Theatre Of Pain [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks, Original recording reissued]

Although this was the album that rocketed Motley Crue up to the top of the charts in 1985, I just can't get it. Considering its two predessesors are two of the greatest albums known to man, this one should be, too. But it's not. It is MUCH lighter and pop-oriented than Shout At The Devil, and it just doesn't have that Motley Crue sound that they used before and later. And also, this is some sort of a concept album I believe, but I just acn't get the concept. One song they are singing about gambling and money, they next they are talking about the the pains of going on tour. I just don't understand much of it. City Boy Blues, Smokin' In the Boys Room and Louder Than hell are great, but a lot of it is filler. If you are just a casual fan, stay away from 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.

Step inside the Motley Crue's "Theatre of Pain" and let me tell you a story. Twenty-two years ago back in 1982, a band named Motley Crue made their music debut with their album, "Too Fast For Love." One year later, in 1983, they released the smash album, "Shout At Devil." With their very successful tour in support of the album, the group's popularity had risen to super stardom. To capitalize on this fame, in 1985, they came out with one of their best albums to date, "THEATRE OF PAIN." Together, this band consisting of Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, and Tommy Lee, they created an album unlike any other Crue album before its release up to this date. The album is very musically unified along the group's experimentation with different types of sounds and instuments. Nikki Sixx, the main writter if the album's material wrote some of the Crue's best songs to date.

The albums's opener, "City Boy Blues," is a Crue classic and deserves an A+ all the way. The lyrics are great, Tommy's drum beats are phenomenal and the rhythms by Nikki and Mick are out of the world with some excellent lead guitar solos. The next track, the remake of "Smokin' In The Boys Room" is just outstanding and is definitly one of the Crue's best songs to date and is outstanding live. The ballad "Home Sweet Home" is the Crue's best ballad to date hands down. They have some great ballads but this one is so much more better. The opening sequence is a piano playing and Vince's vocals are so passionate and the guitar work is undoubtably fascinating. This was the Crue's hit single of the album along with "Smokin' In The Boys Room."

The last two tracks, "Raise Your Hands To Rock" and "Fight For Your Rights" are great closers to a great album. The first one in an anthem just in the title itself. Any rock finatic will love this one. Then last track "Fight For Your Rights" is a great tune although I think the order of the last two songs should have been switched. This is the album of 1985. It's loud, head-banging and is pure Motley Crue. I already had two Motley Crue albums but after I bought this and listened to it once I became a Crue finatic. This album is sure to do the same to anyone who buys it. Step inside Motley Crue's "Theatre of Pain" and enjoy the show!