Disco de Mötley Crüe: “Motley Crue (Explicit)”

When vocalist Vince Neil left the fold in the early 90's and John Corabi stepped in to fill the shoes, many people failed to give this outstanding effort a chance...myself included. I must confess, although I am a Motley Crue fan (dating back to the first 2 albums), I am not a devoted one. I like the Crue and I do follow their work here and there. When this album was released, the first single Hooligan's Holiday caught my attention and I can remember thinking to myself, "Damn, this dude has one HELL of a voice!...the next single, Misunderstood", did the same, although, didn't get the airplay that Hooligan received...and that my friends was the end of that era for the Crue. They toured, they rocked and gave it one hell of a shake, but failed to capture the minds of those that couldn't get Vince out of their minds... and I brushed it off as well.

Fast foward....the year 2000. I was browsing in a record bin in a record store that was going out of business and found this CD brand new for 5 bucks (all selections were that price...I went home smiling from ear to ear, although my bank account was a little miffed...) I decided that for 5 bucks this effort would be worth it. Prior to my purchasing the self titled release from the Crue, my buddy bought it and told me that it was probably their loudest, strongest and best effort to date. Well, I got into my car, opened it up and right on the inside cover the word, Listen..." is printed in big yellow letters...that gave me a vibe that I might just be in for a treat. From the opening riff to Power To The Music, Mars' guitar is gritty, deep and heavy then.....BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tommy and Nikki come in with THE heaviest of rhythms I have EVER heard! My mouth fell open as I HAD to adjust the bass on my car stereo cause my car was vibrating! I kid you not! It was vibrating!!! I wouldn't even let the song finish! I kept playing it over and over! Now this album is no Shout, Girls, or Feelgood...THANK GOD! Those albums are good, but this IS Crue's finest moment. The other thing about this album, it contains a few acoustic numbers which are FAR from being whinpy ballads. The acoustic ones are heavy and very effective in texturizing the album to create a GOOD SOLID album. I may have paid 5 bucks for my copy, but the remaster is on my list for purchase. Don't let the absence of Vince fool you, Corabi's work on the album far exceeds the rest on the Crue's catelog. Five years after I first bought it, I am still listening to it at least 3 times a month, but for the first year, it remained in my changer and rotated through constantly! Also, this features Tommy Lee's BEST drum work. This remains my favorite Crue album...with Genenration Swine a close second.....

When this album came out in 94, I was eagerly anticipating its arrival. I had never heard corabi, but read so many magazines about the recording process, and how Motley was coming along with their new singer, John Corabi. When it came out, I was totally floored. It rocked harder than any previous album, had bigger balls, and was just straight forward rock! From the opening song, "Power to the Music", to the last chords of "Driftaway", this album hits on many fronts. I have to say that the best tracks come around track 3. I have to also say that at the time, Pantera was the premier metal giant in 94, and had just released their most succesful effort "Far Beyond Driven". Unfortunately its press along with the grunge invasion, sent all the potential success of this album away. Could you imagine what a different story it would have been had Pantera and Motley toured behind this release? Motley could have had a potential hit the size of their Previous effort Dr. Feelgood. It was a tragedy that Vince came back in my opinion. They had recorded more than 50 tracks with John that never were released. I love how nikki says that all of those songs became the generation swine songs. No they didn't. Even John Corabi admits there are vaults of unreleased motley tracks. I remember Nikki even giving names to them, like "the christmas song" "la dolce vita", and "the year i lived in a day". When Audio Galaxy and Napster were huge i looked high and low for these tracks, however never saw them. I did hear of a bootleg video that was all over ebay for a while of a performance in Illinois in which they preformed 2 "new" songs never heard before, but never did hear them. Oh well. I guess this is the best we will have from motley.

Now Hear This...! This is one of THE BEST Hard Rock Albums I have EVER heard. It matters not to me that everyone wanted to blame John Corabi for the failure of this Album. This was a promo discovery for me. I had heard Motley Crue before and WAS NOT impressed. IT WAS THE SINGER ! When Corabi was dropped into the mix EVERYTHING changed. The other Three members were ripe for this guy. They became a REAL band on this CD. It is the ONLY Motley Crue Album I will ever own. Anyone who wants to hear some KILLER Rock should invest in this CD. It ranks with anything else out there. PRIMO...''Hooligan's Holiday'' alone is worth getting it...but the rest of the CD is absolutely marvelous.

I can't help but feel, that somewhere down the line- in the future, music critics will look back at this CD and say it was appropriate that THIS CD bore the title "Motley Crue". This is what Motley Crue should have sounded like all along. From the sonic assault of "Power To The Music", to the arrangements of "Misunderstood" this CD was the first true evidence that Nikki Sixx had lyrical genius potential. I apologize to all the Vince Neil fans out there, but John Corabi's vocal range puts Vince to shame. Also if you think about it, most[if not all] of the songs on "Generation Swine" were written with the thought that Corabi would perform the vocals. Probably why, when the Crue took Vince back and booted Corabi-[probably under pressure from record company execs to do so] the Generation Swine album suffered. That would have been a much better album also, had Corabi done the vocals. Well, I guess that's what happens when stuffed shirts at record companies decide selling records is more important than musical creativity.

Buy this CD, I promise you it will blow you away- if you like your music heavy and meaty- "Uncle Jack", Welcome To The Numb", "Drift Away" all classics. If you prefer to hear a lead singer who sounds like a 12 year old girl, well then all you have to do is buy any of the Crue CD"S that Vince sings on...

This is my favorite CD from Motley Cure. If you love your metal with a bluesy edge and a vocalist that can sing just about any range. Than you'll want to buy this one and you'll love it. Probably the biggest surprise on this release is Mick Mars guitar playing. With John Corabi playing Rhythm Guitar, this release features the best guitar work from Mick and a must have for any Guitar Fanatic. Also without a doubt Tommy and Nikki at their best as well. Because Vince "Mr Ego" doesn't hold them back. Although I never had a favorite release with Vince, their Decade To Decadence released in 1991 had my favorites on it. I think John Corabi took Motley Crue to the next level and was bummed out that they went back to Vince. It's annoying to hear Motley fans critize Mick, Nikki, Tommy, for this release. But on the same hand these same fans love "White Kids on Dope". That song is exactly what Motley Crue did on this release. The only difference being Vince can't make it happen. Just think what Motley Crue's post '94 releases would have been like had they kept John Corabi around. They most certainly would not be so lame sounding and the song writing would have been better with John's influence. But I'm glad they did, because the fans would have missed out on Union. If your a John Corabi fan like myself. You'll want to checkout the following releases feature a truely awesome vocalist: The Scream - "Let It Scream", from Union (w/Bruce Kulick) their Self-titled, "The Blues Room" and "Live In The Galaxy". All are great discs and worth the listen.