Looks That Kill

"Looks That Kill"
Single by Mötley Crüe
from the album Shout at the Devil
Released	January 4, 1984
Recorded	1983
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	4:07
Label	Elektra
Songwriter(s)	Nikki Sixx
Producer(s)	Tom Werman
Mötley Crüe singles chronology
"Shout at the Devil" (1983) "Looks That Kill" (1984) "Too Young to Fall in Love" (1984)

"Looks That Kill" is a song by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was released in 1983, on the group's second album Shout at the Devil.

Background

Written by bassist Nikki Sixx, the track was released as a single on January 4, 1984. It spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, peaking at #54 and #12 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Released as a video, the song garnered Mötley Crüe its first true exposure on MTV. Its riffs are regarded as some of lead guitarist Mick Mars' best work. A fan favorite, the tune is still a key part of the group's live set.

Mötley Crüe played Looks That Kill live for the first time on October 31, 1982 at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, CA.

Track listing

1. "Looks That Kill" – 4:07
2. "Piece of Your Action"

Personnel

• Vince Neil – lead vocals
• Mick Mars – guitar
• Nikki Sixx – bass
• Tommy Lee – drums, percussion

Legacy

• The main riff is identical to the main riff of the Dokken song "Young Girls" on the Breaking the Chains album, which was released two years prior to Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil.
• The main riff came in at #41 on Guitar World's list of best riffs/solos.
• It is used on the radio station V-ROCK in the video game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Due to copyright issues, this song was excluded from the European release of the game.
• Until 2012, political talk radio program The Savage Nation included "Looks That Kill" in its opening sequence, including the lyric, "Now, listen up."
• Cover version was released as a bonus track on Static-X's album Cult of Static.
• It appears in Guitar Hero 5.
• The pre-chorus guitar riff is strikingly similar to the dungeon theme to the video game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The song was released four years prior to the game's release.

References

• Shout at the Devil - Mötley Crüe

External links

• Music video