I am now leaving Great Britain and the NWOBHM behind and have arrived at the Sunset Strip in California in 1981. In 1981 the band Mötley Crüe was formed in Los Angeles by Nikki Sixx (bass), Tommy Lee (drums), Mick Mars (guitar) and Vince Neil (vocals) and they were to become one of the most scandalous and hedonistic bands around. Apart from the years 1992 - 1996 when Vince Neil was replaced on vocals by John Corabi for a short time and 1999 - 2004 when Tommy Lee had left the band, Mötley Crüe played with the same line-up.
While in the 1970s glam rock, rock and punk was the prevalent musical style on Sunset Strip, the 1980s gave birth to glam metal - heavy metal with "elements of hard rock and punk, adding pop-influenced catchy hooks and guitar riffs". Glam metal is upbeat, catchy, easy to sing along with, radio-friendly and doesn't sound very heavy metal. The lyrics mainly deal with sex, drugs, women, party and sometimes even love. Glam metal is the genre of power ballads which got widely broadcasted and appealed especially to female listeners.
A major influence on glam metal in the US were KISS with their simple and catchy music paired with the outrageous stage outfits and performances and Van Halen with Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing style. The look of glam metal though borrowed heavily from glam rock bands like Bowie, T-Rex or the New York Dolls. Trademarks were tight-fitting clothes, make-up, bright colours and backcombed hair. Glam metal had its heyday from 1983 - 1992 when it had to yield grunge and alternative music.
Mötley Crüe were among the early bands that were pioneering this genre together with Dokken, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister. They released their first album Too Fast For Love in 1981 and their second album Shout At The Devil in 1983. While Too Fast For Love has still audible punk influences, Shout At The Devil is a very straitghtforward heavy metal/hard rock album and considered Mötley Crüe's breakthrough album and I absolutely <3 that album.
I've been listening to is from end to end multiple times by now and nearly all songs have found their way to my playlist by now. Too Young To Fall In Love has been stuck in my head for days. The songs on this album are solid rock with catchy rhythms, easy to remember and sing along with. Definitely an album that will be played more frequently here.
Glam metal had its breakthrough in 1983 and from this point onwards it was really easy for glam metal bands to get signed. Mötley Crüe's third album Theatre of Pain (1985) is considered the band's first real glam metal album and also features their first power ballad Home Sweet Home. This image change towards glam metal and releasing a power ballad single was not approved by all fans and in hindsight the band themselves see Theatre of Pain as their weakest album. Nevertheless Home Sweet Home and their cover version of Smokin' In The Boys Room have been on the setlist for years.
For their fourth studio album Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) Mötley Crüe changed their style again and the songs were more blues-rock influenced, which appeased their fans. After all members went to rehab and got sober they recorded their best-selling album to date in 1989 titled Dr. Feelgood.
Dr. Feelgood released 5 singles, sold over 6 million copies in the US and is regarded as their most solid studio album. Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, being drinking buddies with Mötley Crüe since the beginning, sings backing vocals on Sticky Sweet as he was recording his album Pump at the same studio and at the same time.
The sixth studio album Mötley Crüe was recorded withouth Vince Neil and released in 1994 when the era of glam metal had already ended and many glam metal bands had split. Mötley Crüe tried to change their musical style and the new album was considered more alternative metal/grunge. Especially because of of the voice of John Corabi this album was very different from the rest. It only got mixed reviews and was not able to continue the success of Dr. Feelgood.
Vince Neil returned in 1996 and the band was hopeful that this would help selling their next album Generation Swine, released in 1997. Generation Swine was also considered alternative metal and received only mixed reviews as well. Mötley Crüe released only two more studio albums (New Tattoo in 2000 without Tommy Lee and Saints of Los Angeles in 2008) and they have never been able to live up to their success from 1989. I've listened to all albums by now and although I really like the sound of the first two albums, the rest of the Mötley Crüe sound did not stick with me.
Compared to other bands like Iron Maiden (17 studio albums) or Motörhead (22 studio albums), Mötley Crüe released relatively few studio albums and when I was gathering info about the band I could not help but notice that producing music was not that high on their list or priorities. The 80s glam metal era was infamous for the loose lifestyle. Parties, orgies, groupies and drugs were celebrated to the fullest and Mötley Crüe made sure to be on the top of list of scandalous bands.
December 1984 singer Vince Neil crashed his car into another car while drunk driving above speed limit to get more beer. His passenger (Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas Dingley) died the same evening of severe head trauma and the two passengers of the other car were seriously hurt and suffered brain damage. Vince Neil was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 200 hours of community service and 2.6 million US$ restitution. Vince did not change his livestyle afterwards. Even better - Mötley Crüe released two compilation albums in 2003 and 2004 titled Music to Crash Your Car to Vol. 1 & 2, living up to their reputation of just not giving a damn.
Bassist Nikki Sixx was a serious heroin addict and overdosed 1986 and again 1987. It is rumoured that he was declared clinically dead the second time and received two adrenaline shots from a
paramedic to bring him back. This incident was apparently the inspiration for the song Kickstart My Heart from Dr. Feelgood in 1989. Sixx published his diaries as a bestselling
autobiography (The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star) in 2007, making money out of this period in his life. Apparently he also had an affaire with Iron Maiden
singer Bruce Dickinson's wife Jane (now ex-wife) in 1984.
And of course we all know the name Tommy Lee in connection with Pamela Anderson and their little scandals (apart from the sex tape, Lee was in jail for 6 months in 1998 for spousal abuse).
In 1995 Vince Neil's 4-year-old daughter Skylar died from cancer. Vince dedicated a song to her on his solo album Carved in Stone.
Mötley Crüe released their bestselling autobiography The Dirt in 2001 and this autobiography has been adapted into a movie and released on Netflix 2019. I have yet to watch it. But apparently sex and scandal still sells and people are wanting to read about it and watch it.
Mötley Crüe went on their farewell tour in 2015 and their concert played in LA on 31 December 2015 was supposed to be their last. However, some things don't stay dead for long and in 2019 the band has announced a comeback tour together with Def Leppard and Poison. This tour has not happened yet and is currently planned in 2022.
So, to sum this article up - I like the early albums of Mötley Crüe and they are fun to listen to. I don't really care for the band and their attitude, I was not able to connect with them on that level like I did with Iron Maiden or Dio. And researching the whole glam metal era hasn't been as much fun as I would have hoped. The guys may look fun, but their lifestyle was actually quite suicidal. I will continue on this journey and have a listen to other glam metal bands, curious to see where this will lead me.