No. 67: Motley Crue, ‘Home Sweet Home’ – Top 100 Classic Rock Songs
Motley Crue's logo and imagery were already etched onto the notebooks of every hard rock- and metal-loving teenage fan prior to the 1985 release of their third album 'Theatre of Pain.'
However, the massive success of the album's soaring ballad 'Home Sweet Home' catapulted the band to a whole new level of stardom and, years later, onto our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list.
The track quickly became a cultural touchstone, kick-starting (for better or worse) the "power ballad" trend and reportedly forcing MTV to change their rules in order to keep the song's similarly imitated video from dominating their call-in shows for the rest of time.
'Home Sweet Home' has been covered by artists as diverse as Carrie Underwood and Limp Bizkit, and was featured in the 2010 movie 'Hot Tub Time Machine.'
More importantly, by our unscientific estimates, a quarter of a million gallons of cigarette lighter fuel and 13 gigawatts of cell phone power have been consumed during the Crue's live performances of the song over the years.
Although 'Home' is most notable on first listen for the inclusion of a tender piano intro and outro from drummer Tommy Lee, the band wasn't abandoning their hard-rocking roots -- check out the majestic and anthemic soloing from guitarist Mick Mars that dominates the song's climactic second half.