UMUR "Too Fast For Love" is the debut full-length studio album by US hard rock/glam metal act Mötley Crüe. The album was originally released through Leathür Records in November 1981. Only 900 copies were pressed of the original version (Leathür Records which was the band´s own label, released two more pressings before Mötley Crüe signed with Elektra Records), so it´s the 1982 Elektra Records re-release that are usually considered the "standard" version of "Too Fast For Love". The Elektra Records version omits the track "Stick to Your Guns", which was included on the original Leathür Records version.

The music on the album is simple, raw and at times rather charming hard rock/glam metal. It´s guitar, bass, drums and vocals rock´n´roll and that´s basically it. There´s nothing too flashy about it and at times I even detect a punky edge. The lyrical themes are also pretty basic sex, drugs and rock´n´roll stuff. I guess songtitles like "Piece of Your Action" and "Too Fast for Love" say it better than words. The songs are pretty straight forward vers/chorus structured and usually rock hard, but both "Merry-Go-Round" and "On With the Show" feature more dynamic and mellower parts. Power ballad stuff.

The sound production is raw and unpolished which suits the music well.

Overall "Too Fast For Love" is a pretty enjoyable album by Mötley Crüe, but the songwriting is a bit imature, and while there are certainly a couple of really strong tracks on the album, not enough stand out as really great. A 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.

Pekka When talking about Mötley Crüe the sex, drugs, car crashes, overdoses and such are usually the only topics that come up. Everyone knows the band and their CV, but quite a few actually know the music. Unfortunately. That included me for years and years, but recently I've finally managed to make some real contact with the band.

The sleaze kings of LA started their career with this self-funded and self-released album, which says "we're big bad rockers and you should get out of our way or get in bed with us" right on the Rolling Stones influenced cover. They didn't have that much money at the time, so the sound is pretty far from the polished and streamlined rock anthem albums of their later times, but in its honest rawness it's a very powerful sound.

The album does have a few flaws, like the weird drunken cowbell choir of Public Enemy #1 and some moments when Vince Neil doesn't quite manage to sound like a big bad rocker but rather a whiny ten year old dreaming of becoming one some sunny day. That's especially apparent in parts of the title track. But the tracks are very solid, edgy hard rocking material most of the time - Live Wire, Starry Eyes and the title track perhaps being slight highlights - and excluding the mentioned flaws the band gives a great, enthusiastic performance.

After being picked up by Elektra records the album was quickly remixed, rearranged and re-released. The already quite compact album was shortened quite significantly by dropping one track and cutting an intro here and some repetition there. Both versions are nowadays available on the Music to Crash Your Car to, Vol 1 box set, and depending on my mood they both get a spin now and then.

Good straight rocking debut by a band better than their reputation.

TheLastOnes For me, this is top 5 of all time material. If you like heavy metal with a bit of punk thrown in, short songs, catchy choruses, even catchier solos, and helium laced vocals, then you will dig this. Motley before the fame, before pressure to write a certain way, and without extensive production. This is really just bass, drums, guitar, vocals and a healthy dose of cowbell. Nothing fancy going on which is a good thing. You can hear each instrument clearly and everything just seems to work. If I had to pick, I’d say Mick is the real star here. The interesting spin he puts on his riffs and the way he always seems to play solos to serve the song really ups the enjoyment level. If you haven’t heard it and avoid it because of the name Motley, then give it a try anyway. It isn’t what you expect.