Im not a huge fan of hair metal. But when I went to Indonesia, I picked this up for a buck. I had heard some other Motley Crue songs but none from this album. I just said, "Mehh... Its worth my dollar", and bought it. What I got was exactly what I expected. Catchy, hair metal riffs, basic root riding bass lines with an occasional lick, basic druming with an occasional cowbell, ANOYING AS HELL vocals with sleasy, not very brilliant or meanigful lyrics. That description, plus a whole lot of attitude, sex, and drugs perfectly describes Motley Crue. They are a not-so-talented musically, sleasy hair metal band. That being said, they are not necessarily bad. Of course if you like more technical material you are gonna burn this and go put some Dream Theater in your Cd player. Yet, Motley Crue's music as a whole, especially those catchy simple riffs, have a sort of charm. They do their job. They entertain you.
This album, Too Fast for Love, was their first and was released in 1981, the same year that they formed, on their own independent record label called Leathur. My version of the Cd is fake, but Im guessing that the original album's production wasn't great. Probably terrible. This album being their debut, it sounds abit different then Motley Crue's more famous works. I find it to be a bit milder.
The band:
Vince Neil: Vocals
Mick Mars: Guitars
Nikki Sixx: Bass
Tommy Lee: Drums
The tracks:
1) Live Wire: Starts out like many Motley Crue songs do. The main riff being played alone followed momentarily by the rest of the band. Vince Neil's voice is very annoying during the chorus. Also it sounds like he's saying Limewire instead of live wire. After the second chorus, there's a bridge section followed by a pretty high pitched scream. This leads back to the chorus. The song ends on the main riff with some cowbell and high hat fills from Tommy Lee. A kinda generic song. Nothing special, but not bad. 3/5
2) Come on and Dance: I don't know how they came up with the intro riff. Its terrible! So are the lyrics. The chorus sounds like crap cuz its got that intro riff in it with Vince anoyingly singing "Come on and dance" over and over. Whats worse, for the final chorus he repeates it more then usual. Don't like this song at all. Not catchy. Not heavy. Not melodic. Not good. 1.5/5
3) Public ennemy #1: The intro is strange because they only have one guitarist and he starts playing the intro riff with the bass playing along but then he starts doing some little lead ligns. It would sound much better with 2 guitars. The chorus is just as annoying as Come on and Dance. "Public ennemy number one... O YEA... Public ennemy number one... O YEA".
Especially the last one when Tommy uses the Cowbell. Sounds like cacphony.
Nothing special like a good solo or a good riff in the bridge section. Another bland song but not as good as Live Wire. 2.5/5
4) Merry-go-Round: This song is slower. Its pretty much a ballad. I really like that intro riff. It sounds very melancholy. Although Vinces voice is irksome, they manage to pull off a very catchy song with an, unfortunetly, not so great solo. If vinces voice was... normal and there was a better solo this song would be really great. Still a pretty good one. 4/5.
5) Take me to the Top: Let the catchy hairmetal stuff begin! Starts out with a drum roll and then leads into a catchy moderatly fast paced riff. The verse sounds like typical hairmetal. A palm muted riff with high obnoxious voclas. Yet, man is that catchy. This song will get stuck in your head for a long time. They always have the EXACT same kind of choruses. basically its just the song named being repeated over and over over the intro riff. This song is no exeption. A pretty neat song. 4/5
6) Peice of your Action. This song is alot like Take me to the Top. Its catchy and it has that same feel. Its a tiny bit slower though. Guess what? the chorus goes "get a peice of your action" and is repeated a few times over the main riff. I would rate this song lower but the bridge section is really powerful. After a quick solo. theres a pretty heavy riff that repeates while Vince goes "YEA" for a few seconds in his high pitched scream. Another neat song. 4/5
7) Starry eyes: A boring generic song about a girl with... starry eyes. Starts with a drum intro then a lame sad sounding riff comes in. And the chorus? Yep you guessed it. Same thing. "Starry eyes... WHOA OH" repeated over o wait... a DIFFERENT riff? WOW. Nice veriety. Skipable but not as bad as Come on and Dance. 2.5/5
8) Too Fast for Love: Starts with Mick playing a pretty... I dont exactly know how to explain it. Lets just say a bleusy rock riff followed by Vince's anoying "O yeas" and the rest of the band. The verse has more sleasy lyrics and more boring riffs. And the chorus... yea you know what im gonna say. No cool bridge section. The title track is a let down. Nothing special. 2.5/5
9) On with the Show: Another catchy song. This one has more of a poppy feel to it. Especially the begining before the drums come in. This song is pretty much about moving on with life despite adversities big or small. The verse has Vince singing softer and so does the chorus. And the chorus is like all the other ones. Exept the singing is horrible. So much so that I think at one point he's off tune. Theres a cool melodic but poppy guitar part after the chorus. That and the Lyrics save the song from utter failure. An appropriate album closer but nothing too good. 3/5
In conclusion, Motley Crue is basically music for fun. Just like any other hair band. Poor instrumentals, stupid lyrics, but catchy songs with sections that don't leave your head for days. I personally wouldn'y buy another one of their albums. Unless it was for a dollar like this one. As I mentioned before, its not THAT bad its just that theres much more intersting music out there. For fans of jazz, more technical metal or any genre that requires more technicality, this is purley laughable. It is pop metal. AKA hair metal. I still say its fun stuff though. Not worth your 16$ but worth your good time.
Final rating: 3/5 but a low one. Leaning twards a 2.5/5.
