does an instrumental called ‘God Bless the Children of the Beast’ and the band even cover The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter.’ In & around these interesting experiments are another 8 amazing songs. Highlights included the killer ‘Looks That Kill,’ ‘Shout at the Devil,’ ‘Red Hot,’ ‘Too Young To Fall In Love,’ ‘Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid,’ ‘Danger’ and ‘Ten Seconds To Love.” A great record. Enjoy it. Because after this one, each record the Crue turned out had about 3 radio-friendly tunes and a mountain of crap. To check out a band who’s still playing WAY after the expiration date passed, visit www.motley.com.P.S. In 1999, Motley Crue remastered and re-released “Shout at the Devil” on their own Motley/Beyond Label with three demos and a previously unreleased song. That’s the copy you wanna pick up. [Source]

O.K., people. This is where it all went bad and stayed that way. “Theatre of Pain” was released by Elektra once again. This time in 1985 with 10 songs and a running time of 35:16. Motley Crue spent a lot of time glamming-up their image with a pink album cover and lots of lace in their wardrobe to sort-of distance themselves from the Satanic imagery of “Shout at the Devil” and attempt to reinvent themselves ala Cher or Madonna. Pathetic. They obviously spent zero time on at least 8 of the tracks.It was painfully clear from this point on, that the band had no integrity and was in it for p*ssy, dope and cash. Period. End of story. Their cover of Brownsville Station’s ‘Smokin’ in the Boys Room’ wasn’t half-bad for pop-metal and they dominated MTV with an actually very, very good power-ballad, ‘Home Sweet Home.’ But the band of the first two records was long gone and, unless you’re a die-hard Crue fan, try to name or remember the other eight songs on this record. You can’t! Because they’re total filler and horrible crap! Buy this copy or the ’99 remastered copy if you want to but, if you do, you’re an idiot who has no taste in music whatsoever. Go visit www.motley.com and see how you can take your hard-earned money and put it into the pockets of musicians who haven’t made a good record in decades. [Source]

Motley Crue’s 1985 “Theatre of Pain” went quadruple-platinum. So did this release, “Girls, Girls, Girls.” It just goes to show you how bad the state of hard-rock & metal was back then and how stupid most of the public was. Once again, this cd was put-out by Elektra. It had a cash-cow on its hands, so why stop?! It was released in ’87, with 10 songs and a running time of 52:08. Thank God G N’ R would show up on the scene soon and at least up until the pretentious “Use Your Illusion” records, would show how hard-rock was meant to be played and how pathetic Motley Crue were and had become.’Nona’ was an interesting track written by Nikki Sixx and, of course, ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and ‘Wild Side’ were the two songs that sent their moronic fans into a f’n’ dizzy! The other 7 songs are total throw-aways. Styrofoam, plastic, filler, crap, etc., etc. Once again, you can buy this copy or the ’99 remastered version, but the only thing they’ll be good for is as a coaster for your cheap-ass, shite beer. Go to www.motley.com and see what they’re trying to sell you now. I’m sure it’s VERY expensive and made of crap. Just like their music. [Source]

Crue Fest was the biggest selling rock tour last year, featuring Trapt, Sixx:AM, Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Motley Crue. This year they wanted to make it bigger and better. The bill

“Generation Swine” was the sound of a band who didn’t know who they were anymore or who they even wanted to be. And this record was a complete mess. A third of the songs sound like Corabi should have been singing the alternative-metal material, a third sound like Vince should of been on the mic and a third are just plain embarrassing. Like Tommy Lee singing ‘Brandon’ as a tribute to his son or the God-awful re-working of ‘Shout at the Devil ’97.’Did the band have management or a record company during this process that could have given them some direction? Or was the band and all their handlers just that stupid? Bottom line; there were at least three songs written partially by Corabi and the band still sounds as if it was trying to go for a heavy, alternative-metal sound like “Motley Crue.” Even though it would’ve meant two straight records with low sales, Motley should of kept Corabi in the band for this record, written some better songs, licked their wounds and then started fresh with Vince on the next record. Instead, you’ve got Frankenstein on your hands with this misguided pile of junk. Up-to-date info. on Motley Crue can be found at www.motley.com. [Source]