Great Metal Albums of 1983: Motley Crue- Shout at the Devil
I believe I’m not the only one who thinks “Shout at the Devil” is Motley Crue’s best album. It would be after that Motley Crue would be more into posing instead of the quality of their music. The band’s image with that album was darker, to the point they would be accused of Satanism. Then again, I’ve always said that being accused of that was the mark of a metal band’s success.
They first came to my attention courtesy of MTV where I saw the video for the album’s first single, “Looks That Kill.” You know the one where the band traps a bunch of scantly clad women in a steel fence only to be rescued by some Valkyrie type warrior. In 1983, I found that video to be cool but having watched it again recently, I just laugh at it. Furthermore, nowadays, I agree with anyone who says that video is sexist. Still, I do like the song, probably my favourite Crue song of all time.
Let me be blunt here, I have always thought that Motley Crue weren’t the most talented musicians to get together and call themselves a band. However, on “Shout at the Devil,” they definitely play to their strengths. There are some good songs on it too. True, beginnings like they way Motley Crue start the album off with “In the Beginning,” which sounds like a sermon before crashing headlong into the title track seem more common these days but it was a good attention grabber. “Bastard” is a decent song and the instrumental “God Bless the Children of the Beast” convinces me that Mick Mars is not the worst guitarist in metal. Like Pat Benatar and Vow Wow and quite a few other bands, they have their own cover of the Beatles classic, “Helter Skelter.” Probably the most, covered Beatles song in heavy metal. Other bands have produced better covers of it but Motley Crue’s isn’t bad.
Side two of “Shout at the Devil” isn’t quite as good as the first side. The only real standout song is their second single, “Too Young to Fall in Love.” However, what they do well is to stick to the basic formula of heavy metal and it works well for them. Then again, I do like some of the riffs on “Knock’em Dead Kid” and Mars’s guitar solo on “Ten Seconds to Love” is rather cool. In reference to what said about four of the last five songs not standing out, they do keep the album ticking over to an interesting closer in “Danger.”
Track Listing:
- In the Beginning
- Shout at the Devil
- Looks That Kill
- Bastard
- God Bless the Children of the Beast
- Helter Skelter
- Red Hot
- Too Young to Fall in Love
- Knock’Em Dead Kid
- Ten Seconds to Love
- Danger
Vince Neil- vocals
Mick Mars- guitars
Nikki Sixx- bass
Tommy Lee- drums
“Shout at the Devil,” will always remain for me, Motley Crue’s best album. However, it seem when they broke through with it, the abandoned some of the things that this album helped gain them that commercial success.
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This entry was posted on February 17, 2017 at 6:57 pm and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Motley Crue, MTV, sexism, Shout at the Devil, The 1980s. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
18 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1983: Motley Crue- Shout at the Devil”
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February 17, 2017 at 8:03 pm
This was a cool read. I definitely don’t think you’re alone here! This and the first album are about as good as they ever got I reckon.
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February 17, 2017 at 9:19 pm
Thanks, it’s good to not be alone. The first album was just about as good as Shout and the Devil.
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February 17, 2017 at 8:08 pm
Enjoyed this! I never understood Looks That Kill. What were her motivations? Post Apocalypse fun!
I have bought this album about 5 times.
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February 17, 2017 at 9:18 pm
Five times? That’s dedication. I know what you mean by Looks That Kill.
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February 17, 2017 at 9:59 pm
Dedication…and and exploitation! They didn’t need to keep re-releasing…
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February 19, 2017 at 7:34 pm
They probably keep re-releasing because they know that’s their best album.
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February 17, 2017 at 9:59 pm
My favourite too. Especially Bastard, Red Hot and the Title Track.
One of their most consistant records, with the least filler.
Good band, good album.
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February 19, 2017 at 7:35 pm
All good tracks and they are a good band when they play to their strengths.
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February 18, 2017 at 2:13 am
Agreed. The first two albums are my favorites. I just listened to this yesterday as I am going through them all again.
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February 19, 2017 at 7:36 pm
I think that agreement is universal, their first two albums are the best. Good to see my timing is good with you.
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February 18, 2017 at 2:25 am
I am later to the Crüe game, but I have this on the boxed sets (the title goes something like Music To Crash Your Cars or something). Anyway, tons of great songs. Right on.
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February 19, 2017 at 7:37 pm
Music to Crash Your Cars is appropriate because of what happened to Vince Neil in 1984. The songs on here are the best.
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February 19, 2017 at 9:30 pm
I found that title in poor taste, myself… but yeah, it’s precisely apt, for all that.
Yup, cool Crüe record yes!
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February 20, 2017 at 7:34 pm
They were probably trying to laugh the whole incident off.
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February 19, 2017 at 9:33 pm
I wrote up the boxed set way back in Sunday Service Week 12:
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February 20, 2017 at 7:41 pm
Read it, liked it.
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February 18, 2017 at 10:55 am
I currently have no Crüe, but this is the one I always mean to buy. It was the first I heard and the one that has stuck.
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February 19, 2017 at 7:37 pm
It is the opinion of me and many others that this is their best album.
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