7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as bad as everybody makes it out to be..., May 21, 2005
This review is from: Music to Crash Your Car to 2 (Audio CD)
Motley Crue has been popular for over twenty years, and they were one of the few bands that survived once the hair metal era was dead and over with and grunge had taken over. And now, thanks to all of the artists/bands from different decades who have had their own box sets, it is great to see that Motley Crue has had TWO box sets. Their first box set, "Music To Crash Your Car To", had a pretty positive fan reaction to it, but if you can't tell by reading some of the other customer reviews on here,the reaction most Crue fans have had to this box set has not been too good. I picked up a copy of this box set today, and I was really excited after I bought it. As a matter of fact, I am listening to it as I type this. So,how does this box set measure up compared to the negative reaction it has been getting from most Crue fans? Read on for my review of this:
Pros:
Following up on where Volume One of this box set left off with the albums "Too Fast For Love"(1982), "Shout At The Devil"(1983), "Theatre Of Pain"(1985), and "Girls, Girls, Girls"(1987), this box set contains the four albums Motley Crue recorded after those albums: "Dr. Feelgood"(1989, which made it at #1 on the Billboard charts),their first greatest hits package "Decade Of Decendance:81-91"(1991),their self-titled grunge album with John Corabi on lead vocals(1994),and the rare VERY hard to find "mail order only" "Queternary" EP (1994)which also featured John Corabi on lead vocals and also found Motley Crue attempting grunge. If You're new to Motley Crue and don't own any of their albums, this box set will be a great starter for you, and not only that, you will find yourself lucky enough to buy one item from Motley Crue instead of four before(or if)you buy/decide to buy the rest of their albums.
A small booklet comes with this box set, which features liner notes written by Connecticut-based music journalist and Metal Edge Staff writer Roger Lotring. Rare photos are also to be found inside the liner notes (the only one that should not have been included in there is the picture of Nikki Sixx standing next to Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil wearing none or very little clothes, yuck, who would want to see that except for mothers of hormonal teenage childern???!!!)and there is info on all of the songs/albums that this box set has with it.
A poster from the "Decade of Decedance" album comes with this, which kind of showcases the career of Motley Crue and their lives outside of the band; the poster is very cool and it is already hanging up in my room.
A comic book that has THREE comic strips inside it comes with this box set; one is called "Motley Crue:West Coast Wildmen",one is called "Snotley Crue", the other is very short and is simply titled "Addiction" while it is making fun of Nikki Sixx. Both of the comic strips are not only very funny,but they are also accurate: Motley Crue did open for KISS and they did get accused of trying to be too much like them,Nikki Sixx was once engaged to Vanity, and I won't give away everything, but if You're a die hard Motley Crue fan with a good sense of humor that already knows a lot about the band, then You'll probably enjoy these comic strips.
As I already mentioned at the top of this review, "Queternary", which was a very rare EP that was a "mail order" only thing is in here, and having it here is a nice touch,because it is very hard to find, and not even Amazon or the Barnes&Noble website has it. Not only that, if that EP wasn't here,if you wanted it,You'd probably have to hunt down several die hard Motley Crue fans that do have it.
Cons:
The bonus tracks on the Japanese version of "Decade Of Decedance" are not to be found here, so even though the compilation producer of this box set was smart to include "Queternary" with this box set, what was he/she thinking when they decided not to include the bonus tracks available on the Japanese version of that album(Decade)?
While this box set covers stuff from the Motley Crue era with John Corabi, even though you will find his name in the liner notes (info on the albums and the story that comes before the info on the individual albums)they did not include his picture in there. Sure, Corabi wasn't Vince Neil,but since this box set has stuff from the Motley era with Corabi on lead vocals,it was inexusable not to include a picture of him with Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, and Mick Mars.
The first eleven seconds of "Power To The Music" off of the self-titled album with John Corabi were chopped off- the worst thing about it is that if You've payed close attention to that album being re-issued(the remastered album sold seperately has fifteen songs,the version on here has thirteen songs)then you may have noticed that they did not have to put the bonus tracks on a seperate disc-the version to be found here and the remastered album sold seperately.
A little bit of wrong information on the album notes for "Dr. Feelgood"- yes, Steven Tyler did sing background vocals on "Sticky Sweet" off of that album, but the guy who typed the info on the individual albums liner forgot to mention that he also did "Slice Of Your Pie"-if You've heard that song before You'll notice his vocals on that song, and not only that, in the liner notes for that album sold seperately,they even thanked him for doing the background vocals for that song.
Overall:
Despite It's few faults, this is an excellent box set, and it is one of the few Motley Crue compilations that is worth shelling out your cash for. Still not sure whether or not you want this box set? Then log on www.real.com,install the music program Real Rhapsoady on your computer, start listening to it, and then make the decision to whether or not you want this box set.
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18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Music To Get Bloated By: Motley Milks Their Catalog, July 6, 2004
This review is from: Music to Crash Your Car to 2 (Audio CD)
The first box set made sense, as it compiled the first four studio albums along with unreleased live and studio tracks that corresponded to those albums as well as the original Leathur Records mix of the first album, "Too Fast For Love." A good collection, particularly for die-hards and especially those who may not have bought the remastered Crue CDs.
Once again, there are four discs in the set, but only two full albums. The other discs consist of remixes, remixes, remixes and a few choice rarities, most of which are available on the "Supersonic & Demonic Relics" CD. In all fairness, I should point out that as a general rule, remixes do nothing for me. Do we really need FOUR versions of "Hooligan's Holiday" in one box set??? Seems to me if you have the album version, that's pretty much all you'd need.
When I heard another four-disc set was coming out, I assumed that the remaining four studio albums would be included along with their attendant rarities, like the first set. But it appears that since Motley Crue is pretty much over, they're milking the catalog for all its worth. The next box will be built around the two weakest albums in their catalog, the so-so "New Tattoo" and the atrocious, what-were-they-thinking-when-they-recorded-this "Generation Swine." Now, THAT'S milking it...!
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