MÖTLEY CRÜE — Girls, Girls, Girls (review)

MÖTLEY CRÜE — Girls, Girls, Girls album cover

Album · 1987 · Glam Metal

4.5/5 · 2015-08-11
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.