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Nov 09, 2023 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Shout at the Devil was Mötley Crüe’s coming out party. The year was 1983. The band had already released its debut, Too Fast For Love, two years earlier, but that album was raw and only hinted at the heights that the band would soon reach.

From the spoken word “In the Beginning” opener, which lays bare the album’s thin conceit (“In the beginning, good always overpowered the evils of all man’s sins….”), it was as if one was being alerted from the go that Shout at the Devil was to be a more fully-formed Crüe. And it was. Heck, all it took was the next two tracks, “Shout at the Devil” and “Looks That Kill,” and 14-year-old boys the world over were hooked. Polished heavy metal noise from badass androgynes, Shout at the Devil went four times platinum and was Mötley Crüe’s jumping off point. The band never looked back.

The deluxe 40th anniversary reissue of this glam metal classic is replete with more ephemera than even the hardest core fan could want. Band member tarot cards? Check. Black devil votive candle holder? Check. Pentagram felt bag? Yes. Metal pentagram 45rpm record adapter? Sure! Multiple art prints with pentagrams dripping with blood? Why not? A pentagram seance board? Of course!

But apart from all this devil-y garishness, what makes the set special is ultimately the music. The remastered original vinyl album sounds spectacular, jumping from the speakers set to 11 with a precision that one doesn’t necessarily associate with Mötley Crüe, especially these days. But it was there in the early days for sure and the vinyl in this set proves it, sounding better than ever and making it time to finally retire your old battered ‘83 copy.

Also included are an LP of seven demos and replicas of the two 7-inch singles from the era, “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young To Fall In Love,” with their B-side songs from the band’s debut. The demos are early studio performances of four songs from the album, as well as “Hotter Than Hell” (a demo of “Louder Than Hell” from the band’s next album, 1985’s Theatre of Pain) and two songs not on proper Mötley Crüe albums. These tracks showcase the songs in developmental stages, which is fun to hear.

Ultimately, this deluxe reissue is any Crüe-lover’s dream. Sure the extras are as extravagant as you might expect from a band that never did things halfheartedly. But the real meat on the bone here is in the music. Sure, Mötley Crüe got bigger as the ‘80s wore on. But some might say they never got better than this. (www.motley.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10