Too Fast For Love

It was around the year 1982/1983 while I was in high school that my taste for Heavy Metal Music expanded. At that time, the only bands I had records or tapes of were The Who, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Queen, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. Then a friend of mine let me borrow Judas Priest’s (Screaming For Vengeance) and Motley Crue’s (Too Fast For Love). These two albums started a thirst for Heavy Metal that even Gatorade couldn’t quench! The flurry of bands and albums that started to come out back then turned into a blizzard. It was almost like being a kid in a candy store or even a toy store. So many bands to follow, it was hard to keep up! Motley Crue originally released “Too Fast For Love” in 1981 on a small independent label called Lethur Records. The album sold almost 20,000 units, which was enough to generate the interest of major label Elektra Records. The album was re-released in 1982 on the Elektra label with a few minor changes. The end result is a raw, straightforward mix of pure guitar, drums, bass and vocals. It’s an album that has identifiable songs from the very first listen. Ones that will sink in on the first spin. Songs where you can name each track by name, what the number of the track is, etc. These are characteristics that make any album a classic! I was lucky enough to have a copy of the original Lethur Records release on cassette, thanks to one of my roommates in college. A few things I liked about the Lethur Records release as opposed to the Elektra release were 1) Live Wire had a different mix, with crowd clapping and cheering 2) “Too Fast For Love” had a melodic intro prior to kicking into high gear and 3) It included a track not on the Elektra release called “Stick To Your Guns”. For years I was wondering if the Lethur Records version, long out of print, would ever be re-released on CD. Luckily something would come close, which is the re-mastered version of “Too Fast For Love”, released on the Uni/Beyond label in 1999. Not only would the Elektra version be re-mastered, but it would also include four bonus not on the original Elektra version: “Toast of the Town (previously unreleased)”, “Tonight (previously unreleased)”, “Too Fast For Love (alternate intro)” and “Stick To Your Guns (previously unreleased)”. These welcomed additions make the purchase of this CD all the more desirable. Some interesting things to make note of regarding “Too Fast For Love”: The track “Toast of the Town” was actually covered by another LA Metal Glam Band called Pretty Boy Floyd. I heard their version before ever hearing Motley Crue’s. It’s a great “stand up for what you believe in” anthem. Tommy Lee’s use of double bass drums and the cowbell nicely accents Nikki Sixx’s bass lines throughout the album. Since Mick Mars was the only guitarist, the album had more of a “live” feel when the guitar solos were played without any underlying accompaniment of a rhythm guitar. Vince Neil’s pretty boy looks and high screeching, almost feminine sounding vocals, helped give the band something that made them stand out from the rest of the flock. This album represents what LA Metal was before it became overproduced, over commercialized, etc. When the music went with the image. Three jet black hair boys and one bleached blonde, all in leather. Songs about the youth gone wild. Being rebellious. Getting laid. “Too Fast For Love” represents the bare bones that are now covered by the skin of the more mainstreamed albums like Girls, Girls, Girls, Dr. Feelgood, and Generation Swine. The music was raw, ratty and spontaneous. It’s pop punk, power pop, and pissed off. It romanticizes the things in life that were dear to Motley Crue at the time: alcohol, drugs, cars, women and staying up all night. The essence of the album is “right here, right now”; living from one moment to the next because none of them believed in the future. Their most recent release, “New Tattoo”, was a good attempt at trying to recapture those things that have been missing for so many years. If there is any type of LA Commercial Metal album to have in your collection, this should be one of them!