Mötley Crüe
Shout At The Devil

Year 1983, Los Angeles, California.

Inspired by Kiss, Alice Cooper, New York Dolls, and Mott The Hopple, four bad boys from L.A. had already released an excellent debut two years earlier, "Too Fast For Love," characterized by a Glam/Hard Rock laced with a certain Punk vibe. However, for their second release, the Crue decided to step on the gas by thickening the sound and completely eliminating references to the 70s Glam Rock in favor of greater influence from the NWOBHM, thus giving birth to what, in my opinion, would turn out not only to be their most accomplished work but also a seminal album for the nascent American Hair/Glam Metal scene, "Shout At The Devil."

But now let's analyze the album track by track:

It starts with "In The Beginning", which is basically nothing more than a spoken (and effectively so) introduction to the title track that begins with Mick Mars' aggressive and cadenced guitar riff, then interrupted by vocalist Vince Neil with a scream, leading to the verse and then to the engaging chorus of the refrain that reaches its apex in live performances and can't help but stick in the listener's head from the first listen; after this excellent opener, the album continues at a high level with "Looks That Kill", which is also the first single from the album. A repetitive, almost hypnotic riff and a catchy "quick-grab" chorus keep the record in a fairly dark yet very catchy atmosphere. The fourth track is "Bastard", just below the level of the previous ones but still excellent in quality and very aggressive, where Tommy Lee's drumming reigns supreme.

After the first three high-energy pieces, we take a breather with the instrumental "God Bless The Children Of The Beast" composed by Mars, inspired by Bowie's "Diamond Dogs".

Just enough time for a pause before diving back into the most unrestrained Hard N' Heavy with the incendiary cover of "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles, which the Motley reinterpret amazingly, making it practically their own. The seventh track is the fastest on the album and also one of my favorites, "Red Hot": Lee's drumming is relentless from the start and never lets up throughout the song, where the influence of the NWOBHM is noticeable. Another standout track follows, "Too Young To Fall In Love", with its irresistible chorus.

The ninth track is "Knock 'em Dead, Kid!" where bassist Nikki Sixx hurls his anger against the Los Angeles law enforcement, a minor track but of excellent quality. The penultimate track is perhaps the least convincing, entitled "Ten Seconds To Love", it fails to take off and becomes tedious over time. The excellent semi-ballad "Danger" wraps it up, maintaining relaxed and soft rhythms in the verses then rising in the chorus.

Thus concludes one of the best chapters in Motley Crue's history (which they would not manage to replicate in their future works) and in Glam metal in general.