Motley Crue – ‘Supersonic And Demonic Relics’ (RSD 2024 Picture Disc) – Album Review – 2 Loud 2 Old Music – Daily Frontline

For the first time on vinyl, Motley Crue released ‘Supersonic And Demonic Relics’ for the 2024 Record Store Day. And since this was the first time on vinyl, I had to grab a copy. There were only 2,500 copies available, so I guess I am lucky to have grabbed one of them. I am sure they will release this album on vinyl eventually, but hopefully this will be the only picture disc. Now, with the track record of RSD albums, I’m not holding my breath.

The album originally came out on June 29, 1999 and Wikipedia says this is the band’s fourth compilation, but I don’t know what their three are before it as I only know of Decade of Decadance 81-91 in 1991 and the Greatest Hits in 1998. Yes, this is compilation but it not a greatest hits album. Instead it is a collection of tracks from soundtracks, songs that were new on a greatest hits album, remixes and even a handful of unreleased tracks. I really like these type of releases even if the songs aren’t always great. I’ll take this over a greatest hits record any day. My only complaint about this RSD release is the quality of the pictures on the cover and even the choice for the vinyl pictures. The cover looks grainy and not very professionally done. And the side of the vinyl with the picture of the speakers from the album cover are a little dull and not very crisp. I know, I’m picky.

LP 1:

Musically, there are some great tracks on here and some not so good. They kick it off in grand style with the Tommy Bolin cover of “Teaser”. This one is from the compilation called ‘Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell‘ from 1989 which contains all artist that appeared at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. The song is a solid rocker and I have to admit, they do a great job with it. Next we get one of my all time favorite Motley tracks “Primal Scream”. This one was a “New” song on their first compilation ‘Decade of Decadance 81-91’ released back in 1991. It is such a heavy, bad ass song and that scream from Vince at the climax of the song is simply killer.

Then we get a trio of unreleased tracks from the band. First up is “Sinners And Saints” and it is a hard hitting metal song. They had forgot about this one, but thanks to Nikki, they still had a copy. The chorus is a little weak and Vince’s vocals are a little cringy on the “Sinner” screams. But all-in-all, not a bad track. “Monsterous” is a short song at just over a minute. A nice little groove, but nothing really there. Lyrically and vocally pretty lame. “Say Yeah” is about the guy that impersonated Nikki Sixx. It sounds a little dated and feels a little hollow, but still pretty fun subject matter and not a bad song. Maybe could’ve used a little more work in developing it.

Now we get three tracks that were from their E.P. ‘Quarternary’ that was released in 1994. First is “Planet Boom” and this is a full on Tommy track with a little industrial, a little hip hop and a little electronica in it. Bob Rock had each member take an engineer and record a song that was them and Tommy took that direction wonderfully. I will admit I really think this song is killer. You can mix those three styles nicely if the overall product is a heavy rock song and this is.

“Bittersuite” was a Mick Mars song, really bluesy, killer groove and just a fantastic instrumental. Mick has always been underrated as a player. The final track on the first LP is called “Father” and was written by Nikki. While looking at his 3 year old song, he thought back to his dad leaving when he was a kid and it made him angry that he did that and missed out on the joys of a kid. Another industrial vibe to the song. Very aggressive and angry. Not a bad track, but my least favorite of these three tracks.

LP 2:

The second LP kicks off with another track that was new from ‘Decade of Decadance’ and this one was a cover of The Sex Pistol’s “Anarchy in the U.K”. The band attack this song with all the punk angst as the Pistols and did it Motley style. I am going to say it, I do like this one. Not a bad cover. “So Bad, So Good” is another unreleased track. A Nikki Sixx song about heroin addiction. This sounds like old school Crue, like first two album Crue. They sound young and hungry. It needs more work and feels like a demo, but there is some meat here that they should’ve flushed out more. I like this one.

Next up is a song from the soundtrack to ‘The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine’, the Andrew Dice Clay movie. The song is called “Rock ‘N’ Roll Junkie” and I love the bass work that opens the song. This is classic Crue. Great melodic, metal that kicks you in the ass. Tommy actually came up with the hammer-on guitar parts. So, he is more than just a drummer. This was 1990 and Crue was still hitting on all cylinders.

Flipping the vinyl over, we get “Angela” which is also from ‘Decade of Decandance’. Of the three songs from that album, this is my least favorite. Still a solid rocker and the chorus is pretty catchy…but overall it is a little cheesy. Guitar work and bass lines are great though. Next is “Mood Ring” and this is a bunch of drunk guys goofing off. Nikki is making up the nonsensical lyrics and this is supposed to be fun…but it is not.

Strangely, they end the album with a live version of “Dr. Feelgood”. And this is one of my favorite tracks by the band, but this does not fit on this compilation since it is a live version. Completely unnecessary. With that being said, it is still a solid song live. They are really killing it on this one. Vince is still singing at this point. No missing words nor mumbling nor getting the crowd to sing it. This is good live Crue. Can’t say that nowadays.

Track Listing:

1. Teaser – Keeper
2. Primal Scream – Keeper
3. Sinners & Saints – Keeper (1/2 Point)
4. Monsterous – Delete
5. Say Yeah – Keeper (1/2 Point)
6. Planet Boom – Keeper
7. Bittersuite – Keeper
8. Father – Keeper (1/2 Point)
9. Anarchy in the U.K. – Keeper
10. So Good, So Bad  – Keeper (1/2 Point)
11. Angela – Keeper (1/2 Point)
12. Mood Ring – Delete
13. Dr. Feelgood (Live) – Keeper (1/2 Point)

The Track Score is 8 out of 13 Tracks or 62%.  The unreleased tracks are pretty good for the most part, probably needed more time flushing out a great song.  Some sucked though.  Having some of these songs on one albums saves you from having to but multiple different packages to get the songs.  Not all the songs work, but the ones that do are really good.  The album though I think is for more of a diehard fan then a casual one.  My Overall Score is a 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars. It gets a ding for the lackluster unreleased tracks, the grainy picture on the cover and the poor choices of pictures on the picture discs.  More thought was needed in putting this together, but still not bad.  And I’m glad to finally having a vinyl version of the album.