''Dr. Feelgood'' (stylized as ') is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on August 28, 1989. ''Dr. Feelgood'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, making it the band's only album to claim this position. It was the first album Mötley Crüe recorded after their quest for sobriety and rehabilitation in 1989. In addition to being Mötley Crüe's best selling album, it is highly regarded by music critics and fans as the band's best studio album. This was also the band's last album to be recorded with lead singer Vince Neil until the 1997 album '' Generation Swine''.

Recording

Producer Bob Rock found working with the Crüe difficult, describing them as "four

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

bad asses who used to drink a bottle of wine and want to kill each other." To minimize conflict and allow production to proceed smoothly, Rock had each member record their parts separately. The lyrics of "

Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" is a song by Mötley Crüe. It is the tenth track from their 1989 album '' Dr. Feelgood'' and was released as the album's fourth single in May 1990. It peaked at #19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #13 on the ...

" feature a reference to " Too Young to Fall in Love" from the band's 1983 album ''

Shout at the Devil ''Shout at the Devil'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top selling heavy metal acts of the 198 ...

''. The intro track "T.n.T. (Terror 'n Tinseltown)" features a sample of a woman saying "Dr Davis, telephone please". This was the same sample used by the band

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...

for their song " Eyes of a Stranger" which was off of their album '' Operation: Mindcrime'' released one year prior to ''Dr. Feelgood''. The end of "Slice of Your Pie" is based on "She's So Heavy", from

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

'' album. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith sings backing vocals on "Sticky Sweet". "Nikki and Tommy and I hung out a lot," said Tyler, who was in Vancouver around the same time, recording '' Pump''. "Of course, we're all akin by our old drinking and drugging days."

Release

''Dr. Feelgood'' has sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S., and went Gold in the U.K. In various interviews, members of Mötley Crüe stated that it was their most solid album from a musical standpoint, due in no small part to their collective push for sobriety.

Critical reception

Reviews for ''Dr. Feelgood'' have been highly positive. Critics remarked the renewed energy and entertaining values that permeate the album, bringing the listeners "in a world of everlasting party", where they "savored the joys of trashy, unapologetically decadent fun". Bob Rock's meticulous production was universally praised, in particular for affording "the band the ability to write stronger melodic hooks without losing the hard rock sound they so coveted" and for the power of the guitar riffs. Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...

wrote that ''Dr. Feelgood'' is an album "made by a dumb band trying really hard" while a

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

reviewer declared it "a glitzy flashy experience... ultimately shallow and narcissistic". Other critics stated that Mötley Crüe are not "out to win humanitarian awards or impress us with lyrical muscle", but to rock "...hard"! ''Dr. Feelgood'', wrote

Mick Wall Mick Wall (born 23 June 1958) is a British music journalist, author, and radio and TV presenter. He has been described as "the world's leading rock and metal writer". Career Wall began his career contributing to the music weekly ''Sounds'' in 19 ...

in a review of 2009's reissue, "was the first time Mötley Crüe actually became well-known for music. Until then, their unthinking mash-up of glam and metal had made them a hoot onstage but a disappointment on record... Though pushed close by last year's shock return with the weighty ''

Saints of Los Angeles ''Saints of Los Angeles'' is the ninth and final studio album by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on June 24, 2008. It was the first full-length studio album with the band's original lineup since 1997's ''Generation Swine'' ...

'', he album isthe best Mötley Crüe have ever released." "Dr. Feelgood" and " Kickstart My Heart" were nominated for Grammy awards for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990 and 1991, but lost both years to

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

. Mötley Crüe won the best Hard rock/Heavy metal album of the year at the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

in January 1991 for ''Dr. Feelgood''.

Legacy

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recruited

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

to produce their self-titled 1991 album after being impressed with Rock's production work on ''Dr. Feelgood''.Rosen, Craig. ''The Billboard Book of Number One Albums''. Billboard Books, 1996 Rock would later produce Metallica's subsequent albums, until '' St. Anger'', where he also played that album's bass parts. Nike SB created a shoe based on the album cover. As of October 14, 2008, the album, minus the opening track "T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown)" because of length and playability, has become downloadable content for the '' Rock Band'' video game series. The tracks "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart" were also released as downloadable content for the video game ''

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plug ...

'' in 2015. "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart" are available in the soundtrack of 2009 video game, ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

'' To mark the twentieth anniversary of the album, Mötley Crüe performed the album in its entirety at

Crüe Fest 2 Crüe Fest 2 was the second year of the Crüe Fest touring festival, created and headlined by Mötley Crüe. The tour took place over the summer of 2009, and was in the same vein as the first Crüe Fest. Line up On March 16, 2009, the line up for ...

Track listing

Note *The original Korean LP edition does not contain the first two tracks, "T.n.T. (Terror 'n Tinseltown)" and "Dr. Feelgood".

''Dr. Feelgood: The Videos''

''Dr. Feelgood: The Videos'' is a video album released in 1990 and features all the music videos from the album, concert footage, interviews and recording session footage. Videos include # "Dr. Feelgood" # "Kickstart My Heart" # "Without You" # "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" # "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)"

Personnel

Mötley Crüe

* Vince Neil – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, shakers * Mick Mars – lead guitar, backing vocals *

Nikki Sixx Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...

– bass, (all but Time for Change), backing vocals, organ (Time for Change), piano (Time for Change) *

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...

– drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

– bass (Time for Change), background vocals (Dr. Feelgood, Rattlesnake Shake, Sticky Sweet, She Goes Down) *

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and '' The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and c ...

– honky tonk piano (Rattlesnake Shake), keyboards & programming *

Tom Keenlyside Thomas William Keenlyside (born 1950) is a Canadian saxophonist and flautist from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Biography Born and raised in Vancouver, Keenlyside grew up hearing many genres of music on the radio that his parents left t ...

, Ian Putz, Ross Gregory, Henry Christian – Marguerita Horns (Rattlesnake Shake) *Donna McDaniel, Emi Canyn, Marc LaFrance, David Steele – background vocals * Steven Tyler – background vocals (Sticky Sweet), intro (Slice of Your Pie) *

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

– background vocals (Sticky Sweet) *

Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (as one of the founding members). He has also recorded with ...

– background vocals (Same Ol' Situation, Sticky Sweet) *

Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...

– background vocals (She Goes Down) *

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

, Bob Dowd, Mike Amato, Toby Francis – background vocals (Time for Change)

Production

*Bob Rock - producer, engineer, mixing *

Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs " How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008 ...

- engineer, mixing *Chris Taylor - assistant engineer *George Marino - mastering at Sterling Sound, New York *Bob Defrin – art direction *Don Brautigam – cover art illustration *William Hames – photography *Kevin Brady – artwork, design *Mike Amato - project coordinator

Charts

Certifications

Album

Video

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Feelgood (album) 1989 albums 1990 video albums Mötley Crüe albums Elektra Records albums Elektra Records video albums Albums produced by Bob Rock Albums recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios