Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/24/2008
Since their last hit record, 1989's
Dr. Feelgood,
Mötley Crüe fans have endured countless live albums, "greatest-hits" collections, reissues and B-sides packages, a record with
John Corabi on vocals, one with
Randy Castillo behind the kit and one with the original lineup that sank with barely a trace (1997's
Generation Swine). The most successful thing the band produced in those ensuing years was its tell-all autobiography,
The Dirt, a story so drenched in sex, drugs, and rock & roll that it elicited a venereal disease and a contact high just through picking it up. That book is the impetus behind
Saints of Los Angeles, the first record to feature the group's original lineup since
Swine, and it's a welcome -- though spotty -- return to form for these aging miscreants.
The Crüe are at their best when they mine the manic, punk-infused glam metal of the pre-saturated, mid-'80s Sunset Strip, something they get right on opening cut
"Face Down in the Dirt," complete with a
Shout at the Devil-era,
"In the Beginning"-inspired intro.
"Down at the Whisky" echoes the West Coast excess of
Girls, Girls, Girls, managing to wax both nostalgic and devious while dutifully summing up the band's rise from local pranksters to international bad boys, while the rousing title cut, though a bit forced, manages to drum up the kind of chest-thumping bravado that sparked some of the best metal anthems of the late '80s. Like all
Crüe albums, things start to go south about halfway through, and while the performances and subject matter are as raucous and sadistic as the book upon which they're based, it's all a bit too deliberate.
Mötley Crüe have been trumpeting their hedonism for so long and so loudly that it's become more of a caricature than a way of life, and while
Saints of Los Angeles is the best thing they've laid to tape since their codpiece heydays, it's more of a walk down memory lane/Sunset Strip than a legitimate call to arms.
~James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Average Review:
Number of reviews: 1
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A reviewer
from waynesboro, PA
The Crue Comes Out Swingin'...
The first two albums in their background I found immediatly comparable to Saints Of Los Angeles are Shout At The Devil, and Theater Of Pain. The album opens with an intro which reminded me of Shout At The Devil's "In The Beginning". The first track blasts the Crue into full gear. The album as a whole has a nostalgic feel to it, the band incorperates punk attitude into Heavy Metal rythms and melodies. However, the band also manages to mix in some, although not alot, industrial blast beats ala Rob Zombie, just listen to White Trash Circus, the tone is there, but Motley Crue stays true to thier roots and the music(and lyrics) are definitly not for Nu-Metal listeners. This is Motley Crue's first best album of the century, not a bad song on the album, just some weaker and stronger ones. This CD proves that classic heavy metal bands can assimilate into the 21st century succesfully, given time, as Judas Priests new release, Nostradamus, is a disappointment to us all. Motley Crue comes out swingin'... and packs one HELL OF A PUNCH!!!
;)
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