Best of 1983

YEARS

← THE BEST OF 1983 →

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Shout at the Devil

Motley Crue

This is the year when it all started coming together. Still, I probably didn't discover most of this music until the very end of 1983 or later in 84, but 1983 was when the flood gates really opened for this kind of music. MTV obviously played a huge role in bringing this music to the forefront. Their audience was young and hungry, the music was rebellious and the bands were visually outrageous. It was the perfect storm. Quiet Riot's Metal Health became the first metal album to ever top the billboard charts. Pyromania exploded on to the scene with layer upon layer of sonic perfect production, and David Lee Roth finally had a stage big enough for his charisma as he and Van Halen dominated MTV with videos like Jump, Panama and Hot for Teacher. Kiss took off their make-up and brought in a great writer in Vinnie Vincent. Ozzy found a new guitar hero in Jake E. Lee and Dokken and Twisted Sister released their debut albums. But what ignited my metal fire more than anything was a black album with a shiny black pentagram on the cover. Shout at the Devil was a single album, but the cover folded open like a double to reveal four 6" x 12" pictures. Each member of the band in their signature leather outfits in front of a flaming background ... I was hooked. And I wanted to be Vince Neil. Red Hot, Looks That Kill, Too Young to Fall in Love and of course the title track, Shout at the Devil were forever woven into the soundtrack of my adolescence.