Three and a half years is not a particularly long time in rock & roll. While some artists' careers flare like a supernova around a hit or two and then quickly fade in that timespan, other bands like Slade, the Stones and Black Sabbath soldier on into second and even third decades of noise and merrymaking. Los Angeles' Motley Crue have packed more punch, more controversy; chaos and wildness into their relatively short career than most, making all metal mashers (save Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper in their prime) seem like polite, grey-haired grandmothers. With Shout at the Devil (Elektra) platinum plus and Too Fast For Love nearly gold, and both albums holding firm in the Top 200, the Crue have just returned from their first European tour and are ready to rock in the studio for album number three. As we look forward'to the Motley's musical development, it is revealing to gaze into the past, to June 30, 1984's story, which captured the controversial outlook of the Crue on their first national headline tour, just months after leaving Ozzy Osbourne's tour as support act.

They may well be the most controversial item to hit the hard-rock scene since Ozzy bit that ill-fated bird. But there's one thing about Motley Crue that nobody will deny: as long as the boys are still alive and burning with energy, few can come close to matching them - either for visual spectacle or for musical madness. And they've gotten as far as they have (one platinum LP and thousands of tickets sold) because of a total commitment to their music and their image. The Motleys haven't slowed down for a minute, and the band claims that if it ever does, it'll be curtains for the Crue. "The reason I came to L.A.," recalls bassist Nikki Sixx, who was originally from Seattle, "was to become a star. People tell me to slow down, but I can't. I ran my way through life, kicking butts everywhere. Maybe when I'm 40 I'll do what other people do at 40. That is, if I live that long." Four years and more than a million LPs later, Motley Crue has already done some living: the freakish-looking foursome from Los Angeles has all but won the hard-rock sweepstakes by plying its vicious, unrelenting brand of metalmania. Half a year after its release Shout at the Devil - the second Crue LP - was still bulleting up the Top 20 in the charts, with Van Halen and the Scorpions the only fellow headbangers in sight. Motley Crue even passed Ozzy Osbourne, whose Bark at the Moon was dropping out of sight after less than 20 weeks on the charts. And that may be one reason why the Crue suddenly lost its opening act slot on Ozzy's national tour to the less-threatening Slade long before that trek was over. Sure, Ozzy and the Crue got along fine in public, posing together for the shutterbugs and touting each other's talents every time a reporter asked. Just recently, in Circus Magazine, Ozzy told Lou O'Neill Jr. that he "loves those guys," (meaning the Crue) while Motleyman Nikki Sixx returned the favor by calling the Ozz "one of the sweetest stars in the business." But when it came down to business, Ozzy wasn't about to let the shaggy madmen steal his thunder. Neither side will admit the reasons, but the fact is that by March the Motleys were on their own, and doing quite well, thank you, without Ozzy's help.

If anyone is surprised at the speed with which Motley Crue has established itself as one of the heaviest names in heavy rock, it's not the band. Since the beginning of its career, Motley Crue has used the motto "Live fast, die fast" to explain its way of life. That philosophy reportedly includes getting in all the sex, liquor and especially rock 'n' roll that is possible, without concern for the consequences. They delight in shocking people who are still easily outraged, and offending those who find the Crue's predilection for leather, metal, make-up and mayhem offensive. "You might as well have done everything," said Vince Neil, the blond lead singer, when asked whether he wanted to live to age 30. "You don't want to be sitting on your death bed, saying, 'Goddamn, I wish I'd fucked that chick." That latter sentiment is typical of the Crue's extremism, and is one that seems to permeate the collective mentality of the Motleys. They have never denied that they consider women to be objects created for their carnal pleasure. While Vince Neil claims he "loves women," he has no qualms about turning around and admitting that girls basically exist in the band's eyes as handy vehicles to fulfill sexual needs. "We treat them like shit," Neil bluntly told a Rhode Island reporter. "And that doesn't mean that we're fags, or that we hate women." Bassist Nikki Sixx carries Neil's stance further. "We're not the Boy Scouts," he admitted gleefully. "We really have nothing against women, but this is a maledominated world and we're dominant males."

While comments in that vein tend to shock many with more "normal" values, some observers theorize that the Motleys really don't believe half the outrageous things they say, but rather that they're just playing a role. "Attitude is everything," Sixx has said more than once. "It's almost as important as the music. The kids who come to see us want to see macho guys who are living on the edge. We have that I-don't-give-a-damn attitude, and kids want to identify with that. They see us living a reality that's just a fantasy for them." Although Sixx does most of the talking for the band, his ideas and outlook are shared by others. Vince Neil is notorious for causing trouble, and has landed himself in the slammer more than a couple of times in recent years. Guitarist Mick Mars, despite his almost low-key, quiet demeanor when he's not whipping out speedy licks from his axe, is a closet maniac, according to bandmate Sixx. "Mick is sick, a tormented genius," said the 25-year-old war-painted bass-basher. "He's into things like computers, and while the rest of us are running around kicking in car windows, Mick is planning to blow up the world." Drummer Tommy Lee, meanwhile, is as rambunctious offstage as he is behind his kit, hitting things with the same enthusiasm he uses to beat on his drums.

From the start, the Crue has created chaos whenever possible. Sixx, whose platform heels and pancake makeup typify the Crue look, explains that the band members' roots in the streets gave them their hell-bent attitude. "We'll always be a street rock & roll band," Sixx told the Indiana Rocker. "I don't think we can ever get rid of that, and I don't think I want to. We always worry about what kids think first, and about everybody else later."' He added that he hopes the band never feels too secure, too set in its ways. "Then we would be lazy. I'm still hungry for something and I want to get it. As long as I feel we can have ten albums out, and still have an insane idea for the eleventh, then I'm still gonna be excited." There are, of course, skeptics who doubt that the Crue will make it as far as a 10th or 11th album. The rock world is an ever-changing one, and most bands that have made it that far have dried up - as far as inspiration and excitement go - by the time they got there. In case of the Motley mob, a penchant for coming as close to the edge as possible in everything they do might do them in before they have the chance to get old and boring. But they're not worrying about the future. And all that Vince Neil will say about their potential longevity is simply, "We'll go on as long as we can without any of us kicking the bucket." What is increasingly apparent is that, against the odds, and in spite of those who'd rather see their kind locked up and kept out of trouble, the Motleys seem unstoppable. Law authorities and music business officials alike have tried to thwart their continuing onslaught, with the results only being more attention and success for the Crue. Even radio and MTV have finally thrown up their arms and acknowledged that the Crue is too big to ignore. And that's the way the Motleys want it. They've made it on their own terms. "Everyone always told us we had to cut our hair, that we couldn't wear these clothes or this makeup," Nikki Sixx has said. "But we said, 'Forget it.' We're Motley Crue. That's us. Five years ago I was like this and I ain't gonna change now. It would have been easier to work at McDonald's rather than sleep in some garbage can behind a rock club, but we won't change. We refuse. We're playing for the kids, not some record executives. And we'd rather go back to living in garbage cans than saying that we let the kids down."'

(Additional material by Richard Hogan and Ben Liemer)