Customer Reviews

Theatre of Pain [Vinyl]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The popular myth is that Theatre Of Pain is Motley's weakest album - as opined by no less than the band itself! I offer this review by way of an alternative viewpoint.

I was 16 when this album came out. At the time I was (and still am) a huge Iron Maiden fanatic. Having dabbled in the fun-but-hardly-life-changing Quiet Riot and Def Leppard (plus ol' Purple and Sabbath which just seemed so...70s) I was totally floored by Motley's Shout At The Devil in every way - the look, the attitude, the riffs etc etc and they shared my top spot along with trusty old Maiden through the 80s.

The great thing about Theatre was that it was such a dramatic left turn from Shout. The image was all Nikki's commedia dell'arte concept with the flowing trenchcoats and the `comedy/tragedy' design. Glam? I didn't even know what glam was at that age and to the best of my knowledge David Bowie was the dude who sang `Let's Dance' right? No, this was just the Crue being bizarre! There's no way this could be compared to Marc Bolin or The Sweet in their indian feathers.

Musically the Crue had opened it up - ditching the straight-ahead crunch of Shout and moving into bluesy grooves, big melodies, and lush production. Mick had opened (or reopened) his guitar palette with slide and acoustics. Nikki was playing 8-string basses and synths, and Tommy had famously added piano to his arsenal. This was probably the first album where I really noticed the production, the use of keyboards and dynamics plus the ginormous drum sound! The songs covered a wide stylistic spectrum from the full-on rock of Fight For Your Rights and the bluesy City Boy Blues to the 70s acoustic RYHTR and the lush Home Sweet Home.

When people write this album off as an 80s party record they're not paying attention. The only `party' tune is Smokin' In The Boys Room - and that's a cover! With the exception of We Need A Lover (which is a disturbing ode to gang sex) the lyrics explored mortality (Use It Or Lose It), civil rights (Fight For Your Rights), loneliness and dissatisfaction (City Boy Blues, Home Sweet Home), grim street realities (Save Our Souls) and the wonderful ode to cash Keep Your Eye On The Money. I don't recall Poison ever writing `Martin Luther heard the truth, the colour of our blood's the same' or `Don't look to Jesus to change the seasons, it's the American dream'.

Theatre Of Pain polarised the so-called metal community. For many `metalheads' the keyboards and trenchcoats were too much and they fled to the waiting arms of Metallica and Slayer. But for guys like me this was the best time to be a rock n roller. Albums like Theatre opened the doors to other ways of looking at music beyond the clichés that heavy metal loves to bestow upon itself. Obviously I have a romantic bias but this was a great time - my time.

I have to say I'm also a little cynical about the surrounding mythology of `Theatre' - the claims of drugs and general non-participation of the band and their consequent distancing of themselves from the album. I read everything I could get my hands on at the time and I seem to recall Tommy Lee in particular being very excited about the broad musical journey the band had embarked on. Similarly Circus magazine visited the band in the studio at the time of recording and were surprised to find the Crue very much in control, on top of their game, and the very antithesis of their public image. Obviously I wasn't there and can't say for sure but, well, just something to think about!

Ross Halfin says in a VH1 doco that the Crue's fanbase was (and is) the `American moron'. This seems such a shame to me, true or otherwise, because I think Motley Crue made interesting music and explored equally interesting ideas. Theatre Of Pain exemplified this period where rock/metal became much more than just amps and beer and tits. Time has obviously diluted the effect but in their day albums like this (or Blackie Lawless production opus `The Last Command' or even Ratt's first album) were really out there and different. Or maybe I'm kidding myself, but if I am that's why I love Theatre Of Pain!

I recently bought a new copy of this and man...did it bring back memories. I remember anxiously awaiting it's release back in the summer of 1985. I had discovered Motley right after Shout At The Devil came out. Theatre Of Pain was a big change from Shout....but it was EXCELLENT to the ears of this 15 year old headbanger. Tommy Lee actually taught me to play drums. It was on the dash of my buddy's car, but that's beside the point.
Listening to it now, of course it does sound kind of dated...as a lot of music from the 80s does. But those memories come rushing back when City Boy Blues first kicks in. Does it every time.

Motley Crue is the best!I am the biggest crue fan around and this is another excellent masterpiece by the Icons of hard rock!Mick Mars shows his versatility guitar wise on this effort with Vince,Nikki,and Tommy being as solid musically as ever.You have the greatest crue ballad of all time in Home Sweet Home along with the rockin Tonight(We Need A Lover) and Keep Your Eye On The Money.The best though which makes this the complete package is Louder Than Hell that is one of the best rock songs you'll ever have the pleasure of banging your head too.Then you have a sweet power ballad of how the world is on the edge of insanity with Save Our Souls.One more that stands out is Fight For Your Rights which is an awesome rock song for standing tall to fight for your freedom.All around a solid effort from the Crue that will rock you to the bone!Motley Crue Rules!!!1

I see Theatre Of Pain (1985) as the height of Motley Crue's glam metal days. They had their loudest and most outrageous outfits, their biggest hair, and the most makeup. Their MTV videos display their glam look during this period very well. As for Theatre Of Pain, open up the CD and you'll see a picture of the band looking all glammed out.

How is the music on this album? Good. Not outstanding, but good. The band is known for their many stylistic changes over the years - constantly changing their look and their sound. This album is no exception. This album is a departure from their previous album, Shout At The Devil (1983). Whereas Shout At The Devil was what I call "street fighting sleeze metal" with a really sinister attitude and raw sound (especially Mick Mars' guitar tone), Theatre Of Pain features songs that are more mellow, have somewhat less attitude, and are all around tamer. I like Mick Mars' guitar sound on this album. Very unique and very different from Shout At The Devil, but very effective and perfectly matched to the material. Whereas Mars' guitar playing on Shout At The Devil seems to have been done all at once (no layering), his guitar playing was layered on Theatre Of Pain. This is not a bad thing. I'm just pointing out that I noticed it. This shows their experimentation. If a band keeps the same sound throughout their entire career, they get boring really fast. Other bands throughout the years who have taken the approach of constantly changing their sound are Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, and The Doors, to name a few.

Personal favorite tracks are City Boy Blues, Louder Than Hell, Keep Your Eye On The Money, Home Sweet Home, Tonight (We Need A Lover), Use It Or Lose It, and Save Our Souls. In my opinion, this album is one of Motley Crue's finest moments. A good followup to Shout At The Devil, yet very different from it. Highly recommended for Crue diehards and new fans alike.

When reading Motley's autobiography, I was pleasantly surprised about how forthcoming Nikki Sixx was about the band's songwriting deficiencies during the height of Crue mania. As heroin started to take control of his life, the band's leader and chief songwriter went into a creative stupor as well after `Shout at the Devil' which was the band's breakthrough. `Theatre of Pain' was a huge seller but in hindsight the songs, except for the singles "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and "Home Sweet Home" and maybe album opener "City Boy Blues" are of top shelf quality. Much of the rest of the writing is tired, clichéd drivel. Never one of metal's most talented bands anyway, Motley seemed to rely more and more on their tour shenanigans and outrageous behavior for their popularity than for the quality of their music which was never more suspect than during the mid-to late `80's. To call `Theatre of Pain' Crucial Crue with an abundance of compilations available would seem disingenuous to say the least. But Vince didn't have to go to jail (is this guy the luckiest man who ever lived?) and the band could soldier on as their fan base (and addictions) continued to escalate despite the mediocrity of their music.

This is one of the best album of the 80's! Home sweet home is on of the best songs I have ever heard. Like all of there other albums there is not a bad song on here....

Nikki Sixx might say this is the worst Motley record, but I have to say he is wrong! Sure it's slower, and I'm sure these guys were laced up on drugs when they made it, but it's actually one of their best records (in my opinion, and we all know opinions are like @$$HOLES). Sure the music is simple, as too the lyrics....BUT, take my word for it.......THAT'S WHAT MAKES IS SO GREAT!!! Look at AC/DC, not a technical band by any stretch (screw yourself if you disagree) but they are great. Motley hits a 'home run' with this record! Simple, clean and has groove (i.e. blues)...So, buy this CD/Download/Record/Tape whatever, you won't be disappointed. USE IT OR LOSE IT....punks!

If you dont buy this album for the classic track of "Home Sweet Home",then check out the killer opening track "City Boy Blues","Louder Than Hell,"Save Our Souls",oh hell just check out everyone of them,one of the greatest albums ever recorded..

Yea I bought this cassette from a company, Which could care less for their customers!! And You know what? Theatre of pain, Is one of Motleys best albums!! So if Your a Motley Crue fan, Or just a "glam metal" fan... You should buy this!! It rocks!! One of their best songs on here, Is "Home Sweet Home", I however did not get a chance to hear it!! Because the reel messed up!! I blame the company who sent it!! For sending Me a defected cassette tape!! As far as Motley goes though... They deserve five stars!! Six stars if that was an option!! The product I was sent was "damaged goods"!! Nikki is the bass guitarist for Motley Crue. And He writes a lot of the bands as well as His own songs!! And they are rockin hard songs!! If You haven't heard of the Crue... Then You must be living under a rock!! L.O.L. But, Seriously if You call Yourself a "rocker" than You should own this one!!

Theatre of Pain(1985) captures Motley Crue at their most Glam moment. The band themselves are not shy in interviews to bash this album and they've been saying since forever that the power ballad "Home Sweet Home" was the song that saved the album (it's true that MTV picked up the video for the song and played it almost constantly back then and it was a big it for the Crue). The general opinion is that besides "Home" and the Brownsville Station cover of "Smokin' In the Boys Room" Theatre of Pain is a mediocre album. It's probably the worst Motley Crue album and it's certainly their less interesting out of all their 80's output (Too Fast For Love, Shout At The Devil, Girls, Girls Girls and Dr. Feelgood). By then Motley had gotten rid of their though leather image and switched to that of a more colorful, feminine, Glam one. The events surrounding Theatre were not the happiest and it's clear that the Crue was not at its highest point musically although they were commercially successful with this record. Nikki's heroin habits and Vince Neil's vehicle accident (which took the life of "Razzle" from the band Hanoi Rocks) and jail stint are bad memories for the band.

Originally "HOTTER Than Hell" (but it didn't make it on Shout), "Louder Than Hell" is a decent rocker but it's nothing truly special. "Keep Your Eye On The Money" is a filthy rocker and has a good groove/feel thing going on. It's certainly not a lyrical highlight of Nikki Sixx's career but it isn't half-bad and I think it works to a certain extent, I like it. Personally I think "Home Sweet Home" is an amazing power ballad and it may be the best of its kind recorded. It seems to me that after "Home Sweet Home" almost every band had a power ballad on their album and record companies pressured band to have one. "Tonight (We Need A Lover)" is probably the next best song on Theatre after "Home" and "Smokin'". The subject isn't very nice but I think it has a killer heavy riff and it ends up rocking much more than a good portion of the album. "Smokin' In The Boys Room" is a fun cover but as a reviewer said it's more of a novelty, even so it remains one of this album's strongest and most heavy songs. "Use It Or Lose It" is nothing special, a very average song with nothing going for it. The other tracks "City Boy Blues", "Save Our Souls", "Raise Your Hands To Rock" and "Fight For Your Rights" are sadly nothing terribly special either in my opinion.

In 1999 Motley Crue remastered their 1980's albums under the Crucial Crue editions titles. One thing those remastered editions did right was include demos, alternate version, live tracks and unreleased songs. It's always nice to have extra content for the fans who are buying this album, some for the second time or more. However the Crucial Crue edition of Home Sweet Home falls short on bonus content. I don't know why anyone would need so many versions of "Home Sweet Home" of which there are three on this Crucial Crue edition. It's cool to hear the demo and all (which is the best out of the bonus content) but I'm not sure we absolutely needed the instrumental version of the song. "Tommy's drum piece from Cherookee" shouldn't even be on here, it's just Tommy doing this simple beat not really demonstrating his full skills behind a kit. It doesn't go anywhere and is quite frankly boring. You will hitting the skip button soon enough believe me. We have also have two other demos. One for "Smokin' In The Boys Room" (which is not that different from the final version it says "Rough mix and alternate guitar solo"). The demo of "Keep Your Eyes On The Money" is a bit more different.

I don't hate Theatre of Pain but I'm being objective by saying it wasn't Motley Crue's finest hour. It has what is probably their biggest hit in "Home Sweet Home" but the band's other albums were much better than this. Although it was commercially successful, did well in the charts and was featured heavily on MTV it's not a "great" album and it has too much filler material and not enough actual substance. It's certainly not one of the best Crue albums even if there are some good songs. I loved Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil but I felt that this one was a let-down compared to those albums. I hate to seem like a critical person but Motley is one of my favorite bands and I really wanted to like Theatre more but my rating is 2 stars out of 5.