Mötley Crüe - Too Fast for Love
Updated: 10 hours ago
On November 10, 1981, "Too Fast for Love", the debut album by the band "Mötley Crüe", was released.
The early 1980s in Los Angeles marked a turbulent period of transition in the nightclub scene of the Sunset Strip. While major record labels were looking for polished new wave bands or trying to replicate the golden formula of Van Halen, a rough, hungry, and limitless scene bubbled beneath the surface. Bassist Nikki Sixx, born Frank Feranna Jr. and moving to Hollywood at the age of seventeen, was desperately searching for the instrument that would make his artistic vision a reality. After a tumultuous stint in the band London, where he developed his early songwriting and defiant stage presence, Sixx decided in early 1981 to form a band that would combine the sparkling theatricality of David Bowie and the audacity of the New York Dolls with the fury of the Sex Pistols and the somber gravity of Black Sabbath.
The first member to join Sixx's vision in January 1981 was young drummer Tommy Lee, who had previously played in the band "Suite 19" and was known for his aggressive and flamboyant playing that included drumstick twirling and inexhaustible energy. The two were looking for a guitarist who would provide a dirty and powerful wall of sound, and found him through an ad in the local newspaper The Recycler, in which the guitarist described himself as a loud, rough and aggressive player. The man behind the ad was Bob Deal, who adopted the stage name Mick Mars, an experienced blues-rock guitarist who was older than the other members of the band and who was already struggling with chronic ankylosing spondylitis, but who produced a squeaky, sharp and unique sound from his guitar that amazed Sixx and Lee at the first audition.
The final piece of the puzzle arrived in April 1981 in the form of vocalist Vince Neil, Lee's high school friend who was then the lead singer of the cover band "Rock Candy." Neil brought with him the charisma of a born rock star, defiant blond looks, and a high, sharp voice that perfectly complemented the obscurity of Sixx and Mars. The first rehearsal of the full quartet produced the fast-paced riff of Live Wire, and it was clear that a rare chemistry had been formed. After Neil suggested calling the band "Christmas" and was rejected by his friends, Mars recalled a phrase he had heard during his days in the band "White Horse," when one of the friends called them a colorful and strange group, the Motley Looking Crew. With the spelling change and the addition of German umlauts inspired by a beer the band members drank, "Mötley Crüe" was born, and on April 24, 1981, the band made its wild debut at the Starwood Club, a performance that ended in a brawl with a hostile crowd but earned it the immediate status of a dangerous and magnetic force in Hollywood.
Rather than wait for a deal from major record labels, who were wary of the quartet's radical image, the band, along with their first manager Allan Coffman, decided to take their fate into their own hands. In May 1981, the band released their first independent single, "Stick to Your Guns," with the song "Toast of the Town" on the flip side, and later formed the independent label "Leathür Records." In October 1981, the four members entered Hit City West Studios in Los Angeles, where they recorded their debut album on a shoestring budget with the help of German engineer and producer Michael Wagener. The iconic cover, which featured a close-up of Neil's jeans and studded leather belt worn during a photo shoot, was designed as an overt and defiant homage to the cover of The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" album. The first edition of the album was printed in only 900 copies and was sold from the trunks of the band members' cars and at local record stores, but the huge demand led to two additional independent printings and the sale of twenty thousand copies within a few months.
The hysteria surrounding the band's theatrical performances at the Whisky a Go Go club caught the attention of young talent scout Tom Zutaut of Elektra Records, who signed the band in the spring of 1982. The label executives were determined to polish the raw sound of the original release and hired legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker, who had worked with Queen and The Cars, to remix the album at Cherokee Studios and re-record some of the parts. The Elektra Records version, released on August 20, 1982, had the track order changed, the opening theme song shortened, and "Stick to Your Guns" omitted to save on royalties and mastering costs, a decision that led the band to favor Wagener's original, rough, and fiery mix over the more subdued sound of the commercial release over the years.
The album opens with an unbridled storm with "Live Wire," a fast, violent statement of intent that combines a racing guitar riff from Mars, a pulsating bass from Sixx, and intense drumming from Lee with a dominant cowbell that has become one of the song's hallmarks. Sixx's lyrics, which despite their sexual and defiant imagery were inspired by the violent tensions he experienced in his mother's childhood home, are delivered with Neil's high-pitched, deadly screams. It's the song that effectively defined the intersection of early speed metal and Hollywood street punk energy.
Released on Elektra Records, the album continues with "Come On and Dance", a short, dirty, heavily grooved track that leans on a greasy blues-metal riff and sweeping rhythm chants from Lee and Sixx on backing vocals. It's followed by "Public Enemy #1", the only song on the album that Sixx co-wrote with his London bandmate, guitarist Lizzie Grey. The song stands out for its infectious pop-punk melody, bouncy bass opening, and catchy chorus that made it one of the band's most accessible and beloved early hits.
The album's atmosphere takes a darker, more melodic turn on the fourth track, "Merry-Go-Round," a song Sixx wrote inspired by the character of an eccentric, lonely balloon salesman living in his Hollywood neighborhood. The song opens with a clean, melancholic guitar riff by Mars before bursting into a powerful rock chorus and a melodic, tearful guitar solo that demonstrates Mars' ability to incorporate deep emotion within the metal shell. Immediately after, the album leaps back into pure adrenaline with "Take Me to the Top," an ambitious anthem in which the band openly declared their hunger to conquer the pinnacle of the rock world, accompanied by razor-sharp guitar work and a confident vocal performance by Neil.
The opening track of the second side of the commercial version is reserved for "Piece of Your Action", a song co-written by Sixx and Neil and featuring a swinging beat, a heavier, slower riff, and brash vocals that reflect the wild nightlife of Hollywood Boulevard. The next track, "Starry Eyes", once again showcases "Mötley Crüe"'s unique combination of melodic verses with a 1970s power-pop flavor, a heavy chorus, and a mesmerizing guitar solo by Mars that leads the song to a dramatic conclusion.
The title track "Too Fast for Love" is the epitome of the band's early spirit, a fast, catchy rock 'n' roll anthem that combines influences from "Cheap Trick" and "Sweet" with Mars's sawtooth guitars. Many fans still point out the striking difference between the two versions of the song, with the original "Leathür Records" release opening with a full minute of dark, hypnotic instrumental tension-building that was cut and edited out on the "Elektra Records" version.
The album concludes with the moving, autobiographical epic "On with the Show," written by Sixx and Neil, considered one of the greatest gems in the band's catalog. The song's famous opening line describes Frankie's death, a direct and dramatic parable for his decision to legally and symbolically erase his birth name, Frank Feranna Jr., following his father's abandonment, and to be reborn as rock star Nikki Sixx. The song evolves from a melodic, soulful rock ballad to a sweeping stadium climax where Mars' guitar and Neil's voice merge for a sense of triumph and redemption. In the expanded editions released from 1999 onwards under the band's Mötley Records label, the album also included seminal tracks from the early recording period, including "Stick to Your Guns", "Toast of the Town" and the energetic cover version of the song "Tonight" by the power-pop band "Raspberries" written by Eric Carmen.
Although the album only reached number 77 on the US Billboard charts upon its release and received mixed reviews from critics who found it difficult to digest the combination of raw punk, glam makeup, and heavy rock, "Too Fast for Love" went on to become a platinum album and one of the most influential debut albums in rock history. Before the polished sound of "Dr. Feelgood" or the dark theatricality of "Shout at the Devil," this album captured four hungry, dangerous young men at the precise moment they single-handedly ignited a cultural and musical revolution that changed the face of the 1980s.
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