Altsounds - Classic Sounds: Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil [Album]

Even some 26 years after this album initially came out, the name Motley Crue is still a controversial name in rock circles and not just because they simply refuse to die in a fashion that even a Kryptonite-proof Superman would feel the green bite of jealousy over. Now with the band back on flying form and filling stadiums world-wide and gaining new fans thanks to the well received comeback album "Saints Of Los Angeles", it is sometimes easy to forget the impact that the band has had over its time. Motley Crue are still reviled amongst modern metal's predominately thrash-based culture for being "fags in make-up" by the time-honoured fashion of folks who are a few amplifiers short of a backline.

We're not here to discuss fashion kudos and bicker pointlessly though. Well at least not straight away anyway. With the new Motley Crue showing the way in a post-everything wasteland, it's time to rewind to the bands original fiery core, and thus "Shout At The Devil", the band's second attempt to make a name for themselves with the best tools hand – in this case thunderous riffs, screeching vocals, drums played as if by Thor, and an unsung bass that hold the chaotic package together.

'In The Beginning' has a unique twinge of a pious sermon but not in a satanic sense as was originally misinterpreted at the time and does a nice job of building up towards the real album opener 'Shout At The Devil'. The title track itself is a classic example of "less is more" in terms of musicality. The main riff is misleadingly simple, but effective in getting the tempo felt nonetheless. The chorus especially is almost deliberately written for live performances with nothing feeling out of place or being present too long for its own good (with the possible exception being Vince Neil's verse vocals, which are hard to follow in this number, even with repeating one of the verses twice). Overall, it's a damned effective opening number, and a whole lot more impressive, ballsy and catchy than it's much more "manly" counterparts in the then newborn Thrash camp.

Next up is 'Looks That Kill' which replayed the strong-hand displayed before, however Vince's lyrics have been scaled back too, which gives the feeling of a far better, driven, heavy rock song and also the first time I ever heard the seemingly nonsensical lyric "she keeps her motor clean", which makes precisely zero sense to me. Women who come equipped with perfectly maintained V8 motors attached to them rarely make for fun times, purely because the sheer power will break a man's hips in zero seconds flat. Plus, think of the strange looks you’d get at a restaurant. But I digress - this is a damn good song. Really well driven, and helping to drive home Motley Crue's "Punk" credentials with an early metallic bite. It also showcases the beginning of the bands burgeoning abilities with their instruments. Despite many comments that Nikki Sixx was like Gene Simmons - it sounded better when he wasn't playing, but with Mars and Lee lifting the rhythms into something with a great drive. Also of mention is the now-hilarious video, which is doubly funny if you can track down a copy of Motley Crue's Greatest Video Hits which includes the legendary line
"just because I'm wearing lipstick doesn't mean I can't come down there and kick your ass" (Sixx: 1983).

Which drives us to the family-friendly 'Bastard' which made its mark on the early Motley Crue style by grabbing the listener firmly by the throat and throwing them back in their seats in a manner that would have made a young Steven Seagal pause for thought.
Despite my earlier comments about Nikki's playing, the simplistic, but fast bass guitar really compliments the rest of the musical power-house, and as Bass guitar should, it nails the unsung rhythm and pace whilst the drums and guitar take centre stage. 'Bastard' is all the better for it and it actually allows the band to get away with 1 guitar soloing whilst not sounding hollow despite these times being the days of Judas Priest and Maiden's coming of age.
If I would use one word to describe the opening 12 minutes or so I'd definitely go with "Ballsy". I t's loud, ugly, crude and would rather start a fight than clear off. Which makes the choice of an intermission track 'God Bless the Children Of the Beast' and then a re-working of the Beatles' 'Helter Skelter' somewhat perplexing. It's no secret that the album does lose a tiny smidgen of it's early drive but not by much - it has the feeling more of pausing for breath before deciding which boundary it wants to piss on next and also has the double effect of greatly infuriating Beatles' purist fans, like a heavily overdriven version of 'Freebird' would a Skynyrd purist.

A sign that the earlier drive was never going to be away long is slammed in like a stabbing when the double bass of 'Red Hot' kicks in. By far the fastest and also most simplistic of the album's tracks, this has the drive of a band looking for a fight with anybody who was offering - critics, rival bands, whoever; they didn't give a damn, and you can really feel the drive with this. Mars' solo is by no means complicated but it suits - the best guitarists never outstay their welcome and just compliment the song and Mars almost makes this song.

I suppose the closest thing the early Motley Crue would come to a power ballad, 'Too Young To Fall In Love' comes next. A fairly tame title, but then so was 'You're All I Need' and we all know how that one ended right? Even for a supposed Ballad the punch is still very much there, and with gauntlets to match. Again, the simple but effective lyrics make a reunion here with Lee’s almost Rocky-style drum-play, Nikki’s bass being almost unnoticeable, and Mars’s guitar driving an aggressive feel that compliments Neil’s almost tortured lyrics. It’s when he squeals “Well you’re killing me, Your love’s a guillotine” that you realise this isn’t your ordinary love song, and power to the Crue for it. Those of you who have played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in years gone by may have a feeling of Deja-vu with this song, as did I and I will admit it’s the one song that got me into Motley Crue in the first place.

Written by Nikki Sixx as a middle-finger-salute to the L.A.P.D. after probably many fights, 'Knock ‘Em Dead Kid' has even more of a Rocky feel to it and the opening riff almost commands you to push the volume up as loud as it can go. The main power here is Vince Neil’s vocals which have all the anger of someone starting a bar-room brawl. Even if it is somewhat hard to inerpret the true lyrical content at times, what sounds like “I heard a yellow-bellied scream” to me turned out to be “I heard a steel-belted scream”. The song is also noted for what I feel to be Mars’s best solo on the record.

You’d be somewhat surprised to read “Ten Seconds to Love” as being up next. But this being Motley Crue this is an ode to the many one-night-stands and their quickly-developing reputation as Rock’s loudest and lewdest band. This track absolutely oozes with sleaze and gives off a sense of absolute fun, which, as I’ve said before, has been missing from Rock for a long time. Continuing the motor-themed confusing lyrical content from before, this number contains the line “I wanna hear your engine roar” which really needs no explaining at all.

The final track 'Danger' is a perplexing number and is one of Motley Crue’s slower songs. But what starts off feeling like a ballad becomes more of a barked challenge as the first verse and pre-chorus kick in. It feels like a twisted and dangerous ode to Hollywood, the band’s home-town. Whilst not a chronicle so to say it’s not one of my favourite songs but it does bring a nice feelto the end of the album before the bonus material kicks in.

And what would be this bonus material then? A collection of rough, unreleased demos coupled with a pair of tracks that didn’t make the cut, 'Hotter Than Hell' (later renamed to 'Louder Than Hell' and thrown on the "Theatre of Pain" album), and 'I Will Survive'. The rough demos even here have a great sound to them and whilst they do expose the band’s main weakness in Vince’s vocals, these version are a great indicator of how the songs would sound live which has always been Motley Crue’s main draw.

Album singles 'Shout At The Devil' and 'Looks That Kill' are in the
rough demo flavour as well, and I actually prefer the rough 'Looks That Kill' more than the album version. A final freebie is the now-hilarious 'Looks That Kill' video which, whilst it may have made one hell of an impression on MTV in 1983, is thoroughly entertaining in a B-movie manner.

Whilst my being a fan will always bias this review as much as they will always be lambasted and flamed for their appearance at this point in their career, "Shout At The Devil" is still an album which made an almighty mark on its musical landscape at the time (and is also partly to blame for the following “Hair Metal” explosion of bands like Poison, which Motley Crue always hated). It is also a great showcase of a band firing on their full collective cylinders. It is an aggressive, snarling, but above all riotously fun album to listen to, and is still a great argument for both why Rock N’ Roll was king in the 1980’s and why Motley as a band are still relevant today and it's not just because everybody who has tried to equal their debauchery has died trying!