Like most people, "Too Fast for Love" wasn't the first Motley Crue LP that I heard. Originally self-released in late 1991 and then later released on a major label in 1982, this LP was eclipsed by their much larger and more successful 1983 LP "Shout at the Devil". In 1983 & 1984* (my freshman year of HS), heavy metal was enjoying an unprecedented level of mainstream success and exposure, regularly appearing on the radio and MTV. I was young, with an insatiable desire for anything loud, angry, and offensive, and Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", along with Dio, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Ozzy, etc. were a salve for middle class, suburban, teenage ennui. Finding out about new music in the 80s was difficult and expensive, and you needed to have a tape trading network to explore and push the boundaries. It was Chris Miller, my first HS metal connection, that recorded the first two Motley Crue LPs on tape for me. Even though "Shout at the Devil" is arguably heavier of the two LPs, its imagery was a conflict for me: I dug the satanic trappings, but they glam and camp was off-putting in a way that I could not articulate at the time. Though it was "Shout at the Devil" that drew me in, it was "Too Fast for Love", with its KISS / Aerosmith sound and attitude that I found myself replaying over and over.
Though they were a gateway band, Motley Crue was not important to me for long. Via Matt McClure and Scott Kinkade, I soon learned of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, and various other "true" metal bands. They were faster, heavier, darker, and generally more engaging, and "Shout at the Devil" seemed insincere, clumsy, and clownish in comparison. And in a division that make both the Judean People's Front and the Peoples Front of Judea proud, I saw the metal scene divided between "real metal" and "false metal", played by poseurs. By my sophomore year in HS I had firmly embraced thrash, black, and death metal... but I kept playing "Too Fast for Love".
Its production is raw, like a garage band, but still crisp and not muddy like many low budget recordings of the time. There's a youthful urgency to the songs, accentuated by having almost no dead air between the tracks -- as if the band simply could not wait the two seconds normally employed to separate, for example, "Live Wire" and "Public Enemy #1". There's the commitment to use some combination of a guitar flanger, cowbell, or vocal reverb/echo/delay for every single song. Vince Neil sings like a chipmunk, and while they're not punk levels of sloppy, unlike most metal bands, there's no real virtuoso. Mick Mars is a good enough guitarist, but he couldn't play for your average thrash metal band. However, the song writing is excellent, and what they lack in talent they make up for with energy and attitude.
Curious as to how it would hold up today, I listened to "Too Fast for Love" all the way through after finishing "The Dirt". It held up surprisingly well, and even the weaker of the songs ("Merry-Go-Round", "Take Me to the Top", "Piece of Your Action") still had redeeming features. And the best songs? They still rawk, still produce a physical reaction, and transport me back to HS.
By the time "Theatre of Pain" came out in 1985, Motley Crue was unspeakably uncool in my circle, and they became worse with each successive LP. But even without the veneer of nostalgia, "Too Fast for Love" is a legitimately great LP. If you can somehow ignore what they'd eventually become, and pretend like it's 1982(-ish), this is still a fun LP.
Standout songs: "Live Wire", "Public Enemy #1", "Starry Eyes", "Too Fast for Love", "On with the Show" (full LP)
Skip 'em songs: The songs from their first single, "Stick to Your Guns" and "Toast of The Town", were included on the 2003 release but left off the 1981 self-release and the 1982 Elektra release, and for good reason.
Final score: 8/10. I would have scored it 9/10 back in the day, but I think I can still defend a "8/10" now.
* Seriously, a lot of good debuts as well as bands at their peak in 1983 & 1984:
