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Mötley Crüe > Shout at the Devil > Reviews
Mötley Crüe - Shout at the Devil

You May Be A Lover But You Aint No Dancer - 100%

Sweetie, September 3rd, 2018
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Eleven Seven Music (Crücial crüe edition, Remastered)

Consider that bastard dead!

Forget the hits, forget the iconic beauty of the title track, and forget the fact that there's a Beatles cover that's absolutely banger! Well, no, don't forget all of that stuff, because it's all essential to the equation that proves Shout At The Devil to be one of the greatest heavy metal records ever, and certainly Motley Crue's best one. Let alone the fact that Nikki and co. are far more consistent here than they were on the almost perfect predecessor. Let alone the black imagery that sifts through my brain every time I listen to it. It's probably a bit redundant to touch on how dark all of the tracks are, but the fact that they took an already dingy song like The Beatle's "Helter Skelter" and added a whole new level of sleaze and filth is just phenomenal. The ability to make the classic ballad "Too Young To Fall In Love" fit this kind of piece without sounding out of place is also amazing, in my humble opinion.

But as I said, the "Looks That Kill"s are just what make this album pretty damn good, and by now just about everyone knows the ins and outs of these red hot beaters (pun intended). What sends Shout At The Devil over the top is the durability of everything that didn't smack the radio waves back in the days of '83. The heavier, more abrasive tracks are more to blame than anything. "Bastard", "Red Hot", "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid", and "Ten Seconds To Love" are the songs responsible for the hard strength of material. "Bastard" and "Red Hot" are borderline speed metal, drum pummeling, strum chugging, riff maniacs that are vigorous enough to pull the weight of a freight train. The dirty nature and mean energy combined with completely clean singing is the pinnacle of stellar construction. On the other hand, "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid" and "Red Hot" transfer their energy into a steadier, and friendlier heaviness with the same sexual appeal that was all over the debut record. These four tracks, combined with the iconic radio hits (that are still great, just not quite as) are the reason Shout is held in such high regards. But that's just before the icing is added.

"In The Beginning" and "God Bless The Children Of The Beast" are necessary additives that weave the flow together, and introduce the level of evil imagery that should come to mind while spinning this disc. Honestly, this helps back up that whole consistency thing that I mentioned earlier. But the last bit of magic is album closer "Danger". It's somewhat a second ballad, but the acoustic intro building up to heavy chord progression makes it a bit of a thriller. Touching on the evils of Hollywood was incorporated into this so neatly, and again, despite being a ballad, it fits the puzzle perfectly. Couldn't have asked for a better way to close the album.

One final note, the bonus tracks with this specific version are great. A few of them are demos with slight alterations, which is always fun, and the unreleased "I Will Survive" is good enough as well. The real essential listen, though, is "Hotter Than Hell". This song would appear on the next album Theatre Of Pain re-titled as "Louder Than Hell". The difference is, that one is guzzied up to fit a glammier approach, where this one is slowed down, heavier, and meant for the darker approach of Shout. They're both great in their own respects, and I highly recommend listening to this track, if no other bonus songs. At the end of the day, though, the original full length is what I call an essential listening for all heavy metal goers. The old vinyl gate-fold with the pentagram cover is something that hits my turntable a lot. Beyond that, nothing more needs to be said.

Reasons not to throw shit - 80%

gasmask_colostomy, August 31st, 2018

There are hundreds of reasons for hating Mötley Crüe and only a couple for liking them. However, that doesn't mean that the balance is swung in favour of throwing shit at the four guys from L.A., because the reasons for liking them are much more persuasive than trivialities like "They never play fast", "Nikki Sixx stole my girlfriend", and "Dude looks like a lady." (Eh, Stephen?) To put a name on it, Mötley Crüe were more fun than most of the other bands who were playing fast and having their girlfriends stolen in the '80s, while their music aimed closer to the lowest common denominator of good ol'-fashioned sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. I admit to being included in the LCD group, not least tonight, as I sit on the sofa in my boxers drinking chicken shop Pepsi and still feeling hungover from yesterday (which was a Thursday, by the way). I'm afraid I can't manage the sex, but with Shout at the Devil in my ears, I'm pretty sure I've got the other bases nicely covered, which is more than I can say for my hairy thighs.

To give this whole thing a bit of structure, please allow me to take my list of three trivial reasons for hating Mötley Crüe as a manifesto for proving why this is pretty good. The first one is the only musical consideration and, as a staunch doom metal disciple, you can hardly see me taking exception with the fact that Tommy Lee stays well within his abilities on the drumkit and the 35 minutes of content don't exactly race past at a million miles an hour. However, I totally get this criticism, especially when the title track seems to be deliberately going nowhere with some of the shapes around the main riff. It speeds up later, as do songs like 'Bastards' and 'Red Hot', but there are plenty of lethargic mid-pacers to be found here. Then again, Mötley Crüe have been nothing if not cocky and there isn't much cockier than swaggering around like you own every song you play, especially when the grooves are as good as those found on 'Looks That Kill', which has a rampant main riff that never rushes, plus a chorus guitar theme that owns most of your record collection. They aren't gonna play fast for you, anyway.

Next on my arbitrary list is the fact that Nikki Sixx stole my girlfriend, which fortunately is a lie because my girlfriend was negative 8 years old when this album was released, which is a bit young even for him. In fact, when recording Shout at the Devil, Sixx managed to stay out of young fillies' pubic gardens for long enough to lay down some fairly tasty sections to the cover of 'Helter Skelter' and give that mid-paced strut a smoothness and dangerous confidence that is very metal despite the Cryptopsy fan in me thinking it's all a bit traditional. What seems surprising about the sexuality of Mötley Crüe is that it lays dormant for long enough on this album to make me question whether they weren't actually a bit serious about making songs about the devil, particularly as 'Red Hot' isn't about nailing chicks on the tourbus but some kind of mildly silly fantasy where "The kids scream in fright through the night / Loving every bite with delight." When the chorus goes on to proclaim "Red hot, red hot to the top / We are red hot," I begin to wonder whether it wasn't a song that Kiss discarded for their own brand of spicy chicken wings. Fortunately, 'Ten Seconds to Love' fully delivers on the sleaze front, going not for the jugular but another pulsing vein with the line "Reach down low / Slide it in real slow," then progressing to suggest "Bring a girlfriend / Or maybe bring two / I got my camera / Make a star out of you / Inject it / Photograph it," and finally proving that these boys are real gentlemen when Vince Neil crows, "Just wait honey / Until I tell the boys about you." I guess that Crüe also played kind of slow because there's no way anyone could have sex while listening to Death Angel.

My last point was actually Aerosmith's idea, but it does seem relevant to mention that this is not a very masculine form of metal (although calling it hair metal sounds like they are real men and very hairy), so some cavemen might lumber in thinking that the perms were a good summary for the music. In fact, there was always less of vanity in Mötley Crüe's music than in their behaviour, tending not to ornament their songs too much with dainty solos or acoustic guitars, while Neil is unfussy about using his higher register too extensively and the gang vocals sound like exactly what they're called. I guess you can see them preening with their guitars during some of the strutting breakdowns and Mick Mars's few wailing solos, though the attitude of being a gang of boys telling it like it is doesn't dissipate and gets serious exposure during 'Danger', where the keyboards just about conjure the sort of atmosphere that would make you nervous on a midnight street in a rough neighbourhood. The packaging of the album, too, disdains showiness and conforms to tried and tested heavy metal norms much more than the crotch-focused debut or the studied pose of Girls, Girls, Girls.

If you're looking for other criticisms, it bears repeating that Shout at the Devil is a shortish album that feels longer than it is, which is partly down to a similarity in style between the mid-paced strutters, as opposed to the sharper numbers and interludes. That means you'll probably be able to remember something from each song, but only a few of them will set you alight each time, those being 'Looks That Kill' and 'Shout at the Devil', while I suppose 'Bastard' also rounds out a higher-quality first half than what follows. However, it's one of those situations when it comes down to doing the basics well, because none of the songs are poor at all and I can have fun when listening to all of them, which is never something to sniff at. I dunno how highly this album actually deserves to be rated, but it's definitely proof that Mötley Crüe deserved at least some of the huge success that they claimed, even if they should have kept their hands off our girlfriends. Jammy bastards.

RED HOT RIFFS! - 99%

Caleb9000, February 8th, 2016

The Crue have always been one my favorite heavy metal bands, and this is one of their best albums (the other best being Dr. Feelgood). This album was a large change in sound from "Too Fast For Love", being much more aggressive, leaving out the glam and punk influences, resulting in a traditional heavy metal album that touches on speed metal at times. For this reason, if you ask a metalhead about Mötley Crüe, they will most likely say that this is their best album. It's so much less commercial than their other albums. But what stands out to me about this album is the riffs. They really pack a punch. They sound sleazy, powerful, solid, and at times, dark.

The title track is a great song to represent the entire album. It's catchy, fun, and aggressive. It has a rather dark sounding guitar solo, and the vocals are rather haunting as well. Overall, it's a very nice track. The aggressive sound is most present in tracks like "Bastard", which has a rhythm that is just above being mid-paced, and a dark-sounding riff. The aggressive sound can also be found on tracks like the speed metal track "Red Hot", and the heavy "Knock 'Em Dead Kid", which has a riff that is so catchy, that it's hard to focus on anything else, at times. There are also less abrasive, fun songs, such as the sleazy "Ten Seconds To Love". The only track that seems unfitting is the instrumental "God Bless The Children Of The Beast", which is kinda cool, but I feel like it was just an odd attempt to make the album more evil/satanic.

The guitar is what stands out the most on this album. The riffs get stuck in the listeners head like bot fly larvae inside of flesh (that was sick, but it's true.) Mick Mars isn't the most skilled guitarist out there, but he definitely knows how to rock out quite a lot. His riffs are heavy and unpolished and they have a very hard edge to them, yet they are very well structured. They're catchy, innovative, and just flat out charismatic. His solos aren't the best, but sometimes they're pretty good.

The bass is the worst thing on this album. Nikki Sixx may be a great songwriter, but DAMN he is one shitty bass player. It doesn't sound bad, it's just extremely simple and nothing about it catches your attention. He has admitted to being a poor bass player at the time, but hey, he can carry a tune...at best. The bass isn't very prominent either, but it's there when it needs to be.

The drums are played quite skillfully on this album. Tommy Lee doesn't give very many hooks here, but his powerful and technical style of rhythmic drumming is enough to make up for that. His drumming is just as energetic as it is technical, which definitely ends up to make a sound that is very appropriate for the music on this album.

The vocals given by Vince Neil are high-pitched and raspy. I'm not saying that it's bad. It was pretty typical of heavy metal vocalists at the time, and when he wants to, he can actually sing pretty well. He shows the amount of soul that he has at certain points, especially on the closing track, "Danger", but he also shows somewhat of a range throughout the album, so we know that he can do more than just the same-old-same-old style of vocals.

Overall, this is one masterpiece of an album that I listen to it at least once a week or two, and not get tired of. It has a raw sound that can get a little dark, at times, and it kicks ass, without repeating itself, or getting generic. Not many albums are good enough to be given that privilege, but there are a few. This is one of those few. If you're looking for something sleazy, aggressive and all out raw, then this album is most definitely for you!

Youth, Exuberance, Piss, and Vinegar - 82%

soul_schizm, November 20th, 2014

So here we have it. The only Crüe CD I really liked, and what a nasty little piece of sleazy metal/glam it is. Never again would something as prickly and headbanging emanate from this group, probably because the lure of massive profit in the mainstream was too strong to pass up. But I digress. Let's talk a little Shout at the Devil, and why it rightfully puts Mötley Crüe in the archives, and is worthy of a tip of the cap from metal fans everywhere.

If you want to weasel your way into the heart of this old metal fan, I can tell you right now the best way is to lay down tracks of snarling, riff-heavy guitar tone and that's exactly where Shout at the Devil starts. From the opening title track, right through most of the CD, Mars lays it down. The tone here forces its way into your brain. I have no idea what was used in the studio, but it's more about the sound than the performance. No one ever accused Mars of being any kind of virtuoso. But a "loud, rude, aggressive" guitarist he is.

And that's not say there's nothing to point to from a musical standpoint. Lead breaks such as the one in Bastard, and certainly Too Young to Fall in Love, exhibit some solid planning and melody - particularly effective as a break from the regular cadence happening in the main sections of the songs.

Sixx wrote the bulk of the material. He's a surprising musician/songwriter, possessed of a few influences that show up here. He's a metal fan yes, but also delves into a little punk, glam, and calls the New York Dolls a big influence along with a few others. The metal obviously rears its ugly head in the guitar passages, but injecting other styles like these really requires the cooperation of your front man, and Neil is clearly up to the task. Not so much singing as he is shouting and snarling, Neil puts aside some decent vocal ability for much of the CD, relying instead on being the bearer of piss & vinegar; youth & exuberance. Punctuating in the right places, screeching in others, he's the focal point of a raw production, fitting it all together perfectly -- a couple sour notes notwithstanding.

I actually think Tommy Lee has suffered a little as the years have worn on, in terms of the respect he has enjoyed in the heavy rock community, because here he's absolutely brilliant; a thunderous pounder keeping perfect time and smashing every beat with strength and wild abandon. The off-beat section after the solo in "Too Young to Fall in Love" is incredible; just off-the-rails awesome. I could probably write 1,000 words about this track alone; it kicks serious ass and fucks with you because Crüe simply doesn't tread this ground very often, especially later in their career.

I knock a few points off, especially on the 2nd half of the disc since the songs wane a little bit in my mind. It's nearly impossible to put together 10 songs of consistent ownage, and there are no shortage of other albums that rock like hell yet have a few lower moments. I'm not a fan of "Danger" or "10 Seconds to Love," for example. Immaterial really; the great tracks completely overshadow the filler lurking at the end of the disc.

Mostly though, I just love the sleaze dripping off this disc and how raw & singular it is from the LA scene. Snarling, headbanging, and nearly coming apart at the seams. Shout at the Devil is well beyond the bulk of what came from Hollywood, and remains the one shining moment of the band's career; a moment where there was real promise that sadly wasn't realized as the years wore on.

(Ludicrous) Looks that Kill - 81%

Brainded Binky, June 9th, 2014

The 1980's was the decade that metal thrived. All of the familiar subgenres, such as thrash metal and death metal, all had their beginnings in this one decade alone. It was a glorious time for headbangers like us. However, there were also bands that qualified as metal that were more into making money than music. These were the bands that thought hairspray and makeup were just as manly as muscles and chest-hair, cos that seemed to sell records more than complex arpeggios. Motley Crue is one of many bands who practiced this. As evidenced by the alternate and more well-known cover of their breakthrough album, "Shout at the Devil", the band members went through great lengths to look pretty for the public. Yet, does the music itself still hold up despite these band members appearing in all of their androgynous glory?

Actually, in my opinion, this album, "Shout at the Devil", is Motley Crue's best effort. It has that raw energy of a metal band that we all know and love. The riffs in this album, including the title track, aren't very complex, but it's their catchy factor that made the album get so ingrained in the minds of many. The song only consists of a few power chords but said power chords seemed to be all that the band needed to gain popularity. The riffs much of the songs on here (including "Too Young to Fall in Love" and the all-time favorite "Looks that Kill") actually aren't really that bad, even for a glam metal band! "Looks that Kill", in particular keeps a chugging note going twice between each chord, and as far as a band whose singer inspired the Aerosmith song "Dude, Looks like a Lady" goes, that's actually pretty good! What's more is that the riff is pretty catchy, which is basically why it's a crowd favorite. There is also the fact that the band barely even used synthesizers throughout their career. That's actually a good thing, since they are more inclined to make millions and sell records, and therefore would have used them to dominate their music and shove the guitar out of the way.

The band is not without its drawbacks, however, and the thing that offends me the most about them (besides their laughable attire and hairstyles) is the vocals of the band's singer, Vince Neil. I swear, he doesn't even sound like a real person singing at all. His voice is high-pitched and nasally, and believe me, high-pitches and being nasally don't make a very good combination. In fact, it can get quite irritating real fast. It's that kind of voice that I'm sure sounded just as bad as fingernails on the chalkboard to many people, making them the Avenged Sevenfold of the 80's. It's like they got Porky Pig to do the lead vocals. That's what it sounds like. Vince Neil is obviously not a very talented singer, but Nikki Sixx isn't all that great of a musician either. You barely hear the bass, like he just played along with the key of the song and in the beginning of the title track, you hear him simply bend the strings. That's basically how good he is at playing bass. Not quite Cliff Burton, I must say, and the only reason why he's famous is cos of his actions, including his nasty drug problem. Then again, they really didn't need a talented bass player in order to sell records and chart. All they needed was a catchy riff, and the music was set.

On the contrary, the lyrical themes actually have a bit of variety to them. Granted, much of them are sex-related, something to expect when listening to a glam band, but there are also songs that relate to other things. Take for instance, "Danger", which is about some kid who forms a gang in Los Angeles after his life completely falls apart. The title track, despite its riff being only a few power chords, has lyrics that are actually quite poetic. They consist of lots of metaphors to describe the Devil (or whoever they're singing about) To give you an idea, the opening lyrics read as follows: "He's the wolf screaming lonely in the night, he's the blood stain on the stage". Okay, Nikki Sixx might not be the best bass player in the world, but he could sure come up with some pretty decent lyrics. Well, they might be a little pretentious at times what with the intro "In the Beginning", but other than that, they're actually pretty decent. The sad thing is, that talent of writing good lyrics would disappear as the band's career went on, as "Dr. Feelgood" had basically much of their songs being about sex, making it quite cliched.

It's actually kind of hard to take a band like Motley Crue seriously, especially when their faces are covered in layers of makeup, but sometimes there are some hidden gems waiting to be discovered in their discography. Sure many people might not like it, but I understand why. "Shout at the Devil" has it's faults, but it also has its perks. It's what I consider to be Motley Crue's magnum opus, and it's easy to see why many Crue fans consider it as such. Not bad for a bunch of guys with a tacky fashion sense!

Never understood the title. - 85%

wallernotweller, December 15th, 2012

Moving from Chatham to Margate at the age of twelve, I was a pretty lost kid. My friends had deserted me as I started to get into rock music, which was incredibly uncool at the time for a pre-teen. Their obsession with girls and drugs left me cold, so instead of joining them I retreated, craving for something better to fill my days. On one of my daily newspaper walks with my mum I found myself perusing the magazine counter at the newsagent and there I saw a picture of quite an ugly chap sticking out his tongue on the cover of an early edition of Metal Hammer magazine. Now this guy wasn’t wearing the black and white face paint I recognized, but it looked just like Gene Simmons. On closer inspection I found that not only was it Gene, but Kiss were still together. I bought it and read about all these other rockers, bands with logo’s that looked so exciting and out of this world, this lead me to investigate when pocket money allowed the likes of Iron Maiden and Motorhead. A month later in the Our Price sale, I picked up Shout At The Devil for under three pounds on cassette. I spent my final summer holidays in Chatham locked in my room, watching television, listening to records, and writing lists of my favourite songs, all the time avoiding the menace of my fathers drunken beatings and what I thought must eventually lead to the breakdown of my parents' marriage. On the day of the move I had packed up all my tapes and records and took only one cassette to listen to on my yellow waterproof Sony walkman for the trip. Motley Crue pumped into my ears the whole journey. A soundtrack for the motorway journey and the arrival at my new coastal home above a fish and chip shop where my devotion to all things rock spiraled out of control for the next few years.

Shout At the Devil begins with the short horror-style, keyboardbased intro which seamlessly flows into the title track. Shout… itself is a rousing chest beater of an anthem with Mick Mars' twiddly fingers piercing the stomp with some excellent solo work. The one thing at the time that separated Crue from the pack though for me was Vince Neil’s voice. In the same way that I love the sound of Ozzy’s , what some call shrill I call flash, and you know this is highly polished 80’s rock, not grunge. When his Shout… introduction comes in, it truly arrives with a bang. How Crue thought he was replaceable is beyond me, but that’s a whole other album’s story.

And so it continues,from the rush of Red Hot with Tommy Lee pummeling his drums as if his life depended on it to the ode to ex-manager Alan Coffman that is tentatively titled Bastard, which found them placed at the top of the PMRC’s filthy fifteen song list, and my personal choice cut, Looks That Kill, which broke the Crue into teen America via MTV. Song after song has a great chorus, thick riffs, and over the top tub thumping. Lyrically though I feel Steel Panther had the guts to do what Motley never did. For instance, Ten Seconds To Love seems to be about how fast Vince can ejaculate which personally I wouldn’t brag about, let alone write a song about and then put it on a multi-million selling breakthrough album. There is so much smutty innuendo that I just want them to come out and say what they really mean. It’s a little gripe, but with the reputation the band has, especially around this stage of their career, I wish the lyrics matched the myth.

All said, I love this record dearly. That car journey heading into my future with a rocking soundtrack turned my life around. This was the album that overhauled me into a denim-clad teen rocker with Metallica patches, a half arsed mullet, and tattered white basketball boots. Plus it was my introduction to The Beatles Helter Skelter, which was covered here with little fanfare, just another piece to the puzzle that I thought was a Motley Crue original for far too long. That’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. The shame, the shame.

Now This Is More Like It! - 85%

Metal_Jaw, June 28th, 2012

To be totally frank, Motley Crue's debut album didn't do it foe me as much as other people. Sure, I did like some songs ("Live Wire", "Piece of Your Action", "Too Fast For Love", etc), but it just never clicked with me. I found it to be too all over the place, going from speed metal one minute to corny cock rock the next. But "Shout At The Devil" is crucial crue for a reason. It was the band getting (something) of a budget, and stepping into a heavier direction with it. Sure the hard rock and glam is still here, but it's more well developed, surprisingly less corny, and mixed with juicy LA heavy metal.

The band was amateurish but pretty competent on "Too Fast For Love". Here they're clearly still working on their abilities. The riffs are hooky and repetitive, we get short, simple solos, etc, but the guys' performances are still for all intents and purposes better. Vince Neil's voice I never minded. Grating at times, maybe, but he's spirited and has great mountainous BALLS, which clearly shows in his aggressive crooning and shouting. Nikki Sixx continues to give bassists a good name; it's thick and rough, and his control of the riffs is great. Mick Mars is a decent guitarist but not as great as many make him out to be. His attempts at soloing tend to feel as though he had a hard time with it, causing for a droning, too-simple, too-safe aura in the solos, which plagues a number of the songs. And Tommy Lee, the little guy. Again, not as great a musician as many make him out to be. Admittedly though he is better at his craft than Sixx, showing off that moxie and attitude that Vince displays in his vocal work.

The production has some of that rawness featured on "Too Fast For Love", but for the most part goes forward with a bigger sound. I'll admit right now: I don't like the title track. Wait. What? What are you doing?! You, you put down that sharp device right now! Why is it shaped like my junk? No! Stop! Stop! AAAAAUUUGHH!!!!

Sorry. But no, "In The Beginning/Shout At The Devil" never did it for me. The goofy intro is basically pointless, and the title track, while having traces of a catchy chorus and decent mood, just feels like it never gets its shit together and gets going. "Ten Seconds To Love" suffers the same thing; it just drones along despite having something of a fun, hooky, dead-simple chorus. "God Bless The Children Of The Beast" is yet another pointlessly short instrumental, then we have the cover of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter". Again, don't hit, but it like original song more. The redux here is pretty cool and heavy as fuck, but it lacks the more, shall we say, "truthful" and authentic aggression of the original. Plus, no "I've got blisters on me fingaz!"

The rest of the tracks kick some serious fucking ass though. Fast-ish "Looks That Kill" has that great, catchy, somewhat groovish riffage to it, mixed with AWESOMELY cheesy lyrics. The underrated "Danger" strolls along with a swaggering sort of menace and a simple but melodic and atmospheric chorus. The aggressive bruiser "Bastard" is quite cool, as is the legendary mid-paced "Too Young Too Fall In Love"; catchy as holy hell, and armed with a heavy main riff. Lastly, and speaking of heavy, we have the most underrated Crue song of them all: RED FUCKING HOT! This near-speeder wouldn't be out of place on a Judas Priest record with its heavy and driving but melodic riffage and spitfire attitude.

Overall, the production is solid, the band has attitude, and 70% of the songs kick massive mortal anus. Sure there's some definite clunkers here, and even some downright useless moments, but "Shout At The Devil" still keeps on going as a hard glam classic. You know who you are if you dig this kind of metal, and this one will be a welcomed addition to your collection.

The definitive glam metal album? - 95%

The_Blacksmith, March 17th, 2009

UltraBoris called this the definitive Crüe album, and he’s right, but I’d go further and name it as the definitive album of the glam metal genre. It’s probably the one album every single fan of the genre owns (and if they don’t they should be given some light bruising until they do buy it) and rightly so. Like its predecessor, it’s a heavy metal classic.

Sticking with the shock rock imagery if the first album, on Shout at the Devil it’s taken a few steps further, with more blood and flames. Of course, Alice Cooper was doing this years before, but compared to Vince Neil, Alice could be the reasonably normal looking guy next door. Production wise, this is much shinier sounding than the debut, with Tom Werman producing. Appropriately, I’d call Werman the definitive glam metal producer as well. The production is the basis of what glam metal would sound like from then on, and Tom’s production is one of the things that gives the Crüe their signature sound.

After the cheesy glam-cliché intro to the album (it wouldn’t be right without it though – at least they made it into a separate track, unlike Pantera did with Metal Magic) we hit the bombastic title track. It’s impossible not to find yourself singing (or shouting) “Shout! Shout! Shout!” every time you hear this song. If Vince could sing all of the words live, this would be 110% killer in a stadium. “Looks That Kill” follows, and was the first (I think, could be wrong) single from the album. Not as catchy as the title track, but those riffs! Mick Mars rules, all of his riffs are memorable. The faster songs on here are “Bastard” and “Red Hot”, the latter of which is pretty much speed metal. Both songs are anthemic, lethal, sleazy and catchy.

The best song on here though (and in my view, the best song they ever did) has to be “Too Young to Fall in Love”. This was the first Crüe song I ever heard (whilst mowing down some innocent pedestrians on Vice City!) and I instantly fell in love with it. It’s steady pace and deadly riffs make this an instant metal classic. The Egyptian sounding solo is awesome as well, and Vince Neil’s vocals are, as always, awesome.

The only filler on here is “10 Seconds to Love”, which is kinda boring, but even then it’s not abysmally bad, still kinda fun. There are no ballads, unless you consider the song “Danger” to be one, which I personally don’t. The song writing is typical of Nikki Sixx, mean and sleazy. The Beatles cover is awesome as well, and blows chunks over the original one, which was never one of the Beatles best songs anyway. Mötley make it sound like they wrote it, which is great.

To conclude then, this album rules. Plain and simple. As with the previous, and all successive Crüe albums for that matter, aim to get the 2003 remaster with bonus tracks (including the infamous “I Will Survive” with it’s back masking, and “Hotter Than Hell” which would reappear renamed on the following album Theatre of Pain) and the video for “Looks That Kill”.

If you don’t have it, go and buy a copy right now.

Classic glam metal at it's best! - 96%

IWP, June 1st, 2008

Holy shit! Does this album kick ass, or what? Well, if you're into nice and fun 80s metal with awesome riffs, then it certainly does rule! This in my opinion, is the best glam metal album ever so far. It has yet to be matched so far. It has aggression, riffs, and balls, while also containing the fun and catchiness of typical 80s metal. It certainly doesn't get much better than this, and it's even better than their last album. Other than Ten Seconds to Love, there's really no less than awesome song on this album. The riffs are at their best here, Vince Neil sings with attitude, and the solos are great as well.

The best songs on this album would be the ultra fun songs, Looks That Kill, the title track, Helter Skelter, Knock 'Em Dead Kid, and the more ballsier tracks, Bastard, Red Hot, and Too Young to Fall in Love. The title track, inpaticular has a great sing-a-long chorus that is so cathcy that you can't help but SHOUT along to it. Helter Skelter is a nicely done Beatles cover, and like Boris stated, is a heavier.

Then, there's the heavier songs on the album that help maintain Motley Crue's heavy metal status. Bastard fucking rules with those mean ass riffs, and a chorus that slays. Red Hot is total speed metal ala Judas Priest. It's similar to Livewire on their last album except not as awesome as said track, though it still slays. Then we have the absolute highlight of this album. Too Young to Fall in Love. Damn, this song is fucking awesome! It has everything, from ballsy riffs and attitude, to catchiness and fun. It's not very fast, but the riffs surely make up for that. This is one of the Crue's best songs.

Other than one filler (Ten Seconds to Love), this album is flawless. it represents 80s metal perfectly, attitude and all. It's Motley Crue's best album, and possibly the best glam metal album ever. If you don't own this one yet, than get it! Even if you don't really dig glam that much, you still might like this album. It's that fucking good! Shout at the motherfucking Devil!!!

The Crüe's best by far! - 92%

Wacke, January 30th, 2008

Mötley Crüe is one of the biggest glam bands ever but they've only released one really good album and that's "Shout At The Devil". Their debut "Too Fast For Love" is gretty good aswell as there's some great pieces here & there on "Theatre Of Pain" & "Girls, Girls, Girls", athough non of them is near as good as this album. I used to listen a lot to glam and sleaze bands like the Crüe, Guns 'n Roses, Poison, you name it but even then I thought this was their best album. So, what am I thinking today, maybe 2-3 years later and almost not into that music at all? Well, it's pretty easy. Mötley average sucks pretty hard except on this album, it's here you can hear what capacity they got of writing great glamish heavy metal.

The album starts off with a legendary but worthless intro before the almighty title track goes off. It's a heavy tune with a famous catchy riff and it's one of their best songs. Track 3 is the defenitely best song by the Crüe, it's "Looks That Kill". It's a classic "Headbanger's Ball" song with a great guitar solo by Mick Mars. The album goes on from here with a short song, one instrumental & a Beatles cover before it's time for their fastest song ever, "Red Hot". It starts off with some nice double bassdrumming by Tommy Lee & goes off into a heavy banger with a great riff. When it's finished it's time for the hit single "Too Young To Fall In Love", an absolutely great song & then it's time for "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid". A more sleazier song with a catchy riff aswell as a catchy corus. The last 2 tracks are great but they're not so special though.

The production is great & much better than their debut album. You hear everything clearly & the drums sounds fantastic, it's a little like Kiss' "Creatures Of The Night". Dark & heavy all the way. The guitars are nice too & especially the great solos by the underrated guitarist Mick Mars.

The cast is great, everyone in the band are doing a great job with Mick & Tommy on the top. The producer whoever it was have done a great job aswell with making this their by far heaviest & greatest album. It's also their only album that doesn't sound weird in anyway because of the production like all the other albums do.

Finally then. The best cuts are "Looks That Kill", "Too Young To Fall In Love", "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid" & the title track although every song is simply great, even the Beatles cover "Helter Skelter".

I would say that Mötley Crüe was born for real in 1983 with this album, after the tour sometime in 1984 they died. This was the real Mötley for me & they havn't lived up to this album since.

R.I.P. Mötley Crüe

Evil Has Its Due - 90%

Erin_Fox, October 28th, 2006

When ‘Shout At The Devil’ hit the scene in late ’83, Motley Crue turned the metal world upside down with their Bad Boy, hell spawned image and their abrasive, fist pumping style of razor edged metal. Visually, The Crue were quite shocking, but even more so were their occult themed metal tracks complimented by Mick Mars’ brash and crunching metal riffing and pouting vocalist Vince Neil’s piercing wail. The album’s intro is well known and bands of today such as Dry Kill Logic give it props by using it to introduce their live set. Motley were the atypical rock bad boys that pushed life to the linmit and in the process, wrote some really killer music that holds up just as well in 2005 as it did when it was released.

Drummer Tommy Lee pushed the envelope with the frantic double kick thumping of ‘Red Hot’ while bassist Nikki Sixx kept the band grounded on the rock your ass off anthem ‘Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid’. The Crue made themselves brought their trashy Hollywood sleaze to the radio airwaves with their classic hits ‘Looks That Kill’ and ‘Too Young To Fall In Love’, a couple of tracks which still rear their ugly heads on rock radio quite often, and among the faves of Crue diehards everywhere.

Neil really lets loose on the bottom heavy title track, while Mars throws in some errie bends with a wicked sneer. Over the course of their career, Motley retained a core groove, but none so dark and heavy as you’ll find on ‘Shout At The Devil’. The Album’s more controversial pentagram themed artwork only graced the LP, which by this time had gone the way of the T-Rex, but copies of this package are still plentiful and very cool indeed. Featuring a gatefold cover with the band looking as if they were posing in the middle of hell, here you have the inspiration for the black metal of the later eighties through today, whether the bands want to admit it or not. Undeniably Motley’s most powerful and wicked effort of all, this record is simply the coolest overall release in the band’s catalog. Snatch up this classic piece of heavy metal history and SHOUT!

Speed the fuck up goddamnit! - 42%

Xpert74, February 25th, 2006

I swear, this album is way too fucking midpaced and repetitive for its own good. The songs tend to just drone on and on, with the drums never going beyond “bass – snare – bass – snare” speed aside from Red Hot, which brings in slightly faster double-bass. Listening to this album from song to song to song, reminds me of the dreaded time I was forced to listen to Linkin Park’s Meteora. Granted, I’ll give it that this album is not as repetitive as Linkin Park, nor as horrible, but it’s still not all that good either. Even for its time this isn’t all that fast. Judas Priest, Venom, Diamond Head and even Quiet Riot were faster than this! Now before you go and think I only want fast as fuck Grind or whatever, I don’t mind midpaced stuff, as long as it is interesting enough, and doesn’t take precedence over an entire album. This album fails in that regard, just like Metallica’s Seek & Destroy. This album is basically Seek & Destroy made long enough to be an entire album, with Red Hot being the one short fast part.

First up after the intro is Shout At The Devil. From how I had heard everyone talk about this song, I was expecting some really fast Heavy Metal song, but I instead got an extremely dull song that is barely even Metal at all. A really weak riff set dominates this, along with annoying falsetto vocals and the plodding drum beat. Following this is Looks That Kill, which would be good if it didn’t stay at the same speed for 4 fucking minutes. This is almost like background music; fitting for a movie where there’s some scene in an ‘80s Rock bar, but to just listen to this song by itself is agony. By the end of the song I’m itching to turn this off and throw on some Stained Class, but then I see the next song is called “Bastard”, so I expect a more aggressive song. A fading-in drum solo starts this off, then a riff that’s probably the fastest so far comes in, yet it’s still only in the faster range of midpaced. Then the verses come in, and the guitars drop out at points. The song gets slightly faster at a couple points, but is still kind of boring. Then there’s yet another fade-out. That’s 3 fade-outs so far, for 3 songs, and just before all the fade-outs, the drums start doing double-bass. It’s as if these guys think that double-bass is supposed to indicate the song is over.

God Bless The Children Of The Beast comes on, and it’s basically an interlude track, kind of similar to the intro. Then comes in Helter Skelter, which is a Beatles cover, and again is still midpaced. ARGH!! It fits in with the rest of the songs on the album so it doesn’t sound out of place or anything, but in this case that’s a bad thing. Next up is Red Hot. Finally, things get faster! This song has a couple of slower riffs, but enough faster chugging riffs, along with a nice solo section, and this is pretty decent overall, along with the fact it ends without a fade-out! Too Young To Fall In Love follows this, and this is midpaced again, yet this is actually pretty damn good. It’s one of the singles off the album, and it serves its purpose; it’s nice and catchy, without sounding boring or annoying. Unfortunately, Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid starts the suckage again. It’s very repetitive, and is just blah, like most of the album. At least it doesn’t fade out like nearly every song here. Then Motley Crue plays the song over again under the title “Ten Seconds To Love”. It’s about as easy to tell these two songs apart as it is to tell two Von songs apart. Ending the album is Danger, which is kind of a power ballad, with some synths brought in. This song is good, partly because it stands out from the rest of the album, although I don’t really like the way Vince Neil sings “danger” in the chorus, like “dayyn-jurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!” in kind of a muted way. Then the song ends with no fade-out.

If you have the re-released version of the album, then you’ll get to hear demo versions of Shout At The Devil, Looks That Kill, Too Young To Fall In Love, and Hotter Than Hell (which would later be redone as “Louder Than Hell”). You also get an unreleased song, I Will Survive. None of these bonus tracks are all that special, although I Will Survive would stand out somewhat even if it were included in the original version of the album, especially with that freaky ending to the song. The lyrics on this album are pretty much the typical Glam Metal fare, with songs about Hollywood, sex and girls. There’re a couple of pseudo-Satanic moments, but those don’t really take precedence over the album, though one might be led to believe that based on the imagery the band uses (pentagrams and fire, mixed in with the Glam look of the band, who look like a bunch of flat-chested girls).

So overall, should you get this? I say no, but if you think Iron Maiden is way too fucking fast to be enjoyed by any normal human being, then this might be your thing. This is also important for collectors and people who want to have albums for their historical importance, or anything related. Otherwise, this album really only has a few good songs (Red Hot, Too Young To Fall In Love and Danger), along with a bunch of mediocre songs that all run together. If you’re looking for some early Glam Metal that doesn’t all sound the same, then look elsewhere.

Shout: the Crue's finest hour - 90%

Shout_it_Out, December 4th, 2005

Motley Crue issued their debut album, the wonderfully titled Too Fast For Love, in 1982. It was issued first as an independent release before securing a major label release later the same year with Elektra Records. Despite the band already having established itself as the biggest band on Sunset Strip, the album was a commercial flop in the rest of the U.S. as the band failed to capture the MTV audience as it had the LA glam audience. Thus, it was imperative that the band follow up the album quickly in order not to lose the footing it had gained in the market. That album, released in April 1983, was named Shout At The Devil.

The album was to be preceded by the single, which also bears the name Shout At The Devil, but as great a song as it is, it essentially must be heard in conjunction with the album’s opening track, In The Beginning.

Likewise, In The Beginning is not to be taken as a stand-alone song, but an introduction to “Shout”. Featuring synths increasing in volume, the track features a short narrative written by Sixx and read by the elusive Allister Fiend. Building to a crescendo, the narrators voice reflecting the youthful sense of invincibility expressed in the lyrics, this most ambitious beginning lets the listener know they’re not in for just any heavy metal album. This is a Motley Crue album.

With the instantly memorable prose, ” And it has been written/Those who have the youth have the future/So come now, children of the beast/Be strong/And Shout at the Devil”, we are treated to that timeless heavy metal opening that is the distortion-soaked chords which begin Shout At The Devil. Tommy Lee’s cymbal-heavy drum style combines with Sixx’s basic one-note-per-beat to create a thumping rhythm over which Mick Mars can lay his classic guitar riff. One can hear the distortion dripping from the amp.

Within 20 seconds, we are greeted with the first vocal of the album, the meaty backing cries of ”Shout. Shout. Shout”, before Vince Neil, in one short burst, makes the song his own. The high-pitched squeal telling us to again “shout at the devil” is hardly pretty, but Motley Crue were never a band to make pretty pop songs. The pop songs on this album are ballsy, often dark, affairs. Shout At The Devil, originally titled “Shout With The Devil” with “I’s” in the place of “He’s”, was written by Sixx after his dabbling in the occult invited a poltergeist into his home.

The album’s second single, and the third track on the album, is a slightly less intense affair. Looks That Kill encompasses one of rock n’ roll’s oldest clichés, being as it is a song about a girl who’s “razor sharp” and If she don’t get her way/She’ll tear you apart.” She’s a maneater; she’s irresistible and she uses her power to her advantage. We’ve heard it a millon times before, we probably even know the girl in question. What separates this song from the rest is Mick Mars’ infectious guitar riff; the two-part chorus, one a trade-off between Neil and Mars, the other an impossibly catchy group effort; and, of course, a classic guitar solo featuring huge bends and tasty palm-muting. Tommy Lee’s drumming on the song is basic but inspired, the “hole”(to borrow a term from Stewart Copeland) on the last beat of the chorus is worth particular note.

Bastard follows, a straightforward metal song by all counts, driven by Tommy Lee’s thundering drums. If the guitar riff puts the ‘rock’ in this song, then Lee gives it the ‘roll’. He dictates the pace without ever becoming showy. To borrow an often meaningless phrase, he “plays for the song” – his drumming is integral to the song but doesn’t dominate. The lyrics are angry and, charmingly, express the group’s willingness to kill one who has crossed them. ”(Bastard!) Consider that bastard dead … Don’t you try to rape me”

Following Bastard comes the instrumental God Bless The Children Of The Beast, written and performed by guitarist Mars. Continuing the satanic theme of the album, with a lyrical nod to the opening track’s narrative, this track is a pleasant blues-rock guitar solo which shows Mars’ melody-writing talent. Unlike the first track, “God Bless…” is not a companion track to that which follows it, but clocking in at just 1:33, but hardly feels like a stand-alone track either which leaves it an odd, almost awkward, inclusion sandwiched between two heavy rock tracks.

That which follows it is Helter Skelter, an unexpected Beatles cover. The Crue cover is heavier, more distorted, more brutal in every way than the original except, interestingly, in the vocal department. While the guitar riffs gain greatly from Mars’ heavier tone, Vince Neil seems unable to muster as violent a vocal as McCartney. Though Vince’s cleaner voice sounds good at times, he’s exposed as soon as he takes a more aggressive approach, as when he exclaims, ”You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer.” His voice cracks when pushed, which is unfortunate as the song is performed perfectly by the rest of the band. Neil’s vocals let down what is an excellent cover of a classic song.

The next is mosher’s favourite Red Hot, another song driven by Lee’s “rolling” drumming. Featuring a fun, poppy chorus preceded by a pre-chorus which exhibits Sixx’s great ear for a melody. ”The kids scream in fright, through the night/Loving every bit with delight/And we blow out our minds with your truth/And together we stand for the youth.” While not Sixx’s best moment lyrically, the words do adequately express the sentiment of the opening track and, to a lesser extent, Bastard. The feeling of camaraderie and youthful vigilance seeps from the song, infecting the listener with that same energy.

Third single, Too Young To Fall In Love, is somewhat of a forgotten classic. The least popular of the three singles from the album to date, the song is a favourite of fans and critics alike. Built on Lee’s solid drumbeat, the song features the album’s most memorable guitar riff and some of Sixx’s strongest lyrical images. ”You say our love is like dynamite/Open your eyes, it’s like fire and ice.” “You’re killing me/Your love’s a guillotine.” Also worth noting is Mick Mars’ blisterin guitar solo.

Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid could be considered a cousin of Bastard and Red Hot. It features Nikki’s angriest, and best, lyric on the album and is my personal favourite track from the album. A biting satire written from the perspective of a truncheon-happy police officer, the song sees the bassist unleash the anger stirred up as a result of the treatment given to an average junkie in early 80’s Los Angeles. The chorus is one for the moshers but, disappointingly, the band has chosen not to play it on the current tour. ”Knock ‘em dead, kid/(Knock ‘em dead)/The blade is red, kid/(Knock ‘em dead)”

Another fan favourite follows in the punk-metal anthem Ten Seconds To Love. This is the ultimate blowjob song, inviting the listener to be “my ten second pet”. Charming lyrics include: ”Touch my gun/But don’t pull my trigger” and ”Shine my pistol some more/Here I cum/Just ten seconds more” The lyrics are awful, but fun to sing along to. This leads us to the final track, Danger.

This track, more than any other on the album, shows a musical depth which belies the hair metal awfulness which has become the band’s enduring image. The song can be seen as the conclusion to the album, beginning with a similar theme to earlier songs, that of the power of youth, but taking a tragic turn, ”All my friend’s are dead/I lost my head/It made me hate.” “Out of my head/Lost in gin/From riches to sin” A repetitive guitar riff drives the song. The riff needs to be good to occupy such a central role in the song, and Mars doesn’t disappoint. The chorus is perhaps the least poppy on the album, but perhaps the most enduring, consisting of, simply, ”Danger/You’re in danger when the boys are around.” It’s a mature ending to an album characterized by immediacy – musically and thematically.

Overall, Shout At The Devil proves itself to be a worthy landmark of a time before glam metal became a parody of itself. The album expresses real purpose, real aspiration and real musical vision. That the band would never fulfill the promise shown by their breakthrough effort is a shame. The album which followed, Theatre Of Pain, was a commercial success but was critically panned and hasn’t aged well. A few flashes of genius followed in the 2 albums which followed, but the Crue had grown up by the time they returned to such musical heights, and so had their fans.

Disregard Every Crue Album After This 'Un - 85%

corviderrant, March 5th, 2005

I clearly remember this as being another one of the first albums I bought with my own money years ago back in the Dark Ages! And it made a pretty hefty impression at the time that still lasts even now. Here is where it came together for the Crue musically *and* imagewise--I remember seeing photos of Nikki Sixx in his studded/spiked leather stage gear with his hair piled up to HERE in those massive platform boots with a B.C. Rich Warlock bass slung down 'round his knees and thinking it was the coolest thing I'd seen this side of vintage Gene Simmons! Made me want to play bass, in fact, and made me covet a Warlock bass like his (still working on that bit). I digress, because the music is the focus here, and the music on this album is definitely the heaviest and darkest the Crue pumped out at this time in their career.

Let's get one thing out of the way right off: Mick Mars is without a doubt one of the crappier guitarists out there. His rude, squalling style works for them about half the time as long he stays to the simpler Angus Young-type leads. As soon as he tries playing fast it just falls apart into a heap of shite. But his riffing is stellar on this album, and his thick, gutsy tone makes those riffs this side of armor plated for the time and genre. Tom Werman's production is excellent (again, for the time), with Nikki's dark, pounding basslines underpinning the riffage like a torrent of negativity. Tommy Lee's furious drumming was at its apex on this album, too, uncorking some pretty good double bass at times, and his simple, hard-hitting style worked just right. But like Mick Mars in the lead dept, Vince Neil's nasal whine really irk-itates me to no end most of the time. He has attitude, but that's about it--I was really pissed when they kicked out John Corabi in favor of this joker's return, because Corabi wailed like Paul Stanley on steroids!

Song wise, I keep returning to "Red Hot" for its proto-speed metal feel (rather "Overkill"-era Motorhead-sounding, actually, on the verses!) , "Danger" for its sinister-yet-melodic chorus, and "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid!" because it's a good headbanger alongside "Red Hot". We all know "Looks That Kill", of course, and it's not even one of the better tunes here--though I dig Nikki's cool little bass riffs in the middle of the chorus. "Too Young To Fall In Love", ehh, it's OK. Catchy but kind of silly, especially in the chorus department. Vince's yelps of "Well I'm too young!" drag it down some. "Ten Seconds To Love", the breakdown in the middle with bass and drums is appropriately sleazy-sounding given the subject matter! I can hear a lot of AC/DC influence all over this album, and songs like this one really emphasize that influence with their catchy riffs and grooving rhythms. The title track starts things off with a pounding salvo on the chorus and a nice heavy rideout where Tommy unleashes the slow double kick that makes this ending really drag you further into the rest of this album.

This was metal back in the day, long before the underground came into power and extremity began rearing its ugly little head, and we loved it. It even got a little radio airplay, and we were OK with that too. And now and again I still bust out this album and remember when, grinning and bobbing my head along with those nice thundering choruses..."SHOUT!!! SHOUT!!! SHOUT!!! Shout at the de-vuhll!!!"

Shout, Shout, Shout at the Metal! - 90%

PowerMetalGuardian, July 25th, 2004

Whether you think Motley Crue is a glam rock band is besides the point when it comes to their second album, Shout at the Devil. This album captures the essence of Motley Crue every being considered a heavy metal band. Sure there are glam tendencies on the album, but the riff work is heavier, and probably the heaviest Crue album.

I like to break down Shout at the Devil into two sections. The first section includes tracks one through six. Here we have two popular Motley Crue songs -Shout at the Devil and Looks That Kill. These songs offer up some of the heaviest riffs from the Crue. In the Beginning is a nice, brilliant, and probably necessary touch to bring in Shout at the Devil. In my opinion these two songs along with Bastard tend to be the glam side of this album. Maybe because all these were written by Sixx. God Bless the Children of the Beast is basically a useless instrumental, as it doesn't accomplish much and only lasts a minute and a half. Then we have the cover of The Beatles Helter Skelter, which is good seeing as it is brought up to heavy metal standards.

The second part of the album, which basically is unknown to most people, features some of the heaviest songs Crue has ever written. I agree with Ultra Boris in that Red Hot and Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid are sandwiched in between Too Young To Fall In Love, but they are decent (average) songs. Red Hot's chorus riff tends to sound like older Riot, and with the beat from Lee makes for a good head banging song. Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid is alright, it tends to sounds like Looks That Kill, but the crunching riffs are more heavier. Too Young To Fall in Love is a great song, its more softer compared to the other songs, but nonetheless a Motley Crue hit. The intro riff to Ten Seconds to Love and the chorus riff to Danger are excellent. Danger, while having a soft melodic part, shows the dark side of Motley Crue.

So overall this is the essential Crue album for all heavy metal fans. Whether you think that this band is glam doesn't matter. Shout at the Devil has a lot of memorable moments, kick ass riffs, and enough metal to make you headbang -I guarantee!

Absolutely essential heavy metal. - 92%

Nightcrawler, February 20th, 2004

Fuck yeah! This is how to fucking rock! Too Fast For Love had the songwriting nailed down, but on Mötley Crüe's sophomore studio effort, they take all the great stuff from the debut - catchy, memorable and fun songwriting, with the instantly recognizable style of each individual member - and intensified the songwriting many times. Top that off with better, sharper and heavier production (then again, keep in mind that I have the remastered SATD and a CD-R of the original TFFL, so I may be way off on the production) and even catchier and better songwriting, this is sure to make any fan of the traditional metal style cream his pants several times while listening to this album.

This is probably the most metal album they ever did (of the first five, anyway, which is what I've got) and by far their greatest. A heavy metal classic, full of fist-pumping and headbanging anthems (Shout At The Devil, Looks That Kill) and our fair share of the typical Crue-rockers, such as Bastard and the intensely heavy Knock 'Em Dead Kid (watch out for the solo in that one, it sounds like it could've been from Melissa!). This is awesome shit, no doubt about it.
The songwriting in itself never got better, heavier and more intense for the band, and on the album Mick mars lays down his greatest and most fierce guitar performance. Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx back him up strongly with a very, very solid backing rhythm, giving an extra punch to the already punchy songs. And on the front we have Vince Neil, who sounds far stronger than on the debut.

What also sets this apart from other Crue albums is the small amount of fillers to be found. The only weak song here is the closer Danger, which is boring as fuck, but hit "eject" before it and you'll be off fine. Aside from this, the stuff on here owns you from start to finish. The somewhat silly intro The Beginning leads into the legendary anthem Shout At The Devil, which is one of their best songs ever. Looks That Kill has some awesome heavy riffing and very, very memorable vocal lines, and a pretty mean attitude in the vein of Piece of Your Action from Too Fast For Love.

Eventually, other standouts include the monstrously and insanely cool cover of Helter Skelter, which is just a huge barrel of fun, and one of the catchiest songs on here. Red Hot, whose riffs are nearly speed metal, is another memorable song with an in-your-face attitude that far surpasses almost anything else they put out. Too Young To Fall In Love as well is a classic, with an incredibly infectious chorus and a nice emotional touch in the songwriting.

The rest ain't bad either, but these are the definite highlights, and all 10/10 in my book. In conclusion... this isn't the heaviest metal ever, there's still a definite hard rock-ish vibe to them. That might be somewhat off-putting for some, but for those who just wanna fucking rock and headbang, look no further!

Shout At The Devil from my perspective. - 80%

TheShadowfiend, October 14th, 2003

In the summer of 1984, when I was 10 years old, I was watching MTV one summer day, and the video for "Too Young To Fall In Love" came on, and it just blew me away. This band had attitude in their music, and it left me speechless. So, after viewing this video, and liking the song, I went out and bought this fine LP about a week later.

When I got home with this album, and put it on the turn table, and the opening spoken word to "In The Beginning" started, I said, "This is it! I'm going to get my ass kicked big time." Then as if it was like being kicked in the teeth, the title track kicks in with some thunderous tom work, and the opening licks, and the chants of, "Shout! Shout! Shout," and Vince screaming, "Shout At The Devil," and we were off and running. The riff of the title track is heavy, and mean that it just leaves you numb. The next song, "Looks That Kill" is quite catchy and memorable, and the easy to sing along chorus shows just how much this song has become a Crue classic. One thing I like with the song, "Ten Seconds To Love" is the infectious guitar riffs that possesses. It just grabs you, and that is something I think is really good. The Beatles cover, "Helter Skelter" is actually done really well musically. Easy to get into. "Red Hot" is just a good uptempo stomper with a good sense of heaviness. "Danger" is kind of an odd way to close out the album, but the song is still decent enough.

This album is just good. If you're only going to pick up one Motley Crue album, you should make this album the one. This is also one of those albums that my friends and I throw on, drink some beers, and hear some kick ass music. It's just a shame Crue never managed to match the greatness this album has.