Motley Crue kick-start their latest anthology
Toolbox
Knight Ridder - Published: February 23, 2005
Short of the Rolling Stones, perhaps no band has so masterfully survived the self-inflicted ravages of rock gluttony as Motley Crue. Whiskey and coke, car wrecks and court run-ins, addictions and overdoses enough debauchery to fill 448 pages in a 2002 autobiography, and that's just the stuff band members could actually remember.
Through four early albums, Motley Crue's music benefited from that excess, invoking a glam-metal joy ride fueled by depravity. On the new "Red, White & Crue," the band's third but meatiest career anthology, it's the stuff from those early records particularly "Too Fast for Love" and "Shout at the Devil" that continues to stand up best to the passage of years. The brash opening stutter of 1981's "Live Wire" appropriately sets the stage for disc one of the double set: a wide-open crash of glam, metal and punk, set against the backdrop of an L.A. rock scene where playing the rock bad boy wasn't some ironic pose, even when garnished with lipstick and umlauts.
This is instant nostalgia that occasionally startles in its distance from contemporary rock. Vocalist Vince Neil's bratty caterwaul is a sound that, for better or worse, isn't heard much anymore the mark of an era when rock unapologetically celebrated the marvels of high-wattage electricity, wild parties and wilder women.
By 1987, the Crue had learned how to mesh the feverish attack with a catchy chorus, and the result was the career best-seller "Girls, Girls, Girls," properly represented here with four cuts. The vantage point afforded by time reveals musical virtues that weren't as apparent two decades ago, particularly in the work of guitarist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee. Their ability to match fury with precision is a skill that's worthy of respect, particularly in these off-kilter days in which rock players seem capable of just one or the other, at best.
Things started to slip a bit after '87, which means "Red, White & Crue" itself starts to regress just as disc one wraps up. "Dr. Feelgood," recorded in 1989 under the pop-eyed watch of producer Bob Rock, found the band stumbling into overtly radio-friendly territory and losing the over-the-top edge that had marked its earlier work. "Feelgood" turned out to be an abrupt beginning-of-the-end for Motley Crue, Version 1: Neil was fired, studio sessions were abandoned and the band suddenly found itself in the not-so-friendly '90s, where rock hadn't just overhauled its sound, but had chosen to turn bands like Motley Crue into bad hairspray jokes.
Disc two spotlights those shaky years, when gruff-voiced newcomer John Corabi assumed Neil's place as the band awkwardly darkened its music to fit rock's new conventions. That stretch produced just one track, 1994's swaggering "Hooligan's Holiday," that merits its place on this compilation; the remainder serve as mere historical curiosities.
With a new tour under way featuring Neil back upfront, the foursome has followed reunion custom and tacked on three new tracks. "If I Die Tomorrow," a throwaway song by Canadian pop-punkers Simple Plan, has been snagging ring mainstream airplay for the Crue, but it's a set-closing remake of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man" that finds the group recapturing some of the old magic. For a moment, at least, it's OK to put down the new Killers and Maroon 5 discs and get a taste of a time when rock 'n' roll fun came without all the self-consciousness even if it meant some occasional unconsciousness.
Brian McCollum
Electronic:
THIEVERY CORPORATION "The Cosmic Game" (ESL Music) 3 stars
The lush, richly melodic musical cocktail that makes up the core sound of Washington duo Thievery Corporation is more fully realized than ever in its fourth studio album, "The Cosmic Game." Rob Garza and Eric Hilton craft an exotic blend of silky dub, bossa nova, hip-hop, reggae and jazz with elements of Indian, African and Latin musical influences, creating a joyous yet eloquent relaxed vibe that sort of just glides along.
This time, the tracks have a confidence about them, letting the groove-laden heady melodies fly just above your head, while always anchored by a crisp, sometimes languid, marching beat. It's clear Garza and Hilton upped the ante on "The Cosmic Game." It features several high-profile musical guest vocalists, most notably the Flaming Lips on the haunting, mood-setting album opener, "Marching the Hate Machines ( into the Sun)"; Perry Farrell in the meandering "Revolution Solution," and David Byrne on the oddball "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter."
The gems are the sweeping sleeper tunes like the gorgeous "Shiva," featuring a sleek Indian sitar and sumptuous vocals of Gunjan, the relaxing, dubbed-out title track, or the elegant bass line, percolating beats and sun-kissed keyboards of "Pela Janela (Through The Window)." "The Cosmic Game" is one game that deserves to be played again and again.
Tim Pratt
African:
SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR "Voices of Heaven" (Shanachie) 3 stars
Think of South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir as a spirituals supergroup. Choirmaster David Mulovhedzi recruited the members from church choirs in the township, and picks songs and performances to represent all the languages spoken and styles sung in the region, from Zulu to English.
First heard in the United States on the live recordings culled from the 2003 "6664" concerts hosted by Nelson Mandela, this full-length introduction to the choir's rich, exuberant harmonies and a cappella precision think Ladysmith Black Mambazo multiplied four times might give an agnostic reason to reconsider. Traditional songs and call-and-response chants like the joyous "Jikela Emaweni" predominate, but the group also does a brilliant job with Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" and brings new spirit to the chestnut "Amazing Grace." Proceeds from CD sales go to HIV-positive African mothers and children.
Terry Lawson
Americana:
MARY GAUTHIER "Mercy Now" (Lost Highway) 3 stars
There's a lot of pain in Mary Gauthier's past (alcohol and drug abuse, rehab, jail time), and it's all splendidly reflected in her uncompromising lyrics and gravelly vocals. The singer-songwriter, 42, who got her start in the Boston folk scene when she was in her 30s, creates music that's born of loneliness and despair and haunted by memories of abandoned lovers, her father and her rural Louisiana upbringing.
The artist's commanding voice, husky, coarse and steeped in twang, is alternately hard-boiled and vulnerable as it relates vivid tales of seedy hotels, unhappy homes and restless longing. "I wake up and wonder how I will make it on my own," Gauthier (pronounced go-SHAY) sings on "Empty Spaces." "But silly me what was I thinking/ I was on my own all along."
Most memorable moment? The simple but potent chorus of "I Drink," which finds Gauthier and producer Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams) gently harmonizing as they deliver an ugly truth about alcoholism: "Fish swim, birds fly, daddies yell, mamas cry/ Old men sit and think/ I drink."
Greg Crawford
Country:
BLAINE LARSEN "Off to Join the World" (BNA) 3 stars
Newcomer Blaine Larsen's somber first single, the teen suicide ballad "How Do You Get That Lonely," is a little too Nashville-slick to be genuinely moving, but don't let it deter you. The rest of this promising debut leans heavily to the traditional side of country and even includes a cameo appearance by Merle Haggard.
Eighteen-year-old Larsen, who grew up in Washington state, has a smooth, mature-beyond-his-years baritone that's genuinely country, and he puts it to fine use on "The Best Man" (a tune he co-wrote about the man his mother married when he was 12), the George Strait-worthy "I've Been in Mexico" and the mournful "If Merle Would Sing My Song," a lament from a down-and-out country singer in desperate need of validation and redemption. (He gets it in the final bars, which are warbled by Haggard himself.) Most encouraging moment? The laid-back "That's Just Me," which finds Larsen musing about the state of country music and concluding: "I think what we need is more Alan, Brad and George." Suddenly, we're resting a little easier about the future of Nashville.
Greg Crawford
Jazz:
JIMMY SMITH AND JOEY DEFRANCESCO "Legacy" (Concord) 3 stars
Despite the recent and unexpected death of Smith, the man who wrote the book on jazz organ, this album is no cash-in. It had long been scheduled for last week's release, to herald a national tour by Smith and De Francesco, the gifted organist (and trumpeter). This studio session represents a sort of generational summit between the two, but the program is almost entirely devoted to songs associated with the master, including "Back at the Chicken Shack," "Midnight Special" and the more recent "Dot Com Blues."
There is never any confusion as to whose Hammond B3 has the solo; Smith's robust, bluesy tone has been overpoweringly influential, but DeFrancesco has carved out his own distinctive style, one that relies less on power than Miles Davis-style phrasing that hangs behind the melody and leaves space between the runs. Best track: "Jones'n for Elvin," a tribute to the other recently departed great of Smith's era, drummer Elvin Jones.
Terry Lawson
(c) 2005, Detroit Free Press.
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