Overview:

Motley Crue was one of the premier metal bands of the 1980’s with songs like Shout at the Devil, Kickstart My Heart and Home Sweet Home topping out some of their more popular hits. Sure they weren’t as big as Bon Jovi or Ratt, but they played some great hair metal way back in the day. Since then, however, they seemed to have fallen off of the radar until just recently. With the release of Red, White, and Crue, which was sort of an ultimate best-of album with a few original songs, they started to regain a little bit more radio time with “If I Die Tomorrow”. Shortly after that they announced that they would be making their first studio album in some number of years.

And of course, since the Crue is one of my favorite bands I picked it up day one and finally have a review written up for anyone who still cares about Motley Crue or anyone just browsing the site because you’re bored in English Class. Does their first album in years impress and win a new crowd or is it a just another Chinese Democracy?

Review:

Well I guess that Chinese Democracy comparison wasn’t really fair since this album beat Guns and Roses’ newest by a couple months or something like that. And while it is true that Motley Crue is one of my favorite bands I am going to do my best to eliminate all bias and review this completely honestly. But to answer the question I asked, it’s both an impressive evolution and a total letdown at the same time. How, you ask? Shut up and read.

The album impresses on several fronts. It has great songs like Face Down in the Dirt, Down at the Whiskey, Motherfucker of the Year, Goin’ out Swingin’, and of course the superb Saints of Los Angeles which show off the old guys’ ability to write good songs with decent lyrics that can have at least a little appeal to people who have never heard them. They also manage to, with these songs at least, sound very similar to how they did back in their heyday.

Vince Neil’s voice, while I rather enjoy it, has very little appeal to the majority of people out there. Though I guess it needs to be said that without Vince the band is no longer Motley Crue, as we learned when they got rid of him in exchange for that one douche several years back. Thank God he’s gone.

Anyway, back to the review. The songs that top the shit list would have to be What’s it Gonna Take for it’s horrible main riff alone, The Animal in me for being so horrible, and White Trash Circus which, no matter how much I personally love it, is just plain gross sounding.

Track List:

1. L.A.M.F.
2. Face Down in the Dirt
3. What’s it Gonna Take
4. Down at the Whiskey
5. Saints of Los Angeles
6. Motherfucker of the Year
7. The Animal in Me
8. Welcome to the Machine
9. Just Another Psycho
10. Chicks = Trouble
11. This Ain’t a Love Song
12. White Trash Circus
13. Goin’ Out Swingin’

Final Words:

In all honesty I love the album. Even some of the trash songs have appeal to me. But since this is a review and not a persuasive essay I’m being completely non-bias. If you love the Crue then you have to get this album. You’ll be disappointed with a lot of the content but love what’s worth loving. If you don’t know Motley Crue but heard Saints of Los Angeles on the radio and liked it then download that one song off iTunes, the rest of the album won’t appeal to you. If you’ve never like Motley Crue this is won’t change anything. You may like 1 or maybe 2 songs, but not enough to make you respect the band.

Pros

• Saints of Los Angeles
• First album in several years
• Naked chicks all over the CD

Cons

• Most of the songs that aren’t Saints of Los Angeles
• Vince Neil’s voice has very little appeal to people who weren’t fans of the ’80s
• Overly gritty and nasty sound of almost all the tracks

Score:

Overall: 6.5/10 (below average)

Lyrics: 7/10 (Tells the story of the Crue well)
Music: 6.5/10 (A handful of songs that appeal to a handful of people)
Entertainment Value: 6/10 (Unless you’re one of the Motley die-hards then you’ll find very little you’ll want to listen to)

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