Why the hatred for Theatre of Pain?

I know at least one poster on this board has cited the album as marking their first memory of one of their favorite bands selling out. The album gets comparable treatment in The Dirt, with a record label representative trying to console Nikki Sixx over the hit potential of their "Smokin' in the Boys Room" cover and "Home Sweet Home."

I'm not sure I get the pushback though. Their image had changed somewhat, though not that drastically from any of the promo shots I've seen. The album contains "Louder than Hell," which was written and demoed during the Shout at the Devil sessions. It's one of my all time favorite Crue songs. And would songs like "Tonight (We Need a Lover)" really have been out of place on either of their first two albums? It sits nicely against songs like "Ten Seconds to Love," in my view.

"Save Our Souls" is another interesting track with a dark vibe and lyrics that sound like they were written for a Christian metal band.

I'm not saying it's a perfect album or anything, but I think it's more dynamic than it gets credit for.

Why is it hated? The answer is because it's terrible. Clearly the album was written in the studio coupled with some warmed over leftovers from Shout. If it weren't for "Home Sweet Home" - which is a legit great song - they would have been done. It's says a lot about the quality of the album that a cover was the second biggest track from it.

I was very disappointed when it came out. The Crue was one of my favorites at the time and they completely crapped the bed.

Imo, it was a mediocre album, showed a shift from the more raw style to copying Aerosmith at the time. Sold a ton though.

Yes it was is spotty and as mentioned it is filled with filler. Which can be said to most every output thereafter. Sure some good songs on Girls and Dr Feelgood but as with Theater many many fillers.

And in the movie it was Vince's character that was getting the pitch for how Smokin' was going to be the hit, which is laughable as it was a poop cover (akin to Twisted Sisters Leader of the Pack) and an absolute throwaway, but a testament to how a record company could sell anything to the masses at the time.

glassprison wrote:

I know at least one poster on this board has cited the album as marking their first memory of one of their favorite bands selling out.

(raises hand) That would be me, and I still stand by that statement.

Prior to Theater, the Crue was my favorite band. To give that some perspective, though, you gotta keep in mind, I was 12 or 13 years old, so I probably only knew about a dozen bands, haha. But as a gullible 6th grader, their Shout At The Devil shtick was irresistible to me. I bought their whole pentagrams n' blood n' flames and "this record may contain backwards messages" thing hook, line, and sinker.

Flash forward two years. I'm now 14, going on 15. Motley's been off the radar for a while due to Vince's drunk driving crash and related issues. In the meantime, I've discovered thrash and underground metal. When Theater of Pain dropped, I haaaaaated it. Compared to the other stuff I'd been listening to like Metallica, Mercyful Fate, Anthrax, etc., Motley just didn't cut it anymore. Simple as that.

I had to laugh at the scene in the Dirt movie when Motley is about to take the stage for their first gig after Vince's arrest and Doc McGhee sez something about how they expect Theater to do really well, and Vince sez it's got "two good songs and a bunch of bullshit" on it, cuz I felt the same way.

Honestly,...it's my favorite Crue album. Shout at the Devil is certainly their best, but my first exposure to MC was this album at age 11 and I just loved it. "Home" and "Smokin'" were killer, but unknown tracks like Louder Than Hell, City Boy Blues and Tonight (We Need A Lover) just stuck in my brain.

I remember the day it came out. My friend Tiff brought it out onto the stoop. We looked at the back cover and said, "Who the hell is this???". Really never have given it much of a chance ever since. I did go to that tour. But that was because Loudness was opening and Thunder in the East kicked [kicks] ASS!!

Theatre Of Pain pretty much sucks. The songs I do like (Fight..., Tonight... & Louder) suffer from crappy production and as much as Mick is one of my all-time faves his guitar tone sucks. It sounds like he plugged his guitar into a Bette Midler amp thru a Cyndi Lauper stomp box. The album as a whole sounds like Richard Marx rebelled and broke his curfew.

You can pretty much copy and paste what Freddy wrote and put it here. I loved that band more than any other band when Shout came out. Other kids had posters of Christie Brinkley on their walls, I had Motley Crue pictures and posters everywhere. Other heavier bands started getting my interest, and they released this crap, and I was mad as hell when I heard it. All my posters got trashed immediately and I never much went back. I do still like their first two, and a few other songs on their latter albums, but I have to be in the mood for even the good stuff.

It is OK and I do enjoy it the odd time I pull it out to listen to. The worst of the classic Crue albums but still better than most Pop Metal of the time.

Louder than hell is truly an amazing track. First time hearing it now. Never knew why I missed it .

It’s a crap album except for Home Sweet Home. Too glossy and uninspired imo.

I loved it growing up as a youngster. Of course I was a major Crüe fanboy in middle school and early high school.I still like it and it has two of my favorite Crüe songs on it, Home Sweet Home and this;

Yeah, I don't get the hate. Unless it's directed at "Smokin' in the Boys Room," which I hate. Haha. Other than that, I love the album. Unlike others, though, my real intro to Motley Crue was Dr. Feelgood. I knew some other radio tracks, but I didn't really get into music until 1989, so what came before that time didn't affect me the same way. Either way, I think Theatre is a pretty damn good album.

I don't care much for "Home Sweet Home" or "Smokin' in the Boys Room", due to overplay I assume. But I like the rest of the album quite a bit.

When I was in 6th grade and getting into them when Dr. Feelgood came out, this record ranked as my least favorite of the 5 out at the time, but I attribute that to the fact that I never really listened to it much because I got it from a yardsale and it had no cover, just the cassette, and therefore it did not really exist to me as part of my tape collection. Ha.

When I was rebuying everything on CD when those reissues came out, I discovered I love most of Theatre. It sounds right in line with the first 2 albums to me.

When I joined Columbia House back in the day, this was one of the selections I took for my initial shipment. I don't hate it but would never consider it anything beyond ok. It does have a few cool tunes on it.

It's been awhile since I've spun it front-to-back, but like most folks here, I just thought it to be a lot of filler. I don't mind the cover tune or the shift in look or sound. It was just a lackluster album in my opinion.

The only tunes I dont care for on it are Smokin in the Boys Room, Use it Or Lose It, and Raise Your Hands to Rock (sounds like an unfinished demo IMO). The rest is solid to me.

never owned it and the good tracks from it I have on a comp disc or two. Not a terrible release, just never got around to getting it back in the day. I heard it when friends would play it and i liked Girls better when it came out so i guess I would have to rank it near the bottom but certainly not as bad as Generation Swine.

I'm feeling rather inclined to throw this album on now, ha.

Thelemech wrote:

It is OK and I do enjoy it the odd time I pull it out to listen to. The worst of the classic Crue albums but still better than most Pop Metal of the time.

I agree it's an ok album. But to me Girls,Girls,Girls is the worst album of the classic Crue albums.

I hated it when it came out and did for years. I revisited it for the first time in forever about three to four years ago. I actually enjoy it now. Unlike akeldama, I decided that I appreciate Mick Mars guitar tone on this effort. I get the hate though, as it really comes down to what the Crue was following up and that was "Too Fast For Love" and "Shout at the Devil". Had this been the Crue's first effort, maybe it's looked at a little different. Like Fat Freddy, I was one of those by 85-86, where my metal listening habits were directed at the more aggressive speed/thrash metal scene. Bands like Crue at the time were deep within the rear view mirror. Songs that I really appreciate now are: City Boy Blues, Tonight (We Need a Lover) and Fight For Your Rights. I've always enjoyed Louder Than Hell and Home Sweet Home. I hate Smokin in the Boys Room.

Honestly guys, Decade of Decadence was the only Vince Crue I needed. Their albums seemed to always have filler except for Too Fast. Theater sounds a little too smooth and fluffy but works just as well as the others.

I used to be on the ToP hate wagon, and I can understand why it was so poorly received, but I dunno, it's kind of par for the course?

nevermore wrote:

Thelemech wrote:

It is OK and I do enjoy it the odd time I pull it out to listen to. The worst of the classic Crue albums but still better than most Pop Metal of the time.

I agree it's an ok album. But to me Girls,Girls,Girls is the worst album of the classic Crue albums.

Yeah. That one is pretty bad. Two songs (classics, in fact) worth a damn, the rest is all kinds of yaaaaaawn.

Eyesore wrote:

nevermore wrote:

Thelemech wrote:

It is OK and I do enjoy it the odd time I pull it out to listen to. The worst of the classic Crue albums but still better than most Pop Metal of the time.

I agree it's an ok album. But to me Girls,Girls,Girls is the worst album of the classic Crue albums.

Yeah. That one is pretty bad. Two songs (classics, in fact) worth a damn, the rest is all kinds of yaaaaaawn.

I agree with this also. I don't care how great "Wild Side" is, this is easily the worst Motley album. It's beyond an uninspired mess. "Girls, Girls, Girls", much like "Theatre of Pain", I revisited it a few years ago and unlike the aforementioned, I couldn't find anything that changed my opinion of the album. "Five Years Dead" would be the only song, which is an average song at best.