Rediscovering My Records: Motley Crue- Too Fast for Love

I bought a cheap turntable and have been playing albums that have sat untouched for 30+ years. Mötley Crüe's debut record is still in my collection.

This isn't trendy, these aren't 180 gram remasters, these are my old records from back in the day. My mom has saved everything from my childhood, but finally started to get rid of things a few years ago. When it came to a stack of LP's that were in the closet of my old bedroom, I just couldn't throw them in the trash. I took my old records home where they sat in my basement for a couple of years. Now, I'm rediscovering my records and learning a lot about my teenage self.

I don't have one of the 900 originals the band pressed for their own Leathür Records, and I probably bought this after Shout at the Devil, but Mötley Crüe's debut record Too Fast for Love record got a lot of plays and still holds up. Shout at the Devil is Mötley Crüe's best record and the one that broke them nationally, Theatre of Pain had the power ballad that made them accepted everywhere and Dr. Feelgood went to #1, but Too Fast for Love is a powerful debut record form a band that wouldn't be denied.

When you drop the needle on side 1, track 1 you get that iconic, unmistakable Mick Mars guitar tone. The band had an almost punk energy in their early days. Never have they sounded so young and full of energy since. "Live Wire" got the band MTV exposure, which was more valuable in 1981 than bitcoin at its peak. "Come on and Dance" follows with another choice Mars riff and more cowbell from Tommy Lee. This one would have gotten a sticker form the PMRC had they been around in 1982. (Maybe later versions came with one- mine is the original.) The rebel in high-school-me wanted to be "Public Enemy #1," the upper middle class kid from Holland was nothing like this. That was the draw of music like this. Fantasizing about young desperate love on the run, "don't think about nothin', because we're gonna get crazy." Tommy Lee got his money's worth out of that cowbell- it gets a workout here too. A power ballad in 1982? It wasn't required for metal bands at this time, but Nikki Sixx has a sentimental side and lets it shine at the beginning of "Merry-Go-Round" before the song's tempo picks up. For me, this one is just OK. Bonus points for no cowbell.

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"Piece of Your Action" launched side 2 of Too Fast for Love. "I want you, I need you. I want you to be mine tonight." As a teenager desperately wanting to enter the dating scene but terrified at the same time, this was probably not what I should have been listening to. "Starry Eyes" is Nikki being sensitive again. (Why are all the girls in these songs either nymphomaniacs or crying?) The title track is next. Do you remember? Well, I remember. This is another one where Vince Neil's vocals almost sound like he was sped up- such a high voice. Also, I'm guessing someone got drunk and hid the cowbell- we haven't heard it yet on side 2. "On with the Show," the lament about Frankie concluded the record but launched a storied career for Mötley. The only time I ever saw them play live was at the American Rock Festival. I bought the black, long sleeve t-shirt with the pentagram on it, but that's a story for another time.