Welcome to the meandering musical insights of Aaron Joy (me!), formerly known as the Roman Midnight Music Blog. Here you'll find nearly 750 reviews of CDs & DVDs of rock & metal in all its variations, mainstream & indie, good & bad, U.S. & foreign. A new review every Monday.

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November 11, 2013

Motley Crue ~ Girls, Girls, Girls (album review) ... Vince sings about what he knows best!


Style: hard rock, hair metal
Label: Motley Records
Year: 1987
Home: Los Angeles, California

Members: Vince Neil ~ vocals
Mick Mars ~ guitars
Nikki Six ~ bass/b. vocals
Tommy Lee ~ drums/piano/b. vocals

Additional: John Purdell ~ keyboards/b. vocals
Tommy Funderburk, Bob Carlisle, Phyllis St. James, Dave Amato, Pat Torpey ~ b. vocals



MC's Dr. Feelgood might be one of the best albums of the 80's hair metal scene. But, the boys from L.A. didn't walk out the door with this classic but had to build up to it, wander around a bit & get their sound down & their sleaze factor up. The four albums before it, their debut in 1981 to 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls, would all be given near classic status while moving MC to the top of the heap & crowning them the kings of the sleazy world of girls & music & anything else in the L.A. mix. But, the reputation of MC eclipses the fact that these albums really aren't the classic Dr. Feelgood is, as retrospect shows. In the moment they were great, but now sound weak with too much filler. The ingredients are there, but listening to Girls, Girls, Girls it's almost as if they were afraid to take the big jump away from sounding like their peers. They play it safe, most obvious in the super slick production values. It's too safe as the rough edges are washed away & all the sleaze of the band is in Vince Neil's vocals (for example, "Dancing On Glass") & he even plays its safe too often. Their reputation as bad boys makes up for where the music lacks. Three hits came off of this album ("Wild Side", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "All In The Name Of...") plus a live take of "Jailhouse Rock" that is a live set standard for MC, however out of place it seems, but what this album screams is how much of a jump the boys took to make Dr. Feelgood, while it also demonstrates that while they had a bunch of hits their energy didn't take them far in creating a strong album overall. Too many songs sound alike with lackluster riffs & even the hits blend in. Everything musically climaxed with Dr. Feelgood & part of the secret was not just strong songs with lots of dynamics & memorable licks, but also the thick super overdubbed guitar sound that gave the music an extra punch & texture. Previously MC sound more like their peers than not with the traditional rhythm/lead guitar lines versus the later album thick swamp of guitars creating a landscape. Girls, Girls, Girls almost sounds flat because of this dual traditional approach. The irony is that this album is closer to the MC sound as it really is. The fact that the final track being the live "Jailhouse Rock" doesn't sound odd, going from an overdubbed studio album to a one guitar live track, says it all for that territory. If you have the other albums from MC from these early days then Girls, Girls, Girls will surely end up in your collection, if for no other reason than its Spinal Tap-ish title, but it shouldn't be your first buy & probably won't be your favorite listen. This was the point where they were imitating themselves imitating the hits & this album is surely more successful due to what came before than its own few merits. Thankfully a few hits managed to slip out & only one album of rehash for album after lost album.


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