I’m not a big fan of counterfeit albums because they take money away from bands and they usually are rips from CD’s. I bit the bullet on this one as there isn’t a hope in hell that this will officially be released, as Motley Crüe would like you all to forget that this version of the band ever existed.
As usual, I go against the grain here. I think this is the best album the band did. Yup, I know there is no big dumb sing-a-long single and it’s not that commercial sounding, but musically this is a banger of an album. The album was released in ’94 and the musical landscape had changed somewhat. This is the only album to feature John Corabi, and his voice really suits the harder edged sound of this record.
Opening track Power To The Music is a beast of a tune with a killer riff and groove, and Corabi just kills it. Uncle Jack is a very heavy sounding dark tune and the melody is still there (not in the obvious places), and that slowed down groove at the end is freakin’ awesome. Hooligans Holiday is up there with one of the best tracks the band ever did. This was what the NEW Crüe was all about; dirty, mean, and almost southern in places mainly due to the slide, the groove is killer. Misunderstood is the band’s Beatles moment where they dig into their inner Sgt Pepper, that is until the beast of a riff kicks in then the whole tune takes on a different vibe.
The southern vibe returns with Loveshine where the main acoustic feels like something from Zeppelin 4. Poison Apples is pure LA strut played much lower and heavier, and the sleaze just shines though. Tommy’s drum sound is killer on this track. Hammered is up next and I really love the heavy blues groove, it’s as far from Motley Crüe as possible. It’s favourite track time with Til Death Do Us Part, which at one point was the title of the album. A monster track with an epic feel and it sounds like nothing they had done before. Quite a slow groove with basic chords, but the arrangement is killer.
The sleaze returns with Welcome To The Numb, and this could have been on any Aerosmith album. Great tune! A huge monster riff opens up Smoke In The Sky, a full on pedal to the metal rocker. Droppin’ Like Flies is a killer mid-tempo groover with a great feel, that Aerosmith vibe is there again and the ending is so cool. The album closes out with Driftaway and its power ballad time. I can forgive the one ballad when the album is this good.
As you know, this album never sold as well as expected. Crüe are all about the money, so it was goodbye John and welcome back Vince. Shame, as I really like the way they sound with this line up.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
