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Too Fast For Love --- Motley Crue --- 1981

I was never hugely into glam rock/metal (though if you want to lump Bon Jovi in with that subgenre then fine: I was into them, but none of your Hanoi Rocks, Poison, Quiet Riot, all those guys) but it looks as if this, Motley Crue's debut album, may have been released before the glam metal invasion, and so may be a totally different animal to later releases such as Shout at the Devil, Dr. Feelgood and Girls, Girls, Girls: I don't know. I wasn't a fan of these guys, and this is their first full album I'll be listening to, so let's see how it goes.

1. Live wire: Eighties metal from the off, with big biting guitars and that unmistakable American twist to the vocals from Vince Neil, the kind of song that may have been thrown together in a few hours. No deep message, no hidden meanings, just an out-and-out “look at me” rocker. Disengage brain and enjoy. The phased guitar that brings in the slower midsection is good. So are the false endings.
2. Public enemy #1: It's a good happy rock song, smooth guitar work. I just wonder where the popularity for MC came from, as they really don't sound any different to a bunch of metal bands from that era. Guess it was all about the image.
3. Merry-go-round: Now this has a nice guitar sound opening it, sort of reflective, could be a ballad, maybe. Sort of is, though it kicks up in the chorus a little. Good song
4. Take me to the top: This one kicks out the lights. Love the Maidenesque guitar run in the final minute.
5. Piece of your action: Good straightahead hard rock vibe on this. Again, they weren't reinventing the genre or anything, but fun songs and a lot of heart in them. Big, dirty guitar riff here is very welcome.
6. Starry eyes: Tommy takes us in as the Crue really foreshadow eighties Bon Jovi. This is so close to material off their debut, you'd have to wonder if Jon and Ritchie were listening to Vince and Mick when they wrote songs like “Roulette”, “Come back” and “Burning for love”? Even that solo can be heard all over Bon Jovi's debut, and later albums too.
7. Stick to your guns: And they robbed this title for a song on New Jersey, which didn't come out till seven years later! Mind you, Bon Jovi cowboyed it up, as they liked to do, whereas Crue here give it a sort of fifties feel in the vocal department and a seventies hard rock anthem everywhere else.
8. Come on and dance: Eighties metal cliche #56: open your song with the sound of a revving motorbike engine. Hey, it was all the rage back then. Song's a little weak if I'm honest. What is Tommy Lee doing on the kit? Banging cans? Pretty funny actually; I think he made this part of his sound, as it were. Good solo from Mick Mars
9. Too fast for love: It's just pure testosterone and slam a guitar in there and off we go! Great fun.
10. On with the show: This is pretty clever. They've (knowingly or not) integrated the Canon in D Major classical composition into the opening lines of the melody. Starts kind of slow, kicks up then and rocks along nicely. Great melody, and I like Neil's singing in a slightly different way here.

Conclusion: Never going to be an album where you would pick out technical excellence in playing, deep lyrics or world-changing riffs, but as a heads-down, bash-it-out, partyhard-and-have-a-good-time album could take some beating. These guys certainly knew how to give the world the finger and do what they liked. Cool, even today.

Rating:

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