Motley Crue |
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need another compilation record from MOTLEY CRUE? I didn't think so at first but after having listened to "Greatest Hits" I am pleased as punch that there is another CRUE collection in my collection. "DECADE OF DECADENCE" seems to have been a primer for this grand opus. After all, only eight of the 17 tracks here are repeats from "Decade" and most of those are different versions in some fashion. This is a very meaty disc with all the dippin' sauce you can handle. The new numbers, "Bitter Pill" and "Enslaved", would seem to hint at a new direction for the group, that is to say, back to the basic rock and roll extremes that they are best known for. Both are great songs and ready for radio to lap them up. "Glitter" rears its ugly head again here only this time it is a remix. Personally, I hate the song even more than "Home Sweet Home"(included here as well) but I am in the minority in this so the average CRUE fan should be delighted to get this alternate version. "Shout at the Devil '97" was chosen over the original for inclusion here which I concur with. Though I do love the original this version just smokes. The rest of the disc is actually more of a best of eighties compilation than simply MOTLEY CRUE's greatest hits. These songs represent most of the best music coming out of speakers in the last decade. They represent millions of albums, singles, videos and concert tickets sold and a piece of Americana that will forever be etched into millions of memories. Just look at the list: "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Dr. Feelgood", "Same Ol' Situation", "Afraid", "Don't Go Away Mad(Just Go Away)", "Without You", "Smokin' in the Boy's Room", "Primal Scream", "Too Fast For Love", "Looks That Kill" with those previously mentioned make for one mighty powerpack of tunes. As if the music wasn't enough, you also get liner notes scribed directly from the hands of the four guys who make up MOTLEY CRUE. I predict many hours of incredibly loud music will result from this purchase. Crank it up with the CRUE! Released by Motley Records Review supplied by David Lee |
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New Tattoo Motley Crue |
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They knew you'd be back… and face it, so did you-we all did. Sporting their "New Tattoo" for an analogy, Hollywood's original bad boys return to the scene where it all began some eighteen years before and showing everything old is new again, the Crue bounce back in true Motley fashion. Yes the good doctor has returned, armed with a new set of needles and a fire in his belly that up to now has only been hinted at in the form of extra tracks here or an add-on cut there. Now the full force rocking machine back in working order. "Hell on High Heel's" gets the motor running in typical good time Crue fashion-the old tongue in cheek thing no doubt, and rest assured not the last place you'd expect to find it by the time this one's through! "Treat Me Like the Dog I am," now this one's got some balls to it-excellent work. By now it's no secret that longtime drummer and tabloid terror Tommy Lee has gone on to bold new adventures with his hip new sound-I'll give 'em one more album, maybe two… so in steps Randy Castillo and the signature Crue rhythm section remains in tact. The title track's the first of the slow variety-an ode to our better half shall we say? Interestingly by the time the fourth song kicks into gear, that being "Dragstrip Superstar," which finds Mars' hitting upon some downright despondent grooves and slowly but surely the doubt's wearing off on this listener… I'll admit losing interest in the band after the release of that "Girls Girls Girls" bomb they dropped back then and for me it was all downhill from there. At times "New Tattoo" sounds like vintage Crue and at others it's like a completely different band that's performing here-The Tubes maybe (they do a pretty convincing cover of the "White Punks on Dope" neo-classic… wild!)-So back to the tattoo analogy, let's go it a step further. A new tattoo that becomes old needs to be redrawn, re-colored and basically freshened in order to look new again… thus we have this "New Tattoo" and the freshened sound they've come up with-I didn't think they could do it. "Generation Swine" for what it was had some decent stuff on it and bits and traces of what was leftover can be heard, albeit faintly over the surging rhythms, and so we get a little extra flair to go with attitude aplenty on what is quickly becoming a painfully pleasurable ink job. The one-two punch of "First Band on the Moon" and "She Needs Rock and Roll" pack little impact but then they follow up with a booming right in "Punched in the Teeth by Love" and I swear I can't remember when they've come up with such a powerful groove… but rockin' is their business, right? The build up on the part of the band members for the most part has been right on the money. "New Tattoo's" a solid combination of the primeval sound from their pre-glory days fused but not doused with the poppy elements that surrounded them in the "Girls…" and "Dr. Feelgood" period and taken to the studio and given a sound thrashing… Released by Beyond Music Review by Vinnie Apicella |