Mötley Crüe leaned into the early-1980s "Satanic panic" for their 1983 breakthrough album, originally titled Shout with the Devil and adorned with a pentagram and red-on-black artwork. Bassist Nikki Sixx, the band's chief lyricist, was drawn to satanic imagery purely for shock value and aesthetics rather than genuine belief, following a wider trend among rock and metal acts of the era, including Iron Maiden, Venom and Black Sabbath, who used similar dark imagery for effect.

The album's title and artwork alarmed Elektra Records, with A&R man Tom Zutaut admitting it was "upsetting" to both the label and himself, fearing it would hamper the record's commercial appeal. After an unsettling incident at Sixx's flat, in which cutlery reportedly flew off a table, as recounted in the band's official biography The Dirt, Sixx agreed to a small but significant change, swapping "with" to "at". The retitled Shout at the Devil let the band distance itself from accusations of devil worship while doubling as a swipe at then-President Ronald Reagan, whom Sixx disliked and associated with the number "666".