When you list the best Hard rock bands of the classic era, I mean
the top bands, you have a handful of groups that stand out. The bands that you have to love to be a classic metalhead. Zeppelin,Aerosmith,Sabbath,AC/DC,the Who,Purple,Van Halen,KISS,Cooper,the Stones. But the one "Hair band" that truely deserves a spot in this elite group is Motley Crue. I love all the hair bands and some of them are great, but Motley was the best of the 80's. They were not that great at songwriting,but then AC/DC aren't either. They were not as great a group of musicians as Van Halen, but The Stones couldn't play their way out of a wet paper bag. But greatness is measured in Legend, and Motley Crue have been the subject of some of rock's most infamous legends. This is their best album. It's not as rough as Shout at the devil, but it showed a band that had developed into a tight unit. They took their influence from Aerosmith, and Van Halen, and it shows here. This is a must for classic metal fans. This was what metal was like before Thrash and all that garbage took over. Buy it. You won't regret it.

I bought this when albums were still being sold. I listened to this every day then all my albums got stolen. I just recently started getting all the albums I had, but in CDs. This is classic crue.

Motley Crue and in particular Vince Neil like to slag this album for all its worth, but while it's not their best work, it's certainly an entertaining album. I suppose when your lead off single is an uninspired (but fun) cover of Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys Room", it does kind of expose your album as being weak. But weak is a relative term when you're talking hard rock in the year 1985. This was the year when Tears For Fears and Wham! were the flavors of the month, folks. The Crue, Ratt, and Night Ranger were virtually the only hard rock bands (to my memory anyway) to log albums in the Billboard Top Ten that year. This was a breath of fresh air for 1985, and at the time it certainly didn't play like a letdown after their previous gem "Shout At The Devil". Time has definitely been kinder to "Shout", but this one still gets a few spins in my disc player every year, if for no other reason than because most of the songs aren't beaten to death on the radio like they are on "Dr. Feelgood".

In fact, the only thing that really ruins this album is the poor production value. In the years immediately following Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" album, some bands seemed to want to cash in on the recorded-inside-a-tin-can sound (the drums sound like more like the sticks are being bashed on top of empty cardboard boxes). I thought it stunk then, and I still do.

Other than the obvious choices of "Smokin' In The Boys Room" and "Home Sweet Home", top tracks include "Louder Than Hell", "Keep Your Eye On The Money", and "Raise Your Hands To Rock" (which is partially acoustic and therefore somewhat inappropriately titled!). I can't comment on the bonus tracks since I only have the original, but seeing as how they're nothing more than demos or alternate takes of other tracks on the album, they're just typical marketing hype to try to get people to buy what they already have.

There is a huge jump between SHOUT AT THE DEVIL and this album. It seemed less raw than their previous two albums. It was clean and tight overall. The guitar riffs are viscious and Tommy's drums are just pounding throughout. This is the album that really gave the Crue their sound...the one that is easily identifiable in the first few seconds of their songs. The best tracks on this album are CITY BOY BLUES, SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM, and HOME SWEET HOME (their first ballad).

This is the album that turned them into stars. After this, they hit with GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS and DR. FEELGOOD. Before this, they were kind of underground, with a hard core following. This album got them more into the public eye and propelled them to stardom. A definite must have for any Crue fan.

I liked Motley Crue best during their "glam" Theatre of Pain period. The remastered version just has demos as the "new" extra tracks. There is a demo for Home Sweet Home which is interesting because it sounds like they are just playing it live in the studio. It has lots of keyboards and no background vocals. The demo for City Boy Blues is actually cool because it is pretty raw and I've always liked that song for some reason. The Smokin' in the Boys Room demo is actually better than the album version in my opinion. It has no cheesy harmonica and no stupid spoken intro ("You ever seem to have one of those days when everyone's on your case from your teacher all the way down to your own best girlfriend?") ! A nice addition for die hard Crue fans.