Band:	Mötley Crüe
Album:	Mötley Crüe
Style:	Glam rock
Release date:	March 15, 1994
Guest review by:	Dowi

01. Power To The Music
02. Uncle Jack
03. Hooligan's Holiday
04. Misunderstood
05. Loveshine
06. Poison Apple
07. Hammered
08. Til Death Do Us Part
09. Welcome To The Numb
10. Smoke The Sky
11. Droppin Like Flies
12. Driftaway

All right, generally all the reviews of this album say that it's awful. Since Motley Crue recorded Decade of Decadence, it's still not clear if Vince Neil was fired or if he decided to leave the band by his own will. Anyway, John Corabi (ex-Union) was hired to replace Neil on the vocals. Bob Rock was again on board for the production work and for first time, all the members of the band get credit for the songwriting and also for first time, Mick Mars had to work with another guitarist (Corabi also plays the guitar).

Is this album really bad? the results are mixed - "Power To The Music" is the opener here. It's got a cool riff, the rhythm section is tight and heavy. Corabi is a different singer - it doesn't mean he's awful, but I believe he wasn't the right choice for Motley Crue (if you ain't open minded, push "stop" and go back to the classics). "Uncle Jack" is next with dark riffing (The funny riffing which is their trademark was gone long ago), crushing rhythm section again, good performance by Corabi - the album is still enjoyable. "Uncle Jack" is followed by the best song on this album, "Hooligan's Holiday", Tommy Lee's drumming is killer here, the guitar work is amazing and the bass lines are superb. Great vocals by Corabi again. Now, here you can push "stop" on your CD player, the rest of the album is composed of fillers and recycled tunes. The beautiful "Loveshine" and the metallic "Till Death Do Us Part" aren't enough to save the album and it sinks deep into it's own mess. They try to sound like Alice in Chains ("Dropping like Flies"), but suddenly they remember that they're Motley Crue, so they start to force it and after some songs like "Hammered", "Smoke The Sky" and "Welcome To The Numb" it becomes a very tiring record to hear. The album's closer, "Driftaway", delivers a warm performance, but it still sounds like everything you've heard before.

There weren't sold out arenas anymore - after recording this album they started to play gigs in small clubs and the big summer tour had to be canceled. These guys invested a lot of money in this album, and maybe it was a satisfactory experience in the musical way, but in the commercial way it was a failure, and that's what matters to the music industry. "Power to The Music", "Uncle Jack" and "Hooligan's Holiday" are the highlights here. The production work and the dark sound are very attractive, but the uninspired riffing and the forced way to sound like The Crue make it a very hard album to enjoy.