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So, you fancy yourself a\u00a0hardcore Motley Crue<\/a> fan? Then check out our list of the 11 heaviest Motley Crue songs and tell us how we did.<\/p>\n When Nikki Sixx<\/a>, Tommy Lee<\/a>, Vince Neil<\/a> and Mick Mars<\/a> debuted on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip in 1981, there was no band quite like theirs. Motley Crue’s sleazy, decadent blend of\u00a0heavy metal, glam rock, power-pop and punk made them an act to watch, and with the release of their scrappy 1981 debut album\u00a0Too Fast for Love<\/em>, they quickly set about\u00a0reshaping the ’80s hard rock scene in their image.<\/p>\n Motley Crue achieved their first of many breakthroughs and further kick-started the glam metal movement with 1983’s\u00a0Shout at the Devil<\/em>. Widely\u00a0regarded as their best album (or at least in their top three), it also yielded several of their heaviest songs, which we’ve featured below.<\/p>\n The rest of the decade saw Motley Crue adopting a more polished pop-metal sound, but they didn’t fully abandon their roots. Even at their most radio-friendly, they managed to write a few throwbacks that recalled their nasty, dangerous origins.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> The Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The ’90s were less kind to Motley Crue, as lineup changes and a shifting musical climate caused their popularity to dwindle. But even as their star waned, they variously churned out some of their best, heaviest and weirdest songs \u2014 sometimes all at once.<\/p>\n So put your headphones on, crank the volume and get ready to revisit classic hits and deep cuts in our list of the 11 heaviest Motley Crue songs (in alphabetical order).<\/p>\n Motley Crue couldn\u2019t have picked a better title for \u201cBastard.\u201d This high-speed, riff-driven metal anthem sounds like the work of four sleazy street urchins fueled by piss and vinegar\u00a0who’ve got\u00a0nothing left to lose.<\/p>\n Raw and unrepentant, \u201cBastard\u201d represents the best of Motley Crue\u2019s musical instincts \u2014 and worst lyrical impulses \u2014 at the time.<\/p>\n Motley Crue polished up their sound exponentially on Dr. Feelgood<\/em>, shepherded by super-producer Bob Rock. But they still brought the heavy in spades \u2014 especially on the album\u2019s massive title track, whose chugging power-chord riffs and gigantic grooves split the difference between vintage Aerosmith<\/a> and future (i.e. circa 1991) Metallica<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite their best efforts to scrub it from their history, Motley Crue’s 1994 self-titled album with lead singer John Corabi<\/a> remains a cult favorite, especially among fans who prefer their heavier side.<\/p>\n Corabi’s\u00a0bluesy rasp lent an inherent heaviness to every song on the record. Pair it with the gnarly riffs and knuckle-dragging breakdowns on \u201cHammered\u201d and you\u2019ve got a recipe for success. The venomous lyrics lend another layer of heaviness to the grinding groove metal anthem.<\/p>\n Nikki Sixx wrote \u201cKnock \u2018Em Dead, Kid\u201d after getting into a Sunset Strip brawl with a gang of bikers who turned out to be undercover cops. After getting busted up and threatened with arrest, Sixx was bailed out by then-girlfriend Lita Ford<\/a> (who pawned her Firebird Trans Am for the cash), walked home and played a gig that night.<\/p>\n But the memory remained, as the lyrics to \u201cKnock \u2018Em Dead, Kid\u201d seethe with fury and bloodlust, matched by tough-as-nails riffs and menacing gang vocals.<\/p>\n Motley Crue began writing several songs on Generation Swine<\/em> with Corabi before sacking the singer and welcoming Vince Neil back into the fold. Consequently, the album is a misguided, genre-hopping mess, with Neil struggling to sing songs that weren\u2019t written for his voice.<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s no denying the raw power of \u201cLet Us Prey,\u201d a furious alt-metal stomper full of down-tuned riffs, blistering screams and honest-to-goodness breakdowns.<\/p>\n The song that launched Motley Crue\u2019s career in earnest is also one of the heaviest they ever wrote. With its snarling riffs, high-octane drumming and primitive, punchy production, \u201cLive Wire\u201d epitomized the winning combination of punk, metal and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll (with a chewy pop center) that would launch Motley Crue to stardom in a few short years.<\/p>\n It\u2019s funny in hindsight that thrash metal fans were militantly opposed to glam metal in the \u201880s, as the two subgenres often had more in common than their respective fans were willing to admit. Just listen to Tommy Lee\u2019s monstrous performance on \u201cRed Hot,\u201d which provides the bedrock for Mick Mars\u2019 smoldering riffs and Vince Neil\u2019s punky, piercing vocals.<\/p>\n Don’t let the glammy, fist-pumping hooks fool you:\u00a0\u201cRed Hot\u201d can go toe to toe with any song off, say, Metallica\u2019s Kill \u2018Em All<\/a><\/em>, released the same year.<\/p>\n If heavy metal songs are like horror movies, then \u201cShout at the Devil\u201d is all about the psychological dread that precedes the jump scare.<\/p>\n The song unfurls slowly with sinister riffs and defiant gang vocals before the band comes crashing in at full bore. The lurching, lumbering instrumental is offset by Vince Neil\u2019s raw, piercing vocals, which still sound genuinely awe-inspiring no matter what critics have to say about his current state.<\/p>\n When\u00a0Motley Crue\u00a0replaced\u00a0Vince Neil\u00a0with\u00a0John Corabi\u00a0for their 1994 self-titled album, they shed the last of their glam-metal trappings and became a bonafide heavy metal band.<\/p>\n Pot-smoking anthem “Smoke the Sky” epitomizes that shift with its gnarled down-tuned riffs, thunderous drumming and Corabi’s raspy howl. The breakdown at 2:12 is\u00a0the single heaviest moment in Motley’s catalog and one of the\u00a0toughest\u00a0performances captured\u00a0by any Sunset Strip band.<\/p>\n Light ’em up!<\/p>\n Motley Crue pivoted hard to frothy pop-metal on their third album, Theatre of Pain<\/em>, as demonstrated by their cover of Brownsville Station\u2019s \u201cSmokin\u2019 in the Boys Room\u201d and weepy power ballad \u201cHome Sweet Home.\u201d But their metallic past reared its head on \u201cUse It or Lose It,\u201d featuring relentless double-bass drumming, urgent vocals, choppy riffs and a blazing solo.<\/p>\n Caught in the throes of addiction and dysfunction, Motley Crue\u2019s depravity and desperation ring clear on \u201cWild Side.\u201d Against choppy,\u00a0percussive riffs and a martial stomp, Vince Neil invokes the Lord\u2019s Prayer and exposes the seedy underbelly of the decadent Los Angeles rock scene that birthed (and nearly killed) the band.<\/p>\n We look back at everything from\u00a0Too Fast for Love<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0Saints of Los Angeles<\/em>\u00a0to see which albums hold up best all these years later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“Bastard” (Shout at the Devil<\/a><\/em>, 1983)<\/h3>\n
“Dr. Feelgood” (Dr. Feelgood<\/a><\/em>, 1989)<\/h3>\n
“Hammered” (Motley Crue<\/a><\/em>, 1994)<\/h3>\n
“Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid” (Shout at the Devil<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
“Let Us Prey” (Generation Swine<\/a><\/em>, 1997)<\/h3>\n
“Live Wire” (Too Fast for Love<\/a><\/em>, 1981)<\/h3>\n
“Red Hot” (Shout at the Devil<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
“Shout at the Devil” (Shout at the Devil<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
“Smoke the Sky” (Motley Crue<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
“Use It or Lose It” (Theatre of Pain<\/a><\/em>, 1985)<\/h3>\n
“Wild Side” (Girls, Girls, Girls<\/a><\/em>, 1987)<\/h3>\n
Motley Crue Albums Ranked <\/h2>\n