Red, White & Crüe: The Latest and Greatest Mötley Crüe Collection
Feb 02 '05
Pros
37 career-spanning and largely excellent tracks.
Cons
You might have to convince your friends that the Crüe’s still cool.
The Bottom Line
If you like or want to find out more about Mötley Crüe, this is a fabulous 2-disc set. Check 'em out from their debut through today. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
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| Full Review |
Nearly twenty-five years after their inception, Mötley Crüe has returned with a brand new album. Red, White & Crüe could be the band’s best album to date—it’s consistently great, perfectly mastered, and easily the most definitive collection of the band’s career. Looking for something that’s even better than any one of their original albums or 1991’s Decade of Decadence or 1998’s 17-track Greatest Hits? Red, White & Crüe is hands down your best choice.
Mötley Crüe wasn’t as pretty as Bon Jovi and they weren’t as girl-friendly as Poison. These were heavy metal rockers at heart who just happened to form and find fame in the burgeoning hair metal movement. Los Angeles was their playground. Known for their on-and-off stage antics, Vince Neil (vocals), Mick Mars (guitar), Nikki Sixx (bass), and Tommy Lee (drums) all dealt with their own demons. Between drug rehabs and car accidents, Mötley Crüe still managed to make some of the most electric rock music of their era beginning with their 1981 debut Too Fast for Love and continuing through 1983’s Shout at the Devil, 1985’s Theatre of Pain, 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls, and 1989’s Dr. Feelgood. Like so many other rock bands of the 1980’s, the beginning of grunge marked the end of their remarkable string of hits.
The 1990’s were tough for the Crüe. Neil was fired and replaced with John Corabi, they were widely chastised as has-beens, and Corabi was fired and Neil was rehired. Still through all that it is impossible to deny the quality of their music, the entertainment value, and the impact they had on other bands. It’s clear that they influenced Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, and Poison to make hard-edged but massively appealing rock n’ roll. They are the unwitting godfathers of hair metal/80’s rock. Red, White & Crüe is a fitting tribute that boasts a staggering 2-discs and 37 tracks and every song that I could have hoped for. If you weren’t sure where Mötley Crüe fits in the music annals, this collection will surely clear things up.
Mötley Crüe arranged this collection is a most logical and aurally pleasurable manner—chronologically. The first disc represents the band’s music from the 1980’s and the second assembles the songs from 1990 through today. If it was ever popular or played on the radio it is here. I couldn’t have dreamt of a more comprehensive retrospective. All of my personal favorites are here (that is no surprise) in addition to a selection of interesting covers (Helter Skelter, Smokin’ in the Boys Room, Anarchy in the UK, and the new Street Fighting Man) a handful of rarities (Black Widow, Planet Boom, and Bittersuite), and two new originals (If I Die Tomorrow and Sick Love Song). Red, White & Crüe offers up an extraordinary cross section of music that will certainly appeal to both “real fans” and “casual fans,” but on different levels.
My level of fandom for the band rests somewhere between the two poles. I was just a child when Mötley Crüe rose to fame. I was aware of them, but only really began to enjoy them with the release of Dr. Feelgood and the self titled single, the ballad Without You, Don’t Go Away Mad, Kickstart My Heart, and Same O’ Situation. From there I worked my way backwards and since then I’ve found that I really enjoy a bunch of Crüe tunes. My personal favorites are Looks that Kill, Smokin’ in the Boys Room, Wild Side, and Shout at the Devil from the earlier years. I also have always been a fan of the 1991 Home Sweet Home remix and regard it to be one of the band’s best songs ever.
As far as complaints go, I can’t say I have any that hurt the overall package of Red, White & Crüe. The band’s 1990’s music isn’t exactly up to par with that of the eighties. Nobody would claim that Generation Swine, Mötley Crüe, or New Tattoo is a classic but to properly cover the band you must include music from each. The best of each of these three albums is here most notably New Tattoo and the Corabi-fronted Hooligan’s Holiday. I also have to mention the best of the new material, Sick Love Song. As always on a compilation of this size there are a few missteps, but Mötley Crüe makes no apologies. Anarchy in the UK is novel, but nothing else…they tried to cover the Sex Pistols and flopped. Ditto on the band new cover of the Rolling Stones classic Street Fighting Man. Fortunately the few minor qualms I have are far outweighed by the high quality of the overall collection.
If you are any level of fan of Mötley Crüe, this collection is well worth your time and money. It’s the best of its kind and puts the band’s career in perspective. Congrats to the four for rocking out for nearly a quarter of a century. Rock fans everywhere have enjoyed the many fruits of Mötley Crüe’s labor-- Red, White & Crüe is a prize for people who have stuck around.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Disc 1:
01. Live Wire [Too Fast For Love, 1981]
02. Piece of Your Action [Too Fast For Love, 1981]
03. Toast of the Town [Too Fast For Love, 1981]
04. Too Fast For Love [Too Fast For Love, 1981]
05. Black Widow [studio sessions, 1983]
06. Looks That Kill [Shout at the Devil, 1983]
07. Too Young to Fall in Love (Remix) [Shout at the Devil, 1983]
08. Helter Skelter [Shout at the Devil, 1983]
09. Shout at the Devil [Shout at the Devil, 1983]
10. Smokin’ in the Boys Room [Theatre of Pain, 1985]
11. Use it or Lose It [Theatre of Pain, 1985]
12. Girls, Girls, Girls [Girls, Girls, Girls, 1987]
13. Wild Side [Girls, Girls, Girls, 1987]
14. You’re All I Need [Girls, Girls, Girls, 1987]
15. All in the Name of… [Girls, Girls, Girls, 1987]
16. Kickstart My Heart [Dr. Feelgood, 1989]
17. Without You [Dr. Feelgood, 1989]
18. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) [Dr. Feelgood, 1989]
19. Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.) [Dr. Feelgood, 1989]
20. Dr. Feelgood [Dr. Feelgood, 1989]
Disc 2:
01. Anarchy in the UK [Decade of Decadence, 1991]
02. Primal Scream [Decade of Decadence, 1991]
03. Home Sweet Home [Decade of Decadence, 1991]
04. Hooligan’s Holiday [Mötley Crüe, 1994]
05. Misunderstood [Mötley Crüe, 1994]
06. Planet Boom [Supersonic and Demonic Relics, 1999]
07. Bittersuite [Supersonic and Demonic Relics, 1999]
08. Afraid [Generation Swine, 1997]
09. Beauty [Generation Swine, 1997]
10. Generation Swine [Generation Swine, 1997]
11. Bitter Pill [Greatest Hits, 1998]
12. Enslaved [Greatest Hits, 1998]
13. Hell on High Heels [New Tattoo, 2000]
14. New Tattoo [New Tattoo, 2000]
15. If I Die Tomorrow [new]
16. Sick Love Song [new]
17. Street Fighting Man [new]
Recommended:
Yes
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