Dr. Feelgood＜Zoetrope Vinyl＞

Motley Crues albums were a lot like episodes of Married with Children -- they may not be great works of art, but they can be darn entertaining. With Bob Rock serving as producer, the L.A. headbangers savored the joys of trashy, unapologetically decadent fun on Dr. Feelgood -- an album that made no pretense at being anything else. While nothing here is quite as commanding as Shout at the Devil, Wild Side, or Live Wire, such hook-oriented MTV smashes as Kickstart My Heart, Dont Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), and the title song are infectious and hard to resist, and helped make this the best-selling Motley Crue album ever, as well as providing their first Top Ten singles. Unfortunately, the album would be lead singer Vince Neils last album with the band for several years, thus marking the end of Motley Crues heyday. Neils departure -- and pop-metals decline in popularity during the mid-90s -- proved to be severe blows to Motley Crue, but Dr. Feelgood is still a fine curtain call. [In 1999, the Crue remastered and reissued Dr. Feelgood on their own Motley/Beyond label with bonus tracks.] ~ Alex Henderson