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.
Producer Bob Rock found working with Mötley Crüe difficult, describing them as "four L.A. 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 opening track "T.n.T. (Terror 'n Tinseltown)" has a sample of a woman saying "Dr. Davis, telephone please". The same sample was used by American heavy metal band Queensrÿche in their song "Eyes of a Stranger" (1988) a year prior. The title track was inspired by a drug dealer, while the end of "Slice of Your Pie" is based on "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (1969) by English rock band the Beatles. "Kickstart My Heart" was written by bassist Nikki Sixx after his experience being clinically dead for two minutes from a heroin overdose before paramedics revived him with two shots of adrenaline. "Without You" was co-written by drummer Tommy Lee about his relationship with his then-wife Heather Locklear.
The lyrics of "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" reference "Too Young to Fall in Love" from the band's second studio album Shout at the Devil. 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." Guitarist Mick Mars reportedly set his amps so loud that his playing leaked into Tyler's vocal recording. Bryan Adams, Skid Row, Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, and Jack Blades of Night Ranger contributed backing vocals on the album.
Dr. Feelgood has sold more than six 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. The title track is the band's highest-charting single to date, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, it is the band's only single to sell over 500,000 copies and receive Gold certification by the RIAA.
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 wrote that Dr. Feelgood is an album "made by a dumb band trying really hard" while a BBC Music 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 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, [the album is] the 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. Mötley Crüe won the best heavy metal/hard rock album of the year at the American Music Awards in January 1991 for Dr. Feelgood.
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recruited Bob Rock to produce their self-titled 1991 album after being impressed with Rock's production work on Dr. Feelgood. 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. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album, Mötley Crüe performed the album in its entirety at Crüe Fest 2.
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