GODDAMN! Thats Glam! vol. 3 Motley Crue - Theatre of Pain (Elektra, 1985)

GODDAMN! Thats Glam! 

Motley Crue- Theatre of Pain (1985), #6 Billboard Albums Chart, 4x Platinum

Vince Neil – Vocals

Mick Mars – Lead & Rhythm Guitar

Nikki Sixx  - Bass

Tommy Lee  – Drums

Writers: Nikki Sixx on all songs, contributions from other band members throughout

Producer: Tom Werman (Shout At The Devil, Cheap Trick's In Color, Heaven Tonight, Dream Police and Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry. Apparently owns a B&B in Lenox, MA might have to check that out and do a podcast, dude must have great stories!)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, we are only on volume 3 and I am already re-posting stuff from my original Rocktober countdown. This was written in 2011. This is one of my favorite pieces I did as it really details why this is a great album even if the band itself disowns it. Since this piece originally was published The Dirt the movie has come out. This album was pretty much ignored except for one brief scene where they bury the album as trash and as if it was the worst thing they ever produced (Generation Swine anyone?). Funny thing is that they always say the only good thing to come out of this album is Home Sweet Home, which is their best & signature power ballad. What is funny is that song did not chart well at the time. It was actually the cover of Smokin' In The Boys Room that was a Top 40 hit. Home Sweet Home was remastered and re-released on Decade of Decadence in 1991 and that is the version we all know and love. I hope you enjoy this re-post and take some time to revisit this album. It is not as good as Too Fast for Love or Shout At The Devil, but few albums are. This is still a great glam metal album. Enjoy!

All four people that who will eventually read this blog knew that Motley Crue was going to show up on this countdown sooner rather than later (they had FIVE albums in the 80’s alone). Their first appearance is for their over-looked, under-appreciated glam classic, Theatre of Pain. This album finds the Crue boys re-inventing themselves (as they have a penchant to do on each album) as philosophical glam rocking gypsies.  Philosophical?!?!? Ok as philosophical as a glam band can get. Motley Crue always had a unique sense of self when it came to rebellion and cutting-edge trends. Nikki Sixx led the band to the forefront of American heavy metal with the bitchin album, Shout At The Devil. On Heavy Metal Sunday at the US Festival, a veritable murder’s row of metal killed New Wave dead as Van Halen, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot and a young, hungry Motley Crue band gathered to melt hundreds of thousands people’s faces. Yes, if you could take a time machine back to 1983-84, it was Motley Crue, not Metallica that was the face of American Heavy Metal (and I am not talking VH1 metal, this is true, blue metal. If you disagree with me, then basically you are calling Ozzy and Priest not metal. Crue was just as metal as those artists in this time period.) Then depending on your vantage point, Nikki and troop threw it all away for mainstream fame and success with the album, Theatre of Pain. My own theory is that Nikki knew he could not top that aggressive, almost violent magnus opus and thus he needed to shift to the other extreme leading to Theatre of Pain being born. Nikki has stated in a couple of interviews that he believes in always re-inventing the image and sound of the band with every album. He did a Satanic, post-Apocalypse album and now he wanted to rebel differently as the Metallica's and SLAYERRRRR's started to pop up. He dropped the leather and added the lace. Thrash was an aggressive, realistic take on metal. Then he was going to create carnival, fantastical atmosphere on his albums. They replaced the heavy songs about Satan with a power ballad about life on the road and songs about the uplifting street-wise rebellion with songs about being tethered to the city.  

Theatre of Pain is Motley Crue’s most challenging release to the point, where the members of the band have mostly dis-owned the album (save for the smash hit, Home Sweet Home) stating that it does not fit with the Crue mold of partying, sex, drugs and rock n roll. For the most part they are right, this album is not a party album, which is pretty weird for a glam metal album. I disagree that quite strongly that this album is the weakest of their 80’s golden years albums (that distinction belongs to the repetitive Girls, Girls, Girls album). The distorted, fuzzy guitar tone of Mars on this album adds a great wrinkle to the 1970’s glam rock (Nikki Sixx’s favorite genre) that is prevalent throughout the album. In fact, the heavy, grinding tone of Mars is the one of the remaining vestiges of Crue’s metal past. While this has been deemed the “glam rock” album, Mick Mars does his best to remind you that is a heavy metal band.  In addition, this was the last time, I feel Vince Neil sang like a heavy metal lead singer rather than a mainstream, overly-produced hard rock lead singer. Neil was still allowed to perform unintelligible screams, which are a hallmark of glam metal and still sang with a high-pitched sneer rather than the fuller voice he “developed” on later albums. My main issue with the album is that the rhythm section especially Tommy’s drums are mixed way too low and sound either muddled or hidden underneath the Neil/Mars tandem.   

However, the circumstances around the album seemed to have distracted Crue from the objective of perfecting this album. The drug problems in the band were reaching a fever pitch. Vince killed the drummer of the “biggest band that never was” Hanoi Rocks in a drunk driving accident and Theatre of Pain is dedicated to Razzle. This led to a very short album (35 minutes) that included a cover among the ten songs not exactly indicative of the peak of creative power. I do hope to unearth some Motley Crue gems that have been lost to the fact that this album is so criminally over-looked.

Theatre of Pain, immediately tells the listener that this is NOT the sequel to Shout At The Devil, but this album for better or worse is very much its own album. City Boy Blues is definitely one of my favorite songs off the album that displays perfectly that dirty, dirty, dirty guitar tone Mars employs on the whole album. The riff is a plodding, pulsating attack of distortion while Vince screams over it about street-life and drugs. Tommy’s drums are actually pretty audible in this one as his constant crashing of the cymbals and drum rolls are on point. Nikki’s lyrics are illustrative that he is the best lyrical force in glam metal even if he was high on five different drugs as the bridge to the solo is a well-crafted set of lyrics setting out to challenge the mainstream belief system of Americans. The solo is one of my favorite of the album and is a relatively short (standard for Mick Mars’ standards) burst of melodic energy.

Next on the album was the lead single and cover of Brownsville Station’s hit, Smokin In The Boys Room. I definitely disagree with using a cover as a lead single as that seems downright lazy to me. However, as I looked over the rest of the album only, Tonight (We Need A Lover), could have been a lead single. I guess you can argue that their hands were tied. I love the music video for this one as this cover made so much sense for Motley Crue and their rebellious, teenage attitude. The imagery of the band was the most extreme at its time until Poison took it to the next level in 1986.  Once again, proving how Motley Crue were the trend-setters of glam metal. A funny personal anecdote, my brother and I always thought the lyrics were “Because everybody knows that smoking in the lounge is cool” because Vince’s phrasing sucks the meat missile. Then my dad who knows the original version told us it is “Because everybody know school aint allowed in school” which makes way more sense.

Next up is one of my personal favorites and a hold-over from the Shout-era, Louder Than Hell. This track is by far the most metal of all the songs on this album. The riffs vacillate between a grinding attack and long, drawn wail. Over the top of this, Vince delivers one of his best vocal performances EVAH~! screaming about sexual domination and things of that ilk. However, I would like the rumbling rhythm section more if I did not have to strain myself to hear it. Check out the difference between this and Hotter Than Hell, which is the original version. On the latter, Tommy’s drums really pound, but I prefer Vince’s vocals on Theatre of Pain, so it is a tough call.   

Some fun, fluffy filler is on tap next, Keep Your Eye On The Money, which I do not know completely why it was included on the album.

Now for the main event of the album and the reason this bad boy went quadruple platinum, the massive hit single, Home Sweet Home. The song that sent Motley Crue from top-flight heavy metal band to mainstream rock stars across America. Sometimes it is hard to reconcile that the same band performs Shout At the Devil and Home Sweet Home, but that is one of the reasons to love Crue. There is no Crue formula and there is no such thing as quintessential Crue as everything sounds so different.  This is THE power ballad to pretty much end all power ballads. Crue would never top this power ballad and this power ballad that started them all. Once again, Motley Crue are the trend-setters in glam metal. The piano intro, Vince’s crooning, the heavy attack of Mars’ guitar and the HUGE chorus make this a must-hear off the album. Mars’ guitar during the chorus is what sets this apart from so many other power ballads because it is such a heavy, distorted that swoops in like a locomotive. Then the solo, HOLY SHIT, what a solo as it just blares with great continuity between each of his guitar acrobatics. On the music video front, WHAT THE FUCK happened to Vince's hair. His hair was totally butchered into a mullet and is probably one of the reasons why the uninformed associate mullets with glam metal. Ugh, his hair has looked so much better.  I love the beginning of the video, when each member is found in their respective environments. It really hallmarks how much of a MOTLEY crew, Motley Crue actually was. It was this diversity of talents and backgrounds that led them to be the glam juggernauts that they were and are. Without further aideu, the number one MTV video of 1985:

Following that monster is the song that should have been the lead single, Tonight (We Need A Lover), which is also a very metallic song for the album with a pounding rhythm section from Tommy and an elongated wailing riff during verses that transforms into a pulsating, head-banging attack on the chorus. My favorite part of the song is when the band sings “Tonight” in harmony higher and higher pitch. Only for Vince to swoop in with a low-pitch snarl of “Oooooo Tonight”.

The token speed metal track comes up next as the riff from Livewire is transformed into the new Motley Crue song. I like the vocal delivery and melodies more than anything else. The hook on this song for me is when Vince sings “JFK Marilyn Monroe//Street-Walking Gypsy//Margaret Throdeau”. All in  all not essential Crue, but a fun song to come back to when you have played the hits to death.

I don’t think anybody on this planet agrees with me, but I believe Save Our Souls is the masterpiece of Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue’s career (Danger and Shout AT The Devil make it a tight race) and it is unfortunate that only Crue die-hards have ever heard it. The song is characterized by a HEAVY, GRINDING DIRGE of a riff that is punctuated by the DELIBERATE drum pounding of Tommy Lee. Vince screams and wails about the sleazy underbelly of the streets, which climaxes with the melancholy gang-shout of “Save Our Souls//For the Heavens//Save Our Souls//For the Promised Land”. This song is probably the closest thing to have ever heard to glam-doom metal and it sounds so fuckin cool.

That is one tough act to follow and Raise Your Hands to Rock sees Crue experimenting once again, but this type failing to reach my high expectations. The song begins with an acoustic guitar and then the muddled rhythm section kicks in. It is like a cross between I Wanna Rock and a feel-good, summer heart-land rock song. I think they were going for a big anthem and they fell short of it as there just were not enough hooks.

The final song used to be my least favorite song on the album, Fight For Your Right, until incidentally I was writing this blog. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the lyrics are way too self-serious and sound like an absolute joke when being sung by Vince Neil of all people. However, the only reason I used to listen to this song is that one of the lyrics include “Martin Luther” (It is clearly intended to be Martin Luther King, but the boys in Crue are not Rhodes Scholars) and so I used to like to hear Vince sing my name. I still hate the bridge, which does nothing for me and the chorus is pretty lame. However, I have newfound appreciation for the riff, which I am actually digging a whole lot now. God, I LOVE Mick Mars.

Is this the best Motley Crue album? Of course not. It needs to be made known that Motley Crue on their off-day is still better than 90% of glam metal bands out there. Is this an album that I want to listen to when I went to rejuvenate myself or “party”? No, not at all. This album is very different than a conventional glam metal album and when I find myself tired of the usual big hooks and high-powered riffs I find this album really takes glam metal into an interesting territory of grinding riffs and rumbling rhythm sections. I hope that maybe, just maybe, I proved my point that Theatre of Pain is a lost gem in the catalog of glam metal.        

GODDAMN! Thats Glam! vol. 1 Vince Neil - Exposed (1993)

GODDAMN! Thats Glam! 

Vince Neil - Exposed (1993), #13 Billboard Album Chart

Band Members

Vince Neil - Lead and backing vocals

Steve Stevens - all guitars & Bass

Vikki Foxx - Drums

Writers: Vince Neil, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Jack Blades (Night Ranger, Damn Yankees), Tommy Shaw (Styx, Damn Yankees), Phil Soussan (Ozzy Osbourne)

Producer: Rod Nevison (Ozzy Osbourne, Damn Yankees, KISS, Heart among others)

I have been tossing around ideas in my head to start a blog that is focused on music for quite some time. I took a brief stab at it last year writing three articles for the Place To Be Nation (placetobe.com) on various artists such as Taylor Swift, Whitesnake and Guns N Roses under the title "Vivid Technicolor Radio", but then I was finding it hard to make time to keep writing. Well, COVID-19 sure has given me plenty of time. About two months ago, I started a spreadsheet of all the major hard rock and heavy metal albums of the Golden Age of 1978-1991 (Van Halen I to Nirvana's Nevermind). I have amassed a list of 350 albums that I want to give a listen and have been using a  random number generator to keep me on my toes. I could not decide what I wanted to do with the project whether it would be for my own amusement or if I would start writing about music. Then last night, I threw on one of my all-time favorites, Vince Neil's solo endeavor, Exposed and I was like GODDAMN! That's Glam! :p So I knew I needed to write and specifically I need to write about under-the-radar, obscure glam/hair/sleaze/pop metal that has been lost to the sands of time. 

Funnily enough this blog (ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com) started as a music blog as I counted down the Top 31 Glam Metal albums of all time during the Rocktober of 2011. I never finished and I really should revise the list. I 100% knew about this album and how badass it is and somehow I didnt list it. Also, I didnt put Tigertailz's Bezerk or Babylon AD's Eponymous debut on the list, but I did put cult classic Vain's No Respect on so it was not bashful about choosing oddball picks. Vince Neil's Exposed definitely would make my Top 31 glam metal albums of all time.   

So some background, the shit hit the fan really hard in 1991-1992 for the heavy metal scene. Now on one hand, you have the rise of grunge with the big four Seattle band, but on the other you had a ton of massive breakups. Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Poison, and Whitesnake all had major personnel problems that led them to not producing albums after 1991 either at all or without key members. In the case of Motley Crue, it was that the temperamental Vince Neil had gotten too big for his britches and decided to fly solo. Motley Crue would record one album with John Corabi in 1994, which I have never heard. I am a huge Cruehead and I could never bring myself to listen it even though it has gotten rave reviews so I really should listen to it. However, the story of Vince Neil going solo is only half the story. 

You see the real key to this album being so shockingly amazing is that it was also a solo album for guitarist, Steve Stevens. Stevens was the guitarist for Billy Idol and was stuck playing pop punk/new wave dance guitar and he did a phenomenal job at that, but it is not necessarily a genre you can just go balls out and shred. Steve Stevens absolutely lets it fucking rip on this album. This is just one long extended 52 minute orgasm on guitar. If you love 80s metal-style guitar, you need to listen to this album pronto. There are a ton of guitar tracks on each song and all of sudden when you least expect it another one will come out of nowhere and kick you in the ass. The production and arrangement of every song is impeccable and it is all owed to Stevens. Go listen to the single version of Youre Invited, But Your Friend Cant Come and then go listen to the album version. It is night and day. The album version smokes the single version. The difference is that Stevens was not in the band when the promotional single was released and he insisted it be re-recorded with him for the album. Every blistering solo leaves your face totally melted. Every riff is a monster (Look In Her Eyes, Living Is A Luxury) and wicked catchy (Fine, Fine Wine & Edge). This is a guitar album through and through. It may say Vince Neil - Exposed on the marquee, but it should read Steve Stevens - Shreds. 

There are two reasons this album reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne album. Every good Ozzy album is really a guitar album. Randy, Jake E and Zakk are all monsters on the axe and Ozzy really lets them shine. Typically when a solo album is released the solo artist is way too high up in the mix. A lot of guitarist solo albums, the singer and vocals are afterthoughts buried in the mix. When a singer goes out on his own more often than not he wants to front and center and the guitar gets buried in the mix. Ozzy & Sharon were both smart enough to understand the music landscape of the 80s and that the guitar was king so it was mixed equitably. This album is also mixed equitably. The vocals and guitar coalesce and work together to make the song great. It is song-oriented production rather than instrument-oriented. The other reason it reminds me of an Ozzy album because Steve Stevens is giving Zakk Wylde a run for his money on guitar. This sounds like the follow-up to No More Tears. It is not all hooks, there are some serious chops and it is a similar shred style on display here. This brings me to my last overarching point about this album is that this a significant departure from Motley Crue. 

To the layperson, the sound of this album and a Motley Crue album and pretty much any 80s heavy metal album is probably indistinguishable. To someone who lives and breather glam/hair/sleaze/pop metal, this sounds radically different. The songs are way longer and way more complex.  I love Mick Mars; he is one of my favorite guitarists and is the highlight of seeing Motley Crue live. He is simple, but he is so raw, nasty, dirty, noisy and trashy. Mars is not there is compete with Van Halen, he is there to capture sleaze aesthetic of the 80s Sunset Strip. So when I say the songs are more complex thats not a diss but just an observation. The music found on Vince Neil's album is closer to Scorpions or Ozzy Osbourne than it is with Motley Crue's mixture of Sweet, Sex Pistols and Aerosmith. Coincidentally, Vince Neil does cover a Sweet song ("Set Me Free", that harmonized solo is fucking amazing and the best one on the album of a ton of great solos), which is so badass and love that he pays homage to one of his key influences. That's the thing that really made Motley Crue so unique is they actually are a GLAM metal in the truest sense of the word in that the band members (besides maybe Mick) really loved 70s glam rock. This albums strips away the glam and just leaves a real metal sheen that is more similar to Van Halen, Scorpions or Ozzy Osbourne. 

I will leave you with some commentary on the individual songs. "Look In Her Eyes" is such an insane song. It sounds like a maelstrom of sex & violence, the choppy riff, the Aldo Nova part, the blaring lead. Vince Neil sounds really inspired on this album. He is more full-throated here compared to when he was shrieking like a banshee on Shout At The Devil. He keeps up well with the complexity of Stevens, which is is surprising because these are not simple vocal melodies. He is being asked to sing through the music rather than with it. I currently have the song in my ear and the way Neil is singing it reminds me a lot of Dio. It is a very cool song and it is a real statement song. We are here to rock your balls off, melt your face and we are NOT Motley Fucking Crue. The solo in this song is a tornado of notes and effects that you just have to listen to appreciate.   

Skipping over "Sister of Pain" it has never done much for me, we go to another single "Cant Have Your Cake". I love how speedy this song is. It is typical metal riff, but it is one of those riffs you just love to rock out to. Stevens throws in a ton of fills and lead tracks from out of nowhere to keep you interested. Vince Neil does a great job on vocals. He is fun and you enjoy listening to him. Here's my one complaint on this album is that chorus are way too fucking long. "Cant Have Your Cake And Eat It Too" or the more painful "Youre Invited, But Your Friend Cant Come", who is chanting that? Nikki would have murdered him for having such bad choruses. All the songs sound really fun or badass, but the choruses are lacking. They do a great job making the choruses feel big and Vince is multi-tracked and harmonized well, but the words are so lame that it robs the song of some of its exuberance. 

I love "Fine, Fine Wine" that riff is just so good. I love how Vince launches into the song full force. The lyrics about describing each part of this woman's anatomy being a total knock out is great. I also think this is their best chorus. It is the most glammy, it short, sweet and sexual. The solo is so fucking awesome and comes back to multi-tracked Vince with no music singing the chorus. The arrangements on this album are so killer.  This is a really strong glam metal album cut. 

I really enjoy the ballad "You Cant Change Me" you can tell Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw had their hands on this one because this is right in their wheelhouse. It is fun and you really want to sing along with it. This is not one of those heavy power ballads about love lost. It is a song of defiance and independence. "You Cant Change Me" absolutely crushes the banal, trite power ballad at the end, "Forever".

There are two songs on this album that Motley Crue and no 80s heavy metal band would ever play those are "Edge" and "Living Is A Luxury". These are the songs that really make this album stand out more than a really, really great party album. On the "Edge", Steve Steven goes fucking crazy, there are Spanish Guitars, classical guitar, a MONSTER riff then this wild lead that plays over the riff. Vince sings this song about "glory" and "demons" which he would never sing in Crue.  There are so many crazy fills and guitar tracks. The solo is insane it goes from beautiful Flamenco guitars to blistering solo because Steve Stevens is a genius. "Living Is A Luxury" is also a wild song it sort of this fun, jazzy, dare I say Broadway number. I actually think this could be Vince Neil's best vocal performance since Theatre of Pain. He actually had to show some emotion and create a character with a little bit of sass on this song. The loud-soft dynamics are great and the addition of the horns in the middle song are exactly perfect for that part. The softness of the verses where Neil is allowed to shine and explain how dangerous it is out there and then they kick it in with big metal riff is great. The solo is my second favorite after the one on "Set Me Free" as it sounds like a harmonized Megadeth solo from the Rust In Peace era. 

There is a lot of reasons why this album is forgotten and why it should have sucked. It came out in 1993 and was already outdated and passe. It is the solo album by the second most famous member of Motley Crue. It is Vince Neil who is a drunk asshole and seems like he is about as dumb as a fucking rock. This album should have been a disaster, but instead it is fucking amazing. Vince gives a great performance on every single song, really putting his all into it and also working with some really challenging material. The real reason this album is a wild success is because of Steve Stevens. He did an excellent job arranging the music and really providing some unique sounds. Ultimately, this was a chance for Stevens to go balls to the wall and he delivers with a guitar-album that just smokes. If you love 1980s metal, you owe it to yourself to give this album a spin, you wont regret it.