Cut the Fat - Number 7

Have you ever thought "Man, this is a perfect record except for this one track?" For the next week, I'm going to play "cut the fat." That's where I name an essential Glam record and tell you which track I think is a dud. In other words, the album would be stronger without the worthless track in question.

Today's essential Glam record is Motley Crue's Red, White & Crue. The double-disc set is a must-own for any Motley fan as it marked the band's big "comeback" and also includes all the hits.

But there's one dud.

"Use It or Lose It."

Why this track was chosen for the greatest hits is beyond me. The track comes from Theatre of Pain, one of Motley's weaker records...and it wasn't even a single. Couldn't the band find an awesome B-side - something to match "Black Widow" - instead of "Use It or Lose It?"

Red, White & Crue tracks:

1. Live Wire    
2. Piece Of Your Action    
3. Toast Of The Town    
4. Too Fast For Love    
5. Black Widow    
6. Looks That Kill    
7. Too Young To Fall In Love    
8. Helter Skelter    
9. Shout At The Devil    
10. Smokin' In The Boys Room    
11. Use It Or Lose It    
12. Girls, Girls, Girls    
13. Wild Side    
14. You're All I Need    
15. All In The Name Of...    
16. Kickstart My Heart    
17. Without You    
18. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)    
19. Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)    
20. Dr. Feelgood
   
Disc: 2

1. Anarchy In The UK    
2. Primal Scream    
3. Home Sweet Home ['91 remix]    
4. Hooligan's Holiday [Brown Nose Edit]
5. Misunderstood [Successful Format Version]    
6. Planet Boom    
7. Bittersuite    
8. Afraid [Alternative Rave Mix]    
9. Beauty    
10. Generation Swine    
11. Bitter Pill    
12. Enslaved    
13. Hell On High Heels    
14. New Tattoo [single version]    
15. Street Fighting Man
16. If I Die Tomorrow
17. Sick Love Song

Agree? Disagree? Tell me your thoughts.

Comments

[JT]

Disagree. For me, the weak link on this record is "Street Fighting Man"...an absolutely wretched cover song. I'm okay with "Sick Love Song" and "If I Die Tomorrow," but think they should have used "I'm A Liar" instead of "Street Fighting Man."

[Rob Rocker]

I think they should have used anything besides the two throwaway tracks from Quarternary (Planet Boom and
Bittersuite). It's not that I don't like them, I just feel it kills the flow of the 2nd disc. I would have preferred a 3rd song from MC94 and New Tattoo in place of those 2 songs.

[damnp78]

I am w/ JT on this one. SFM definitely is the weaker track.

[ke]

i see allyson's point. it depends on your view. personally i agree with her. the collection consists of hits, single releases, b-sides and 3 new tracks. and then there's use it or lose it.

[Metalboy!]

One person's filler is another person's sleeper...

But here's a few of mine...

1) "Blame It On You", Poison, 'Look What The Cat Dragged In'

2) "She Goes Down", Crue, 'Dr. Feelgood'

3) "In Your Direction", Ratt, 'Out Of The Cellar"

4) "Dirty Boys", Kix, 'Blow My Fuse'

I could go on and on but as far as these go, they all reek of "We-need-another-one-itis", as you might hear Tom Werman or Ted Templeman, Hair Metal producers extraordinaire, tell their boyz in the studio.

Unfortunately, such a request rarely yielded the same results as, say, George Martin telling the Beatles to do the same. Yet, isn't it Bon Jovi who tells the story of wanting to leave "Livin' On A Prayer" off 'Slippery When Wet'?

And then there's the theory that 'Use Your Illusion I & II" would have reached Rock and Roll Classic status on par with "Appetite" had it just been boiled down to a single disc.

This should generate some controversy, but I personally really could have done without "November Rain", an overblown sappy and insincere shot at "epic track" immortality only to wind up as one of the reasons Izzy quit and the real Rock'n'Rollers started to have their doubts about this band, already sounding their death nell.

C'mon guyz, that one really duz suck, and you know it, if you compare it to anything that could be considered as the weak track on 'Appetite'.

Also, I remember a great debate in NYC, where myself and some of the other characters at the agency (think "Madmen" set in the early Nineties -- which was really kind of the late 80's in denial) were circulating edited down cassette tapes with our own respective versions of the album, arguing about which tracks were to be regarded as essential.

Of course, now I don't have the energy to go back and go over it because now, with hindsight being 20/20 and taking advantage of the internet and sites like this one and Ebay, etc., I am constantly discovering indy releases of our favorite genre that genuinely blow anything Guns'n'Roses ever did out of the water.

Then again, I'm so f*cked up in my opinions (as I'm sure some will agree here, hahaha!!!), I feel like "Kashmir" is fodder we all could have done without on Led Zeppelin's 'Physical Graffiti'.

I'll see if I can think of some more near classic albums that could have been "Classic" had they just left a song off the track list.

But I'm totally not guaranteeing it as I may fall asleep listening to the stuff...

[kari]

Love talking CRUE on any day but my Birthday today, YEP YEP! I loved this entire CD! Thought the mix was good, ofcourse I woulda rathered City Boy Blues or Keep YOur Eye on the Money from the Theater record. BUT HEY! Atleast we got Toast of the Town, Black Widow and a handful of other killer CRUE tracks! I'm gonna pull this cd out of my collection for my road trip tomorrow!

What are your thoughts that If I Die Tomorrow being one of the strongest CRUE songs EVER? This song BLEW ME AWAY I thought it was so good! It is one of my all time fave CRUE songs!

[Liam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLOQXo8z9Kw&feature=related

[cruefreak]

Agree with RobRocker here....I can live with Use it/Lose it, it's the Quarternary stuff that I think need to go. Put Poison Apples or Loveshine on there. I'd even go with Punched in the Teeth by Love(wow, this song reminds me of some Four Horsemen) or I'm a Liar....just sayin'.

[Brian C.]

Am I the only one that LOVES Planet Boom? Always thought that was a cool song.

[Metalboy!]

Have a Happy Glam Metal Birthday, Kari! YOU are the "Toast Of The Town"!

[kari]

CRAB CRUE ROCKS!!!! Let's discuss how UNDERRATED CRUE '94 is!

[kari]

Thanks MB! Love the Crue song title reference there! VERY VERY NICE TOUCH!!

[GNR]

Okay, that sounds like a GLAM topic right there. "Choose Your Illusion" ? Y/N ? Use 1 had 16 tracks and Use 2 had 14 tracks, so lets take 1/2 of that and say a 15 track album. BTW - I agree November Rain was the downfall of GnR.

[Brian C.]

Allyson - you'd better not make "Appetite for Destruction" one of your 'trim the fat' albums. THERE IS NO FAT ON THAT ALBUM :-)

[GNR]

1st draft - 18 tracks (need to cut the fat:)

Dust n Bones
Don't Cry (just one of them)
Perfect Crime
You Ain't the First (f*in beautiful song)
Bad Obsession
Back Off Bitch
The Garden
Don't Damn Me
Dead Horse
Coma
Civil War
14 Years
Yesterdays
Breakdown
Pretty Tied Up
Locomotive
Estranged
You Could Be Mine

[GNR]

And there is no way you can trim any fat off of Appetite for Destruction - f'in impossible

[Kenny Ozz]

Metalboy, 'She goes down' is a GREAT song! How could you wanna cut that?!?!?

[Mike]

On Feelgood I'd have to say I've never really felt for Sticky sweet, I always thought the guitars should have been crunchier. I agree with Brian C. but if you had to pick the worst of the best from that album I'd have to say the cheesy lyrics of Anything Goes kind of date the song more than the rest. But... it's still a great fuckin song so whatever. You Ain't The First always seemed like a too slick version of something that didn't make GnR Lies. Get The lead Out off Rocks is my vote for weakest track off Aerosmith's strongest album. Trying to think of more, hmm... from Skid Row's first album Can't Stand the Heartache is a piece of crap. That's it for now.

[Mike]

And GNR.. If you switch out You Ain't The First for maybe Bad Apples then I'd say you've pretty much nailed it! just my $.02

[Mike]

Oh I just noticed you omitted November Rain. I think you'd have to keep that one dude, after all it IS Axl's Magnum Opus! Plus it was written before AFD so that gives it extra cred right? lol.