Shout at the Devil by Mötley Crüe
Shout at the Devil is the second album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983 on the Elektra label. The singles "Looks That Kill" and "Too Young to Fall in Love" were moderate hits for the band. Shout at the Devil was Mötley Crüe's breakthrough success, bringing them to international attention. The album's title and the band's use of a pentagram brought the band a great deal of controversy upon its 1983 release, as Christian and conservative groups claimed the band was encouraging their listeners to worship Satan.
At first glance, Mötley Crüe’s second album is incredibly misleading. The pentagram on the sleeve trumpets satanic panic and virgin sacrifice, but the iconic title track is a warning, not an invitation. That part about virgin sacrifice, though? Well, let’s just say that parents of teenagers in 1983 were well advised to lock up their daughters. The deception continues on the sci-fi spoken word intro “In the Beginning”, which positions <i>Shout at the Devil</i> as a concept album. But the members of Mötley Crüe were never that cerebral. The album is all animal magnetism, street fights and naked lust. The lead single, “Looks That Kill”, tells the real story. Replete with nasty riffs and deadly women, it’s not only the album’s thematic linchpin—it’s a preview of the band’s entire career. The caged models and warrior queen featured in the song’s video popularised the concept of video vixens and all the scantily clad gyrating the term implies. Mötley Crüe didn’t invent this busty trope—or even perfect it—but they showed their hair metal peers and minions where the smart money was in the early MTV era. Released as the third single, “Too Young to Fall In Love” doubles down on all of the above and pays off huge. Propelled by a monster Tommy Lee drumbeat—and a killer riff by guitarist Mick Mars—it might be the best song Crüe bassist and ringleader Nikki Sixx ever wrote. Though the Crüe was largely defined—musically, at least—by its decade-long string of hit singles, <i>Shout at the Devil</i> has more satisfying deep cuts than any of their subsequent records: “Red Hot”, “Bastard” (a favourite of Tipper Gore’s PMRC), “Knock ’Em Dead, Kid” (about the time Sixx got his ass kicked by undercover cops) and “Ten Seconds to Love” all bang hard, even after 40 years.
