Mötley Crüe: The Greatest Hits (Deluxe Version) / Motley Crue: The Greatest Hits (Deluxe Version)

This could be the best Mötley Crüe compilation to date. The Deluxe Version comprises 23 tracks, all chronologically sequenced and loaded to the hilt with rarities, remixes and a good grip of live recordings. Mötley Crüe: The Greatest Hits kick-starts with the title-track from their 1981 debut album Too Fast For Love, when they endearingly sounded like a pumped-up bar band from the Sunset Strip, before money, drugs and production would transform them into pop-metal behemoths. With the second track, “Shout At the Devil” from their 1983 sophomore album by the same title, you immediately get to hear the difference in production values and musicianship between the band’s first two albums. Other standouts include “Looks That Kill,” a pure Trans Am ‘n’ cheeseburger metal anthem that’s indicative of the spandex and big hair era, as well as their campy but fun remake of Brownville Station’s “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” and of course their libidinous anthem “Girls, Girls, Girls.” Although 1998’s “Bitter Pill” and Enslaved” are curiously absent, the remix of “Animal In Me” makes up for it, as does a hard hitting live version of “Red Hot.”