Shout at the Devil is the second album by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 23rd, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top-selling heavy metal acts of the 1980s. The singles "Looks That Kill", "Too Young to Fall in Love" and "Shout at the Devil" were moderate hits for the band.
Shout at the Devil was Mötley Crüe's breakthrough success, selling 200,000 copies in its first two weeks. The album's title and the band's use of a pentagram was briefly referenced by Tom Jarriel in a news piece on ABC about Christian groups concerned about Satanism. The pentagram was something Nikki Sixx brought with him from Sister, a very theatrical band he had been a member of (along with future W.A.S.P. vocalist Blackie Lawless) in the late 1970s prior to the formation of Mötley Crüe. Sister fused occult symbolism such as the Pentagram into a theatrical heavy metal show incorporating blood and facial makeup. Sixx asked Lawless for permission to use some of Sister's occult-related imagery for Shout at the Devil, as at that point Lawless was intent on moving in a different direction. "I said 'take whatever you want' because at that point, I realised that with an image like that, you end up painting yourself in a corner and you can't get out," said Lawless.
Shout At The Devil is a glam/heavy metal album by Mötley Crüe. In the 1980s it was a top-selling act with hit singles "Looks That Kill", "Too Young to Fall in Love" and "Shout at the Devil" on this album. Nowadays it sounds very dated and the songs and performance are not good either. Especially the look of the band and the lyrics make you feel you are listening to a parody. It's not awful, but still a 35 minutes waste of time.
I must have listened to this album back in my hair-metal phase in middle school because I knew almost all of these songs.
Was a little skeptical going into this but I forgot how hard it rocks. Just kind of no nonsense rock that doesn't care how good the singing or songwriting is, just needs hardcore ass guitar riffs and loud drums. That recipe just works really well sometimes.
They weren't on the OG list?
It's not the most crazy original stuff but I enjoyed it.
My personal rating: 3/5
My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5
Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.
kinda fun, but hard rock like this feels like a dime a dozen, like when you’ve heard one of these albums you’ve heard them all
the Helter Skelter cover was kinda cool, albeit somewhat generic
all around, kinda forgettable but still fun - 7/10
Ah the sounds of youth. No particular objection to a little classic hair metal, it's all solidly constructed and well performed. Lyrically functional though dull. Pretty formulaic. I do miss the era where a 35 minute major lable LP release was a normal thing.
It’s 40+ years since this album was released. Every single member of the Crüe is still alive and you got a cocaine contact-high just by looking at the cover photo on this album. That’s got to count for something.
The music herein falls off steeply from the bombastic glory of the first few tracks. The lyrics are generally insipid and Mick Mars is not Eddie Van Halen but damnit, your toe was tapping. Don’t lie.
Hitting the 80s back to back -- this time with more hair spray! Motley Crue isn't a band I've spent much time with. Like I know their hits (Shout at the Devil, Smokin in the Boys Room, Dr. Feelgood, etc.) but I haven't ever listened to an album end to end.
Shout at the Devil is a solid kick start out of the gate, and Looks That Kill is a surprising jam made for stadiums. This music just screams "Trans AM and Budweiser." Not bad, but something I have to be in a very specific mood for.
Some fun heavy/hair metal tracks on this one, but most are so repetitive they could be used as CIA torture methods. 'Knock Em Dead' just says its title over the same riff for nearly four minutes, and the other tracks also feel stretched beyond their breaking point idea-wise. Even the Beatles cover sounds meandering and threadbare. This LP may be worthwhile as a historical note, but certainly not as a groundbreaking listening experience.
I think the only way you would like this with a dose of nostalgia.
I didn't like this music at the time and now it just washes over me.
Still, each to their own. It's not bad as such.
Never been a big fan of the 80s hair rock sound. A few songs are good here and there but without the sex drugs and piss poor lifestyle this is just old school music for your divorced uncle. Just doesn’t play well now. 5.4/10
I would like to know the significance of this album so that I could appreciate it more. Why this album over all the others?
Not a massive fan of Motley Crue and this album did nothing to change that. But I didn’t hate it.