Editor's Choice...
And this time "Shout at the Devil" the second studio album by "Motley Crue", which was released on September 26, 1983.
In our humble opinion, this is the band's best album!
True, the albums "Dr. Feelgood" or "Theater of Pain" may have been more successful, both in terms of sales, hits, and rankings in the various charts, but there is something about this album that makes it surpass them on several levels. This is the whole, the complete package. From the cover, through the album title, the general dark atmosphere that runs like the second thread between all the album's songs and ending with the fact that it had something real, something authentic, it was recorded just before the band's big break and before the commercialized glam explode in the music world.
Know what? We'll go even further, this album is one of the greatest heavy metal albums of the era. Although the band shouted glam, In appearance and even in sound, although everyone who will open the inside cover of the album and see the band members' photos, could not help thinking that this band is a gimmick. Still, this album, is considered by us as a pure heavy metal that deserves to be included among the major albums of the genre at that time.
we mentioned the complete package, so the original cover of the album was all black and included the pentagram shape, one of the symbols of Satanism. The original name of the album was supposed to be "Shout With The Devil", which could look like a denial of Christianity and the embrace of Satanism, so the word "With" was replaced by the record company with the word "At" to slightly soften the shock for Christian conservatives. Not that it helped "Motley Crue", but at least the record company was calmer...
The content of the album also conveyed "concept" even though it is completely not like that. The album opens with the intro "In the Beginning" which gives the feeling that this is an album with a story that has a beginning, middle and end. The instrumental section "God Bless the Children of the Beast" also adds to the sense of "concept" and the general dark atmosphere that the album has.
Even the songs titles "Shout at the Devil", "Looks That Kill", "Danger" correspond with the overall dark theme, while the album's sound is metallic, even a classic ballad like "Too Young to Fall in Love" doesn't sound out of place in the overall landscape.
Even the choice to record a cover version of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was apparently not accidental. It is a song that was identified with the despicable deeds of Charles Manson and it blends wonderfully with the rebellious atmosphere of the album.
In conclusion, this is a recommended and excellent album that definitely deserves to be included in the list of major heavy metal albums of the era.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music