Tarot cards, a ouija board and a demonic pottery candleholder: the deluxe version of Mötley Crüe's best album is an OTT wonder
The fact that Mötley Crüe's second and greatest album has been reissued more often than Tommy Lee has whipped out his dong on stage doesn't diminish its pouting satanic panic-inducing glory. Looks That Kill, the title track and the killer Too Young To Fall In Love mark the point where early-80s metal transformed into Sunset Strip glam, while even their ham-fisted version of The Beatles' Helter Skelter captures the death-or-glory self-delusion that helped turn the Crüe into superstars.
The basic version of this 40th-anniversary edition adds an extra disc of rough-arsed but exhilarating demos – including early versions of album out-takes Black Widow and Hotter Than Hell, aka Louder Than Hell – that reveal their rough-arsed punk roots.
It's the blockbusting super-deluxe version, a full six inches deep, that brings the "Wow". This tombstone-sized box houses all the Crüeabilia any devotee with a spare £150-plus would want. Splatter-coloured vinyl of the original albums and the demo disc are complemented by replica seven-inchers of Looks That Kill and Shout At The Devil, plus trinkets that lean into the parent-baiting occult shtick of the original release: tarot cards, a (paper) ouija board, a demonic pottery candleholder.
OTT? Of course. But then OTT was what Mötley Crüe always did best.
