10 Hard Rock Albums Artists Want You To Forget About

Any band like Motley Crue really has to live and die on the charisma of the band members. Though the music itself holds up on its own, the disparate personalities of Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, and Nikki Sixx playing off each other were key to making the band what they were when making classic records like Dr. Feelgood. As a matter fact, probably the only thing stopping them is taking one of them out of the equation. Enter: the Crue's self-titled.

After the tour for Dr. Feelgood, Neil started to drift away from the rest of the guys, eventually embarking on a solo tour with a few hired guns from the LA scene. Not wanting to be outdone, the Crue enlisted John Corabi as their new vocalist, making a much heavier effort on their self-titled. In any other case where the resulting album is terrible, there's actually a fair bit to like about this record, with Lee turning in his most aggressive performances and the overall musicianship going up a notch, with more of a bluesy direction across the record.

Then again, making a great record and selling a great record are two different things, and the Crue's fanbase were not having it. Despite having a blast with Corabi, the writing was on the wall to bring Neil back into the fold on Generation Swine just a few years afterward. While the Crue's original lineup does bring out the best in them, there's still a lot of undiscovered gems to be found on a record like this.