Comedy and Tragedy - Welcome to Mötley Crüe’s “Theatre of Pain”

The glam metal pioneers’ third album gets a tailored 40th anniversary box set

No other group in the 1980s lived up to the hedonistic rock-and-roll lifestyle than did Mötley Crüe. Emerging from the sleazy Hollywood scene, they sought to craft an entity that was described by bassist Nikki Sixx as, ‘David Bowie and the Sex Pistols thrown in a blender with Black Sabbath.’ Their debaucherous history often eclipses the impact of their recorded output, immortalized in both the memoir and Netflix adaptation The Dirt.  It goes without saying that their first two albums, Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil, are the Crüe at their most potent and some of the most loved hard rock/metal albums of all time. 

Theatre of Pain, released in June 1985, saw Mötley Crüe shift both musically and visually towards glam metal. For long-standing supporters of the self-proclaimed saints of Los Angeles, pink lace and teased hair were the antithesis of their original black leather uniform. In retrospect, it was Mötley Crüe feeding into what was one of the pillar trends of the decade. The album’s success was fueled by their cover of Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” and the power ballad “Home Sweet Home.” Both tracks received heavy traction on MTV, propelling album sales to over 4 million copies in the United States alone.

The making of Theatre of Pain was marred by some of Mötley Crüe’s own inner turmoil. Vocalist Vince Neil was facing charges of vehicular manslaughter for the death of Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas ‘Razzle’ Dingley. Bassist Nikki Sixx was growing increasingly dependent on heroin, which fuels speculation that producer Tom Werman hired a session bassist due to Sixx’s inadequate skill at the time. His addiction inspired the pleaful lyrics of “Save Our Souls." Aside from the negative connotations surrounding the timeline, band members view Theatre of Pain as one of the weakest links in their discography. The album’s previously mentioned two hits were the only tracks retained in the live set for decades, though deeper cuts like “Louder Than Hell” and “Use It or Lose It” scream classic Crüe. 

Any album stemming from Mötley Crüe’s golden run in the 1980s is deemed a classic, making Theatre of Pain a prime candidate to receive a box set for its 40th anniversary. The reimagined original artwork, featuring comedy and drama masks marked by pentagrams and tears of blood, is fresh and retains a worn-out aesthetic. Included is a 76-page hardcover book of unseen photos from the Theatre of Pain tour, along with tape box scans, handwritten lyrics, and rare memorabilia. Each LP is pressed on different colored splatter vinyl, emphasizing the visual ‘wow’ factor. Bonus points go to this box set for not featuring the standardized bits of box set ephemera like replica press kits, or, in the case of the Crue’s previous box sets for Shout at the Devil and Dr. Feelgood, ouija boards and medical envelopes. Focusing solely on the music, let alone the stunning presentation, makes the $149.99 MSRP respectable. 

LP 1 is the original remastered album. Its overly polished production value lends itself to the shrill on Tommy Lee’s artificial-sounding snare drum, which also affects some of Mick Mars’ piercing guitar leads. Nonetheless, Lee’s kick drum and Nikki Sixx’s (or whoever’s playing bass on the album) bass provide this pressing’s warmth. Vince Neil’s vocals are soaked in reverb that doesn’t fill all the space of the soundstage, yet the background vocals during the choruses of “Keep Your Eye on the Money” and “Save Our Souls” respectively sound three-dimensional and full of character. Tommy Lee’s drumwork offers plenty of textures and atmosphere, whether it’s the phased “Louder Than Hell” or the driving urgency of “Use It or Lose It.” “Home Sweet Home” is the album’s sonic highlight. The electric piano has percussive definition, allowing arpeggiated acoustic guitars to twinkle and string synths to lift the song to boisterous heights. 

LPs 2 and 3 consist of a live show from the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, on November 27th, 1985, during the Theatre of Pain tour. Recorded by Westwood One for a radio broadcast, it’s astounding how, aside from “Looks That Kill” and “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” appearing on Live: Entertainment or Death, this show lay under wraps for years and never circulated in bootleg circles. The dry mix and lack of arena acoustics make the recording sound more like a raw soundboard tape. Compared to the spit-polished post-production trappings that plague most professional live recordings, this show gives listeners a note-for-note representation of what spectators heard that night, warts and all. For being as successful as Mötley Crüe was in the 1980s, they’re one of the few bands that never released a live album during the height of their fame; this complete show makes up that deficit.

LP 4 is demos from the album sessions. Most of these recordings were previously available as bonus tracks on the 1999 CD reissue of Theatre of Pain. Demo versions of “Home Sweet Home,” “City Boy Blues,” and “Keep Your Eye on the Money” strip away some of the polished production tendencies heard on the album versions and reveal a more natural sound akin to Mötley Crüe’s early records. As for outtakes, a rough mix of “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” features an alternate guitar solo from Mick Mars, and the instrumental rough mix of “Home Sweet Home” magnifies some of the underlying mix elements that get vocally obscured. 

Theatre of Pain might be the generalized underdog of Mötley Crüe’s body of work, but it holds up as a collection of amped up hard drivers and the next gradual step in the group’s evolution. With live material, supplementary studio outtakes, and nothing more or less, this is a concise box set done right.