On June 21, 1985, MÖTLEY CRÜE released their third studio album Theatre of Pain through Elektra Records. Produced by Tom Werman, the record arrived in the wake of drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist Vince Neil's very public personal tragedies and marked the band's commercial breakthrough into the mainstream. The opening cover of Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys Room" became a top five rock radio hit, while "Home Sweet Home" — a power ballad built around piano and Lee's arena-filling drum fills — became one of glam metal's defining anthems. Theatre of Pain debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum in the United States. Though often considered a transitional record rather than a creative peak, it established MÖTLEY CRÜE as one of the dominant commercial forces in American heavy metal for the remainder of the decade.
