Editor's note: Motley Crue plays Blaisdell Arena Wednesday. Here's a look at the band's breakthrough album.

CD: "SHOUT AT THE DEVIL" BY MOTLEY CRUE; MOTLEY RECORDS

Release: 1983

Style: Metal

My take: Motley Crue is a legend in hair-metal history. Record sales in the dozens of millions, a drummer spinning in mid-air on stage, two homemade amateur videos, accusations of Satanism and having guitarist Nikki Sixx brought back from the dead will do that. (A drug overdose stopped his heart for several minutes before he was revived en route to the hospital.)

The foursome of Sixx, vocalist Vince Neil, bassist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee was formed in 1981. Together, the Crue spawned a laundry list of hits throughout the rock-dominated 1980s.

Part of their catalog of hits came from 1983's "Shout at the Devil," which was hailed as Crue's breakthrough. That statement is dead-on in two ways. "Devil" was the band's most successful album commercially and the point where the band members came together as a cohesive unit instead of four individuals in a studio.

Never are they better as a whole than on "Ten Seconds to Love," a blatantly worded play-by-play of ... love. The rendition of the Beatles' classic "Helter Skelter" is something to behold — it's surprisingly great. Covering the Beatles is a daunting task, especially when you cross genres, but the Crue knocks the song out of the park.

"Red Hot," a ferocity-laced call to arms, captures a level of rebellion many hair-metal songs tried to reach and missed, though Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild" is comparable. The album's two most recognizable tracks would of course be "Looks That Kill" and the title tune, which was declared Satanic despite being quite the opposite (read the lyrics to find out).

The album's biggest problem is its sound quality. Even though it's been remastered, the music is still softer than it should be and lacks a crisp, clear sound, making for an incredibly dated effect. While it's not noticeable after a few spins, it's still an annoyance.

The enhanced CD provides five extra tracks for metalheads to pump their fists to. These are demo versions of "Shout at the Devil," "Looks That Kill," "Hotter than Hell" and "Too Young to Fall in Love," as well as the unreleased "I Will Survive," which is not a cover of the Gloria Gaynor song. There's also a video for "Looks That Kill."

In the decade of decadence, hair metal dominated. Motley Crue pioneered that movement with leather chaps, hairspray-inundated coifs and a unique brand of heavy-metal, waving in loads of similar bands from Ratt to Night Ranger. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you, but there's no denying Motley Crue's impact on music, nor this album's impact on the band's success.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College and editor of the college's newspaper, Ka 'Ohana.

Have a CD or video game you want to review? Reach TGIF editor Debra Yuen at dyuen@honoluluadvertiser.com.