Girls, Girls, Girls (2021 - Remaster)

Album review

Why do things in chronological order? When your name is Mötley Crüe, you can do what you want. They are rock'n'roll even when it comes to business. In 2021, the band is celebrating its 40th birthday and taking the opportunity to put out a remastered re-release of part of their back catalogue. They have chosen to start with their fourth album, Girls, Girls, Girls which first came out in 1987, when the glam wave was in full swing. Back then, this album turned the group Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee formed into the most sulphurous, decadent band on the Sunset Strip. Sulphurous, but much diminished due to its members' excesses. While Sixx struggled with his heroin addiction (he overdosed twice in 24 hours a few months after the album's release), Lee was addicted to alcohol and cocaine, as was Vince Neil. Meanwhile, Mick Mars had turned to the bottle to forget his health problems. Under these conditions, it was hard to stay on sufficiently good form to produce a record that could help wipe away the memory of the half-hearted 1985 release Theatre of Pain. Despite internal tensions and their irregular presence in the studio, the four musicians managed to get Girls, Girls, Girls recorded. This record was a definite advance compared to its predecessor. But there are points where one gets the sense that the bandmembers know they could be doing much better if they weren't quite so smashed. But never mind: the Crüe had their motor running again, and so they ditched the spandex in favour of biking leathers. The almost-autobiographical opener, Wild Side, gives an excellent summary of the real meaning of a life of excess. Next up, Girls, Girls Girls is the essential example of the fun, untamed rock of that era. Another highlight is You're All I Need which marks a break with the canon of the genre: a tale of love which veers off into the dark story of a crime of passion. This effort proved successful: Girls, Girls, Girls was only narrowly pipped to first place in the Billboard 200 by Whitney Houston's second album. This was the record that launched the Crüe on a path to international success which came a good two years later with the monumental Dr. Feelgood. Remastered for the first time in 2003 (and now with 6 bonus tracks), it is back with a new digital remastering, to take full advantage of an HD sound that will give unprecedented resonance to the Harley Davidson engines on the title track. Forty years after their debut, the Mötley Crüe are still fun to listen to. © Chief Brody / Qobuz