891. Mötley Crüe / Too Fast for Love. 1981. 3.5/5

Sometimes it's hard to believe Mötley Crüe have been around for as long as they have. It was not until the mid-1980's that I started to be introduced to heavy metal music, and thus began listening to the Crüe as well. Their debut album, Too Fast for Love however was released way back in 1981, when I was but a boy in 6th class and oblivious to this kind of music. Only five years passed between the time this was released and the time I first heard it, but it still seems hard to comprehend that it was released so long ago.

It may not be their best album - well, let me clarify that, I don't believe it is their best album - but it shows all of the ingredients that were to help make them such a force throughout the remainder of the decade. My favourite songs from the album are those that have had the majority of the limelight - the killer opening track "Live Wire" which remains one of my favourite Mötley Crüe songs, the side one closer "Piece of Your Action" which has the best of that Crüe attitude, both musically and with Vince's spitting vocals, and the title track "Too Fast For Love" which apart from the endless repeating of the title track words through the middle and then the end of the song still comes across as one of the better songs.
The other songs are all middle of the road rockers that Mötley Crüe made their own over the course of the next three decades. Songs that had the requisite Vince Neil nasal vocal line, Nikki Sixx's rumbling bass, Mick Mars and his solid riff and short sharp flailing solo break and Tommy Lee's marvellous timekeeping and solid use of the cowbell. Songs such as "Come On and Dance" and "Public Enemy #1" and "Merry-Go-Round" are harmless songs that hold their ground but don't do anything that would break new ground. "Starry Eyes" probably sits in this category also, "On With the Show" ends the album somewhat limply.

I came to this album having already bought the three preceding albums, and so I guess I was always a tad disappointed with Too Fast for Love because of that, because of how far they progressed in a short space of time on those albums. This is still an enjoyable outing when you put it on, but it is the highlight songs that keep this album above the average.

Rating:  "If you're looking for satisfaction, I'm satisfaction guaranteed". 3.5/5