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Rating: MOTLEY CRUE THEATRE OF PAIN (06/21/1985, ELEKTRA) In the career of a rock band, the third album represents the moment of truth, constituting a fundamental milestone and the best judgment index for critics. In 1985, Motley Crue managed to record a superlative album, countable among the most memorable episodes of the entire glam movement, despite the fact that singer Vince Neil was involved in a car accident in which he inadvertently caused the death of his friend and Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley (the matter ended with Neil being convicted of manslaughter, managing, not without controversy, with a hefty bail and around 200 hours to be devoted to community service). The Crue present themselves at the success appointment in full form, replacing the blind fury that characterized “Shout at the Devil” (1983) with a still hard sound, but with more polished and elegant guitar plays. The band's choice proves to be decidedly positive, also because it would have been very difficult to match the levels of “Shout at the Devil” while staying on the same sonic tracks. Once again, the level of the songs is extremely high, making it difficult to identify the best tracks of this platter that goes quadruple platinum and quickly reaches position #6 on the American charts, remaining in the chart for a whopping 72 weeks.
The album's opening is entrusted to the captivating “City Boy Blues," where Vince Neil proves to be a singer of absolute level. The work continues to grow with a revised and corrected cover of Brownsville Station, the beautiful “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room” where choirs and guitars intertwine in a swirling and playful rhythm. This track, aided by the heavy rotation of one of the most ironic and sarcastic videos ever made, becomes a true massive hit, culminating at position #16 on the US charts, earning the designation of a generational anthem for many American and non-American teenagers. This is followed by the powerful “Louder than Hell” and the dreamy power ballad “Home Sweet Home,” whose remarkable video clip, in 1985, is the most requested by young MTV viewers. The album gives us other immortal pieces like “Tonight” and the lightning-fast “Use It or Lose It”, ending by finally letting go to the rhythm of the more upbeat “Save Our Souls” and “Fight for Your Rights.” What amazes about this album, whose production was entrusted to the skillful Tom Werman, is the ability to construct solid and elegant riffs, without letting the important melodic lesson of putative fathers like Kiss, Aerosmith, and Alice Cooper go with the wind. By winking at the charts and framing a band determined to continue on the crazy and colorful path taken four years earlier, “Theatre of Pain” is the album that allows Motley Crue to definitively cross the borders of the United States, exporting its electrifying sound all over the world.
TRACK LIST:
- CITY BOY BLUES
- SMOKIN’ IN THE BOYS’ ROOM
- LOUDER THAN HELL
- KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE MONEY
- HOME SWEET HOME
- TONIGHT (WE NEED A LOVER)
- USE IT OR LOSE IT
- SAVE OUR SOULS
- RAISE YOUR HANDS TO ROCK
- FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS
- HOME SWEET HOME (DEMO) - Crucial Crue reissue
- SMOKIN’ IN THE BOYS’ ROOM (ALTERNATE GUITAR SOLO-ROUGH MIX) - Crucial Crue reissue
- CITY BOY BLUES (DEMO) - Crucial Crue reissue
- HOME SWEET HOME (INSTRUMENTAL ROUGH MIX) - Crucial Crue reissue
- KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE MONEY (DEMO) - Crucial Crue reissue
- TOMMY’S DRUM PIECE FROM CEROKIEE STUDIOS - Crucial Crue reissue (Japanese version)SINGLES: SMOKIN’ IN THE BOYS’ ROOM / USE IT OR LOSE IT 06/24/1985 HOME SWEET HOME / RED HOT 09/30/1985
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Smokin' in the Boys Room (03:24)
Sittin' in the classroom thinkin' it's a drag
Listening to the teacher rap-just ain't my bag
When two bells ring you know it's my cue
Gonna meet the boys on floor number 2
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Teacher don't you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school
Checkin' out the halls makin sure the coast is clear
Lookin' in the stalls-nah, there ain't nobody here
My buddies Sixx, Mick & Tom
To get caught would surely be the death of us all
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Teacher don't you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school Put me to work the school
book store
Check-out counter and I got bored
Teacher was lookin' for me all around
Two hours later you know where I was found
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Teacher don't you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Teacher don't you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school
One more time
Smokin' in the boys room
Smokin' in the boys room
Teacher don't you fill me up with your rules
05 Home Sweet Home (03:51)
You know I'm a dreamer
But my heart's of gold
I had to run away high
So I wouldn't come home low
Just when things went right
It doesn't mean they were always wrong
Just take this song and you'll never feel
Left all alone
Take me to your heart
Feel me in your bones
Just one more night
And I'm comin' off this
Long & winding road
I'm on my way
Well I'm on my way
Home sweet home
Tonight tonight
I'm on my way
I'm on my way
Home sweet home
You know that I've seen
To many romantic dreams
Up in lights, fallin' off
The silver screen
My heart's like an open book
For the whole world to read
Sometimes nothing-keeps me together
At the seams
I'm on my way
Well I'm on my way
Home sweet home
Tonight tonight
I'm on my way
Just set me free
07 Use It or Lose It (02:35)
Ragtime fast lane another overdose
You know James Dean wasn't playing the role
I said hey, you, what-cha gonna do
When time runs out on you
Use it or lose it
Sweet pain is the name of the game
I said hey hey hey hey hey
You better use it before you lose it
You better use it don't throw it away
JFK, Marilyn Monroe
Street walking gypsy-Margaret Trudeau
I said hey, you, what-cha gonna do
Time's run out on you Use it or lose it
Sweet time is it on my side?
I said hey hey hey hey hey
Better use it before you lose it
You better use it don't throw it away
Sweet pain is the name of the game
I said hey hey hey hey hey
Better use it before you lose it
You better use it don't throw it away, hey
Better use it before you lose it
You better use it don't throw it away
Hey hey hey-don't throw it away
Hey hey hey-don't throw it away
08 Save Our Souls (04:10)
Black Angels laughing in the city streets
Street toys scream in pain and clench their teeth
The moonlight spotlights all the city crime
Got no religion, Laugh while they fight
Save our souls for the heavens
For a life so good it sure feels bad
Save our souls for the heavens
Save our souls for the promised land
Sweet tarts play the game and shoot to thrill
Runnin free through the trash, dressed to kill
The midnight show-stoppers, it's a funny money game
A hundred thousand bleeding hearts, put us in our graves Save our souls for the
heavens
For a life so good it sure feels bad
Save our souls for the heavens
Save our souls for the promised land
It s been the hard road, edge of an overdose
No matter how high you re still too low
I've been the dancer, the wicked romancer
09 Raise Your Hands to Rock (02:42)
Sometimes I feel turned around
And upside down
And sometimes maybe I drink too much
But my heart's still in touch
I remember standing tall telling you
I'm gonna be a rock n roll star
When someone said Sit down, boy
"You already are"
So
Raise your hands to rock (rock)
Uh-huh Summertime was always right
Just me and you
Sixteen and dealing with
Those summertime blues
I was Young and restless
Living on the edge of a dream
When someone somewhere said
Ya just gotta believe
10 Fight for Your Rights (03:42)
Can't break the chains
Can't solve the pain
Can't rhyme problem with reason
Not taking sides
Just asking why
Does the pain eat the children
Who wrote the Bible
Who set the laws
Are we left to history's flaws
And if you're out there
Then let me hear (hey)
And take a look in the mirror
Fight fight for your rights
Fight fight for your rights
Can't name no names
Of who's to blame
For cries out in the sky We're all slaves to time
No color's right
Throw our hate into the fire
Martin Luther
Brought the truth
The color of our blood's the same
So break the chains
And solve the pains
And we all become one race
Fight fight for your rights
Fight fight for your rights
Oh people people
Is the scar too deep
You can't hold a man's soul
By the color of his keys
A tear o' blood runs from my eye
But somehow I can never
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