Vim Fuego OK, so Motley Crüe never pretended to be anything more than a cock rock band. They didn’t pander to commercial interests like Bon Jovi. They didn’t try to validate themselves as musicians like Queensryche. They didn’t go grunge like Bang Tango. Their egos didn’t explode like Guns ‘n’ Roses (well, not quite as much). And they never, ever toned down their behaviour like Skid Row. Through it all, they remained the quintessential glam band, always setting the standards for others to follow.

With a title like ‘Girls Girls Girls’ this was never likely to be a serious album, and it’s not. However, it is vintage L.A. glam rock, unapologetically sleazy and ultimately disposable. The band had spent months in the studio on their previous album, and were unhappy with the over-polished result. For this album, they hit the studio and did the lot within weeks. It brought back their edge, smudged their make-up and dirtied up the sound well and truly. It also meant ‘Girls Girls Girls’ sounds a little underdone in places.

First track “Walk On The Wild Side” rocks like a bastard, in the best traditions of Van Halen and Aerosmith. Mick Mars’ guitar swaggers through the song, with probably the most metal sound he’d pulled from six strings and an amplifier in many a year. Vince Neil is his streetwise best with this glimpse of the seedy side of Los Angeles life, with lines like “East L.A., midnight/Papa won’t be home tonight/Found dead with his best friend’s wife”. It’s probably about as real as Motley Crüe ever get.

Then it’s back to the teen fantasy these grown men were living with “Girls Girls Girls”. Basically, it’s big dumb rock with hairspray and copious sex thrown in. The dumbfuck obvious chorus shout of “Girls girls girls” will still have you singing it too, despite the utter cliché of it all. It’s sexist but sexy escapism. “Bad Boy Boogie” is just what it says, grooving in a way AC/DC might have done had they been born and raised in Los Angeles. “All In The Name Of Rock” isn’t what it seems. It’s about underage sex and groupies. It has a bouncy rock and roll feel to it, and despite the sleazy subject matter, it’s delightfully catchy. If you enjoy it, you need to say ten Hail Marys and a couple of How’s Yer Fathers and subject yourself to hours of self-flagellation for punishment.

The Crüe were quite keen on chemical stimulants at the time this was recorded. “Something For Nothing” touched on the subject, along with prostitution and more groupies. It also has one of the best riffs Mick Mars ever played on it. Life must be so tough for a rock star...

“You’re All I Need” is the compulsory Power Ballad. It’s a sad account of teen love ending in murder due to the cheesy old “if I can’t have you, no one will” line. Oddly, it almost seems like Vince Neil was feeling what he was singing. It has all the right ingredients for an 80s weepie- piano, acoustic guitar, big power chords and a wailing solo, soaring vocals, and the quiet/loud/quiet dynamic. It sounds strangely similar to Twisted Sister’s version of “Leader Of The Pack”.

If you want filler, you’ve got it. “Nona”, a song about Nikki Sixx’s grandmother, is pretty dumb. The entire lyrical content of the song is “Nona, I’m out of my head without you”. Repeat ad nauseam over a cello and acoustic guitar. “Five Years Dead”, a song about being in prison, isn’t terribly bad, it’s just not very good either. There’s a live version of “Jailhouse Rock” tacked on the end of the album for no good reason other than to pad the album out. It’s revved up a bit more than the original, but it’s ultimately pointless.

‘Girls Girls Girls’ is probably three songs short of an amazing album, but the highlights here put to shame just about every other band of the glam genre short of Guns ‘n’ Roses. This album’s quick recording session helped the ‘Crüe regain their streetwise edge, and restored some of their earlier fire. It didn’t turn out quite how the band had expected, but it set them up perfectly to record ‘Dr Feelgood’ two years down the track, the last great album of the glam era.

UMUR "Girls, Girls, Girls" is the 4th full-length studio album by US hard rock/glam metal act Mötley Crüe. The album was released through Elektra Records in May 1987.

After the generally softer "Theater of Pain (1985)" (compared to the first two more raw sounding albums), Mötley Crüe returned to a harder edged sound on "Girls, Girls, Girls". Well...relatively. The music on the album is still polished heavy rock/glam metal featuring simple vers/chorus structures and memorable hooklines. Among the standout tracks are the three single tracks "Wild Side", "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "You're All I Need". The latter is a power ballad type track. I can picture how this song was probably accompanied by a sea of lighters when it was played live, even though the lyrics actually tell the tale of a murder. Most of the lyrics deal with the hard party life of the bandmembers though, which songtitles like "Bad Boy Boogie" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" give a hint to. Already at this point, Mötley Crüe were legendary for their excessive drug and alcohol abuse as well as the ridiculous amount of groupies chasing them around.

Overall the material sound a bit shallow to my ears and the sound production is a bit thin too. The latter isn´t unusual for a release from 1987 though, so it´s a minor issue. Most of the tracks on the album are forgotten as soon as they are over (memorable hooklines or not) and that´s of course a slightly bigger issue. There´s nothing really bad on the album though so I guess a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted. Judging from this album alone, Mötley Crüe seem to be the kind of band that are mostly famous as a result of their wild party life style than because of the actual quality of their music.

Stephen "Girls, Girls, Girls" is considered a pivotal point of Crue's career. After the fans condemned them for releasing the disappointing "Theater of Pain", Crue had to hold on and forced to write a better album otherwise this could be the end of their career. At that time, Nikki and the gang were at the height of their junk addiction and party-hard lifestyle. White dope, Harley, and naked women theme were basically all over the lyrics, while musically, they stripped down the heavy metal outfit and played with 60-70s rock and roll with an occasional bluesy bite, but still with Crue's glam signature arrangement.

"Wild Side" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" are two singles that saved Crue's ass and since then, those two songs almost never left out from their concert setlist. "You're All I Need" is another big ballad that enjoyed a small position in Billboard Hot 100, highly underrated compared to "Home Sweet Home", but both songs can be considered their all time greatest ballads ever made. Funny thing is that most people, including Jon Bon Jovi, is dizzied into thinking that this is a typical love song, but Nikki put a genius twist to this song about a psycho boyfriend instead.

"Dancing On Glass" and "All In The Name of.." are two other relatively unknown tracks that also made this album worth to have. "Bad Boy Boogie" has that Aerosmith 70s feel, "Five Years Dad" is also good but somehow too similar with "Girls, Girls, Girls". "Sumthin' For Nuthin'" is perhaps the only filler but not bad at all, and the Elvis cover of "Jailhouse Rock" is a fun live cover to emphasize the rock and roll theme of this album.

Crue's fourth album is a commercial success, racking up 4 platinums in USA alone, and was their best selling album until "Dr.Feelgood" came in 1989 to crack the record. Excellent release and I rank this as the Crue's third most fave album after "Shout" and "Feelgood".

Negoba Definitive Crue

This album sees the Crue at their peak in many ways. The whole band is starting to feel the wear and tear of their lifestyle, but at this point they were still knee deep in it. The ambivalence between loving the life and losing the fight simultaneously gives this album a dark feeling but also delivers some of the best rockers of the band's career.

The opening 1-2 punch of "Wild Side" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" has to be one of the best openings of glam metal history. These songs are still huge parts of the live show, and alongside "Shout at the Devil" and "Home Sweet Home" are the defining songs of the enormously successful band. The rest of the album is uneven, but has a depth never seen before. There is actually some conflict in the band's members emotions, pain and pleasure, ecstasy and regret, fear and energy. The wicked love / murder story of "You're All I Need" and the damage done reflection of "Dancing on Glass" add alot of interest to the supporting songs on this album.

This is the last of the classic Crue albums in my opinion. Dr. Feelgood, like Metallica's Black Album, are as much Bob Rock albums as they are the band's. Both feature slicker production, and suck some of the lifeblood out of the band. But on Girls, Girls, Girls, we get the Crue at their best.

Bottom Line: Classic Crue, Two of their best songs.