MÖTLEY CRÜE – Red, White, And Crüe

Boom – there you have it. The sleaziest compilation you’ll ever get your hands on this year. But it’s not the first one, as Motley Crue has deferred in making the most definite collection of their greatest gems until now. Decade Of Decadance lacked some of their greatest tracks in 1991, and the same can be said about their Greatest Hits album in 1998, which unbeliveably didn’t include “Live Wire.” Then 2003’s Loud As Fuck compilation was just too much of a good thing – with 3 CD’s and total Motley overkill.

Anyway – Mick Mars has bought himself a pair of new hips, and Vince Neil has spent a shitload of money on surgery. Nikki Sixx has been keeping busy with Brides Of Destruction, but has later been slammed by fellow Brides-mate, Tracii Guns. Tommy has written Tommyland and done a pair of reality shows — and he has even played in a school band!

Now, a pair of new tracks has hit the shore, and even though they are not that good of songs; they give answers to a few questions, and one of them is that Vince Neil can still kick it in as a singer – and they have also recorded a well arranged version of The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man.” The question, however, is Mick Mars, with his continuing health problems. Nevertheless, the shows on the on-going tour so far have been great, and they are out-doing their first full-blown worldwide tour since Dr. Feelgood – and that’s 15 years ago!

The first CD contains songs from their first five albums – in chronological order. When starting off with “Live Wire,” you know you’re in for a fun ride! Through classic Motley songs like “Too Young To Fall In Love,” “Piece Of Your Action,” and “Looks That Kill” from the first two albums, Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil, to the huge successes of Dr. Feelgood‘s “Kickstart My Heart” and “Same Ol’ Situation,” this first CD is a party in and of itself. No significant tracks are forgotten, and that’s a relief.

They have included Theatre of Pain‘s “Use It Or Lose It” for some reason, not a good song, but there’s quite some impressive drumming in there. “Louder Than Hell” is a better track, and so far has been played on every show on the new tour as well … but it’s not on this compilation. On Theatre of Pain, Mick Mars had shelved his Gibson Les Paul and the guitar sound on the album is very different from their first two albums. The Tom Werman-produced third album has the 80’s sound of Kramer and Charvel guitars up front, and it has a lot to say about the total impression of that release.

“Home Sweet Home” is found surprisingly on CD 2 as a part of the Decade Of Decadance tracks, as this is the 1991 remix of the mighty power ballad. Another “not-a-hit-but-a-good-song” is the Girls Girls Girls tour opener All In The Name Of …, and, in other words, this is a compilation that offers more than the singles and hits, which of course brings up the “more than you bargained for” aspect.

CD 2 brings the difficult 90’s back to life. All though neither Motley Crue, Generation Swine, nor New Tattoo were particularly successful, these uneven efforts included quite a few great tracks. John Corabi brought a new dimension to the band, and “Hooligan’s Holiday” is one of those great tracks. All in all, a good album, but not quite Motley-material. Generation Swine was released in a very turbulent time, but Nikki Sixx came up with a bunch of good songs that didn’t make the Swine-album a total artistic suicide (just slightly). “Afraid” and the title track prove that, the latter with a original and daring rhythm section. You don’t play this song under heavy influence.

New Tattoo was said to be a return to the 80’s sound, but even though the album sounds more Motley than the two before, it’s an easily forgotten release. The late Randy Castillo played drums on the album, after things turned out pretty ugly between Tommy and Vince during the 1998 Greatest Hits tour. The title track and first single “Hell On High Heels” are fair enough efforts and they are included on this compilation.

This is, as earlier stated, the most definitive Motley-compilation ever. It includes many tracks from albums not made with the classic line-up, which is a good thing. Another thing that makes Red, White and Crue a great compilation is the best songs that were new on their first two compilations, like Decade Of Decadance‘s “Anarchy In The UK,” and the brilliant highlight “Primal Scream” to Greatest Hits’ “Bitter Pill” and “Enslaved” are all included. The conclusion; throw the other ones out the window and party your ass off with Red, White, And Crue!