Dr. Feelgood

Firstly, I must confess how surprised and delighted I am to see Motley Crue on this website. I searched for them on a random whim, and lo and behold. I guess even with ‘Too Fast for Love’ this would have been a 50/50 call.

‘Dr Feelgood’ and hair metal in general are one of life’s pleasures. One of the first genres of rock that I got into as a child, I still remember listening to the cassette for this album back as an 11 year old during the peak of their popularity. Sure, I didn’t understand the ramifications of ‘She Goes Down’ or ‘Sticky Sweet’ – I just thought they were good songs. I had Motley Crue posters on my walls and would bore everyone around me with information garnered from magazines about Vince, Nikki, Mick and Tommy. My original cassettes now long gone, I've since purchased some of Motley's best albums on CD, and I keep a second copy of 'Dr Feelgood' in my car for when I'm feeling more Sunset Strip than Norwegian mountain peak.

‘Dr Feelgood’ represents Motley Crue finally embracing their potential, with the move to the Canadian studio of powerhouse producer Bob Rock, who was about to become a near-household name with this album and Metallica’s self-titled mega-seller. After the flimsy but fun ‘Theatre of Pain’, and spotty and poorly produced ‘Girls Girls Girls’, the band were in need of something special, something more serious as that great decade, the 80s, came to a close. And they got it from Bob Rock, whose arrangements, suggestions, professionalism and beefy (and I mean beefy!) sound would lead to Motley Crue’s biggest selling album.

The introduction, ‘TnT’, is an intriguing way to begin the album, with hospital sounds that recall Nikki Sixx’s recent heroin overdose and brief death; controversy too good to ignore. The opening weighty chug of the title track then kicks in, and the sound is just immense. Vince Neil’s quick-fire vocal delivery about an LA drug dealer is all attitude, and the huge chorus replete with backing vocalists has helped the track become one of hard rock’s greatest hits.

‘Slice of Your Pie’ is another phat sounding song, with an atmospheric coda that reminds of The Beatles’ ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)', while the ballads ‘Without You’ and the underrated ‘Time for Change’ are huge 80s anthems. The highlight, though, is the timeless ‘Kickstart My Heart’, with Mick Mars overdoing it deliciously on the whammy bar and Tommy Lee’s impressive drumming. I don’t even like cars, but I think I do when I listen to this song.

Let’s be honest, Mick Mars was never going to be top of the class in terms of technique, but he’s got a good crunch and a bluesy sense of the riff. Nikki Sixx is more of a songwriter than a bassist, and I can’t guarantee that it’s even him playing here, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he is. Tommy Lee has always been the most gifted musical member, and I can say with a straight face that he’s one of my favourite rock/metal drummers. He hits hard, is relatively inventive and exudes attitude. Vince Neil is also one of my favourite vocalists, due to the tone of his voice more than any actual skill in singing.

‘Dr Feelgood’ remains as great today as it was in 1989, except now there’s a nostalgia attached to it that reminds me of my very first baby-steps into the world of metal. It’s a genuinely heavy, fun and engaging rock album, with a sense of fun that, alas, seems missing in today's age. Good times.