My 1st Heavy Metal - Motley Crue "Shout At The Devil"

So I just saw a website that is giving away a pair of tix to the M3 fest in Columbia, MD in May.  I always go to this 80's Glam/Metal fest and I could be entered by telling them about the first piece of vinyl that got me turned on to Metal.  I ended up typing up the following and it turned out to be WAY too long for their comment section - so I chopped out the middle paragraphs and I'm keeping my fingers crossed...but since it was typed already, here's a little blast from the past and a look at how I was turned on to Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil"...

I remember taking the trip to Record World in the Dutchess Mall in Fishkill, NY in late 1983 or early '84. Probably had a crisp $20 from my December birthday in my pocket. I'm sure I hit the arcade, Dream Machine, first - maybe a little Tempest or Berzerk then walked down to the other end of the mall.

Most of my friends dug cassettes, but I always was a fan of the vinyl album and spent many hours there flipping through the racks.  On this day I had a mission, this band I had been seeing on MTV.  "Looks that Kill" was good, but "Too Young To Fall In Love" (and the awesome video featuring a Motley Crue kicking ass Kung Fu style) was what made me need "Shout At the Devil."

Pre-Spinal Tap (and Metallica), you wouldn't think you could get a cover more black (including the black on black Pentagram when you tilted it in the light - at 13, evil = cool...hell at 42 it still kinda does!). 

I went home and slit open the plastic and the white and red pentagram inner sleeve slid out with lyrics on the other side...hell one of the songs is called "Bastard"...goddamn cool!

I popped it on and to this day I will consider it one of those rare breed of perfect album.  Great from beginning to end with no filler (okay okay maybe SOMETIMES I'll skip "God Bless the Children of the Beast").  The opening "In The Beginning" futuristic spoken intro is just the COOLEST then right into the monster riff and booming drums of the title track.  Then "Looks" and the aforementioned "Bastard" and "Children".  The side ends with their cover of the Beatles "Helter Skelter."  Wait...this is the Beatles?!  At the time I lived mostly on a steady diet of Poughkeepsie's Home of Rock n Roll WPDH and I never thought the Beatles could sound like this...

I probably wanted to listen to it all again but had to see what side 2 would bring.  Holy Crap, it was even better!

Opening with "Red Hot," to this day my fave Crue tune - just driving and kick ass, then "Too Young" which I already loved.  "Knock Em Dead Kid" kills it next.  Then "10 Seconds to Love" which I probably turned down a little either so my parents wouldn't hear or because of their telling me to turn that crap off.  The album slows it down and ends with "Danger."

I'm 100% sure I flipped it over and put it back on following along with the lyric sheet, starting to memorize the words to sing along with the many times I would see them through the years.

Yeah, Motley Crue's second album "Shout At The Devil" was the key turn me on to metal vinyl of my youth.  I still have it and dammit I still think that offset black on black pentagram cover is cool as hell!

As extra proof of my love of the Crue, here's me meeting Ace Frehley at Record World wearing one bitchin' Red rayon Shout At The Devil jacket by Roadie.  Oh yeah, I KNOW I was badass...