Released: 1983
Tracks: In the Beginning; Shout at the Devil; Looks That Kill; Bastard; God Bless the Children of the Beast; Helter Skelter; Red Hot; Too Young to Fall in Love; Knock ‘Em Dead Kid; 10 Seconds to Love; Danger
Best track: Looks That Kill, maybe Shout at the Devil
Tracks to skip: Helter Skelter, Red Hot, Knock ‘Em Dead Kid, 10 Seconds to Love
It’s really easy to just say that it sucks simply because it’s Mötley Crüe and leave it at that. I think that’s missing the point though, and failing to see this album historically. I mean, of course, if you hate heavy metal and esp. Mötley Crüe then this review is useless. That’s fine, but I grew up listening to Metal (and still do, obviously) so I’m approaching this with my biases…both good and bad. The main thing I like about this album is that it’s pretty raw and for the most part it rocks. It’s funny to me how Crüe are definitely a “glam metal” band, but this album definitely is NOT glam. It’s certainly heavier and darker than the rest of their stuff from the 80’s. There’s such a great attitude on this album as well. Some good songs, definitely, but more importantly it’s about the hunger, drive and general FU attitude that they have here. They were very focused at this stage of their career.
The high points of the album are definitely the singles Looks That Kill and Shout at the Devil, with Too Young to Fall in Love right behind them. Those are pretty damn good songs and while they might be a bit silly lyrically, I think they work for this band and I honestly still like hearing them. There are some really good riffs on Too Young to Fall in Love. Even on the songs that I skip, there’s no denying the fire that these guys had. I love hearing bands with that sneer that Mötley Crüe has here. The only “slow” song on the album is the last track, Danger, and even though the lyrics are awful, the music’s actually pretty damn solid.
Shout at the Devil isn’t a perfect album, though. There are plenty of moments where the band still falls on their collective face. It’s not listed as a “skipper”, but God Bless the Children of the Beast is a hilarious instrumental and obviously done tongue in cheek. I don’t skip it, because it amuses me. I don’t like their cover of Helter Skelter. I think it reinforces their attitude and heaviness, but it comes off as silly and not at all menacing. While Red Hot rocks (and was probably a fun anthem back in 1983), it’s a really cheesy song and pretty much just gets a laugh from me. The lyrics to 10 Seconds to Love are absolutely horrible and the kind of subject matter that they’d stick with for the rest of their career. I honestly skip In the Beginning as well, because once you hear it, you don’t need to hear it any more.
This is a fun listen, nearly 30 years later, and while it’s not going to make your children go and worship Satan or make you go sacrifice some goats, it’s still got enough rawness and heaviness to make it interesting. Their attitude and fire is really infectious, though. Even with Vince Neil’s distinctive and frequent “RAH-AH-AH-AH” screams, it’s mostly a tolerable listen.
Rating: 79
February 7, 2012, 
9:09 pm
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