Ranking Motley Crue’s studio albums

Worst to First:

9. New Tattoo

Woof. New Tattoo really underscores how important Tommy Lee is to this band. Without his trademark pulsing drums the songs are listless and tired.

8. Generation Swine

I almost put this 9th because at least New Tattoo is cohesive, even if cohesively bad. Generation Swine suffered from trying to wedge Vince Neil back into the band for an album that was written for Corabi. GS chases the alternative trend and often fails badly. Afraid and Flush save this from last place.

7. Theatre of Pain

Just not a good album outside of Smokin in The Boys Room and Home Sweet Home, the band were at the height of their drug use and it shows.

6. Girls, Girls, Girls

Like ToP, this is a 2 song album with a lot of filler, though the filler here is an improvement. All In The Name of Rock is okay.

5. Saints of Los Angeles

This one gets a bit of a hit because they brought in outside writers to help them get their groove back, but what resulted was a much better album anyone could have expected out of Motley Crue in the late 2000’s. The first 5 or 6 are all good to very good Motley Crue songs.

4. Motley Crue

The overlooked 1994 self titled Corabi album is one of the strongest efforts in their catelog. Corabi was a major upgrade from Vince at least in terms of actual singing and songwriting ability. I think it would have done a lot better had they changed the name of the band for a mid-90’s mood that had a negative association with anything 80’s.

3. Shout At The Devil

On the heels of Quiet Riot’s breakthrough for the early 80’s metal scene, Motley Crue upped the ante with Shout at the Devil. Looks That Kill, Too Young To Fall In Love, and the Helter Skelter cover highlight an album that scared parents more than any before it.

2. Dr. Feelgood

Their first (and only?) sober album, 1989’s Dr. Feelgood marks the apex of the 80’s metal scene. There are 6 or 7 Motley Crue staples on Dr. Feelgood and only minimal filler. Bob Rock landed the Metallica black album gig based on his work here.

1. Too Fast For Love

Blistering from start to finish, Too Fast For Love is Motley Crue’s most focused and musically nuanced album. Tommy Lee and Mick Mars are at their absolute best. One of the most underrated albums of all time because the Motley Crue name is associated so closely with “hair metal” today, but this album is the Sex Pistols meet Black Sabbath.