One of ‘Theatre’s main problems is the production, it has little meat to it, and Motley Crüe’s usual dynamic sound was replaced by a thin and weak one instead.
Written by: Dangerzone
ARTIST: Motley Crüe
ALBUM: Theatre Of Pain
LABEL: Elektra
SERIAL: 60418-1-E (LP),
YEAR: 1985
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Vince Neil – vocals * Nikki Sixx – bass * Mick Mars – guitars * Tommy Lee – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 City Boy Blues * 02 Smokin’ In The Boys Room * 03 Louder Than Hell * 04 Keep Your Eye On The Money * 05 Home Sweet Home * 06 Tonight (We Need A Lover) * 07 Use It Or Lose It * 08 Save Our Souls * 09 Raise Your Hands To Rock * 10 Fight For Your Rights
Background
This album was recorded under difficult circumstances for Motley Crüe. Vince Neil had recently been sentenced to 30 days imprisionment and fined 2.6 million dollars for his drunk driving car smash which killed his passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer ‘Razzle’, and permanently injuring the two occupants of the other car.
Coupled with Nikki Sixx’s drug addiction, the albums lack of killer instinct, just two years following the definitive ‘Shout At The Devil’, was worrying. The bands troubles are heard in the music, very formularized hard rock, with little of the aggression of the first Crüe two albums. That the album went multi platinum proved how little Motley Crüe could do wrong at the time.
The Songs
One of ‘Theatre’s main problems is the production. It has little meat to it, and the bands usual dynamic sound was replaced by a thin and weak one instead. Sixx later admitted there was little attention paid to it, as the band couldn’t wait to get out of the studio.
The album’s hits, the Brownsville Station cover ‘Smokin’ In The Boys Room’ and ‘Home Sweet Home’, are the only remembered tracks, the latter supposedly because it was one of the first metal ballads. Of the other eight selections, ‘City Boy Blues’ has a swagger in the chorus, aided by Lee’s cowbell touches, while ‘Louder Than Hell’ is the only throwback to the metal sound of previous years.
With titles such as ‘Fight For Your Rights’, ‘Raise Your Hands To Rock’ and ‘Save Our Souls’, you might have thought it was a Manowar album, but the promise is not fulfilled as the melodies are forgettable, the music tame. There’s a token burn up with ‘Use It Or Lose It’, but it hardly compares with ‘Red Hot’ (1983) or ‘Livewire’ (1981), which made use of Mars’ savage riffs, absent here.
In Summary
1987’s ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ was a virtual copy, two hits, the title track and ‘Wild Side’, with seven faceless accompanying cuts. It was only when Motley Crüe got the drugs and alcohol out of their systems that the music spread itself out evenly in quality, 1989’s ‘Dr Feelgood’ a more rounded release. Clearly ‘Theatre Of Pain’ was classic Motley Crüe’s poorest album, with none of the traits that made them an 80’s legend. There has hardly been a bigger reversal in attitude and heaviness in the space of an album, all in the wrong direction.
Video
Smokin’ In The Boys Room
Home Sweet Home
