Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe was one of those bands I grew up with. Their second album, Shout at the Devil was the first one I heard and I loved it! I still consider it to be their best album. The fact that they wore a little makeup on stage made them a little bit dangerous. They were not in full makeup like Kiss but still enough to make it a little bit exciting. Looking back at those days, we all know what happened, it was not just Mötley Crüe that wore makeup like this, it was a whole new wave of bands. And their music was different too. It was based on Hardrock or perhaps even Metal but with catchy songs that soon became singalong anthems. That was particularly true for me when it came to these guys. In fact, I never took much interest in similar bands back then.

Too Fast for Love

I soon got their first album Too Fast for Love once I had listed Shout at the Devil to bits and pieces. I was into cassettes at the time so I guess it finally broke. Or not, I might still have it somewhere. I sure do have the Vinyl and the CD. I’m sure they have been re-issued and re-issued again by now. Mine are from the original period. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Too Fast for Love what a little grittier album. I like it a lot but it was a little more rock-orientated than what I was used to with Shout at the Devil. There was something about those riffs. There weren’t any riffs like that on the debut although it was still good. I think Mötley Crüe might have been my favorite band at the time.

This was a time when I was growing up and of course, I was heavily influenced. Some of my friends listened to Depeche Mode and claimed that Master and Servants was quite superior music-wise. I disagreed of course. If I was asked the same question today I’m not sure I would hold Mötley Crüe in such high esteem. I still like them, but they’re not the best musical och performance act to ever happen. Neither is Depeche Mode by the way. But you have to understand the times. You were either pro-Hardrock and metal or pro-Synth music. You couldn’t have both. There was a choice to be made. There we debates going on the the music magazines at the time and there was a war going on really.

Theatre of Pain

I kept clinging to my idols and when Theatre of Pain was released in 1985 there was a trilogy of records that I all adored. This third album was nothing like the first, and nothing like the second for that matter. Today I think that Theatre of Pain is probably the last real good album from Mötley Crüe. I’m not too familiar with their latest albums though, maybe they are better when listened to more in-depth. Girl, Girls, Girls was a disaster in my mind. I still don’t like it. There are good songs on there for sure but they stepped away too much from what I wanted. I wanted the riffs and licks from Shout at the Devil. I guess I wanted metal and not hardrock. Come to think of it, Theatre of Pain is probably the most bluesy album that they made and I loved it at the time but those songs aren’t as timeless as the songs on you know what album.

I totally missed Dr Feelgood at the time but I understand that it’s actually the most commercially successful album. There are great songs on there to be sure. But when the press started to report about their amazing new album, their best ever. Where Vince Neil was missing from the lineup, the self-titled Mötley Crüe I was interested again for some reason. It was released in several editions as I recall with different colors of the title. That might be the first time I reacted to such greed. I would expect this from other bands where the money seems to be the first and foremost motivator, but not from Mötley Crüe.

Money

Who was I kidding? Of course, they were in it for the money. They were one of the biggest hardrock groups in the world at that point and sure had made their imprint on the world as the bad boys of rock and roll. I don’t know how much about it that is true, I haven’t read The Dirt but I have read The Heroin Diaries. If only half of it is true they are lucky to be alive. But never mind the wild life and the image. Their new album was here and I really wanted to like it, but I didn’t. I think I actually like it a bit better now than I did back then but it’s still not the Mötley Crüe that I know, it’s not Shout at the Devil.

Bare with me, I will soon come to the point. I missed out on both Generation Swine and New Tattoo. I’m not even sure that I own them at this point. I have listened to them but I don’t remember anything from them. That ought to mean that I didn’t like them very much, eh? There are loads of Greatest Hits albums and other complications but no other studio albums that I’m aware of. Still, they’re touring and making a fortune of it. Are they really that good live? I have never seen them on any tour, nor do I plan to. I was fed up when they embarked on their “last” tour. They even signed a contract in blood(?) that this was the final tour and that it was the last chance to see them. Good for them I think.

Farewell tour and Alice Cooper

But We all know that that wasn’t the case. I believe that Alice Cooper opened for them during that tour. It should have been the other way round if you asked me but that wasn’t the case. But as I said. They were quiet for a couple of years and you could think that they really meant that last tour bullshit. Apparently, that wasnät the case. They went out on a new Stadium Tour and as far as I understand it, they were pretty successful too. So successful that they weren’t done with that. Another tour was in the making. Now, Mick Mars has dropped out of the picture. The message that was sent out was that he, due to health issues dropped out from touring but would remain in the band.

Sounded like a decent arrangement to me. I know that he had been struggling for the last few years with his ankylosing spondylitis. A chronic, inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. That’s what Wikipedia says about it. I wouldn’t know. It sounds painful, to say the least. However, even the next day it was announced that he was out of the band on a permanent basis and that John 5 was taking his place. That was quick. It must have been planned beforehand. I don’t really have an opinion about John 5 as a person or a guitarist. I’m sure that he’s more than competent on his instrument.

The point being

Now, here comes the point. What has been going on for the last few months in the press and in the social media circus is all these claims that Mick Mars was forced out of the band by Nikki Sixx. Mick, himself claims that Nixx tried to gaslight him, while Sixx with the backup of other people claims that Mars forgot the chords and which songs they were playing. Plating them wrong and so forth. None of us really knows the truth. Mick sued the band, claiming that they were not playing live. Certainly not Nikki Sixx. Whilst Sixx claims that everything is performed live. There are backing tracks to be sure but to what extent is up to us to debate I think.

My point is that there are no sides in a conflict like this. There are two sets of truths and I cannot tell which one is better than the other. I do think it’s rather strange that they fight like this though. It doesn’t seem to be all about the money either. I think there is something else that has triggered it. Of course, you could make it easy on yourself and blame the pain caused by Mick Mars’s disease. That might be part of the problem. But as I recall from an episode of LA Ink, where Sixx got a tattoo of Mars on his leg and both seemed very emotional about it. That wasn’t too long ago. Was that just for the cameras?

Finally

I think most band starts out as friends having fun. When they have too much success too fast, they leave that behind. It becomes a business and they might not even be in charge themselves anymore. There are managers and record labels that control what goes. It’s really all about the money in the end.

So what is my opinion about this? I don’t care if the band played live or if the drums and bass were pre-recorded. Did the audience that was there like it? That’s what matters to me. Was Mick Mars gaslighted? I donät know. If he was it’s terrible, if the others forced him out of the band he’s been a part of since the conception it’s really ugly. Will this finally be an opportunity to get the solo project The Other Side of Mars released? Great news! Can’t wait to hear it! Whatever happens and wherever the media reports it’s publicity and I’m sure they’ll cry all the way to the bank. Mötley Crüe has been around as a successful band for a long long time and has made tons of money, that’s for sure.