For My Sunday Song #190, we are ending the 10 song Motley Crue set with the band’s most controversial song “Shout at the Devil” of the album of the same name.  The song and album came out in 1983 and let me tell you, it upset a lot of people.  Not us kids at the time, but the parents.  The controversy only helped the band and the song.  The song didn’t do great on the radio, but the album went onto hit #17 on the Billboard album chart and sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone.

The song and album were originally going to be “Shout With The Devil”, but Tom Zutaut who signed the band to Elektra was not having it.  He was having a hard time selling the idea to the label.  The fear of satanism and the uproar it could cause was not going to fly.  However, during a drug filled evening, something freaky happened to Tom and Nikki when a knife and fork rose from the table and they stuck in the ceiling.  I am sure it was the drugs talking and probably Tommy throwing up there, but whatever. They decided that it was not Shout With the Devil, but Shout At the Devil instead as they feared that shouting with the devil was going to get Nikki killed.

The album opens with the a spoken track called “In the Beginning” that was so freaking evil sounding that it was the perfect segue in to the song.  The song is so heavy and bombastic that it oozes evil.  Vince sings at such high notes that only the Devil’s Dogs can hear them.  Mick Mars on guitar is nothing short of evil personified and rips through the strings like the devil’s pitchfork rips through your heart.  As I kid, I was never concerned with it being a satanic song, I thought it was cool and guess what, I didn’t turn out evil and kill a lot of people…some maybe, but not a lot!!!

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think.  If you become evil after hearing it, I will give you your money back, but first you have to prove your evil…how you do that is completely up to you.  I hope you enjoy and Happy Sunday!! Appropriate, right??

“Shout At The Devil”