Tag: Mick Mars

My Sunday Song – “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #188, we are going to pontificate on the greatness of Motley Crue’s song “Home Sweet Home”.  How great is it you ask?  So great that it got overplayed to death and now I am sick of it.  However, that doesn’t make it any less great.  The song is off the horrible album ‘Theatre of Pain’ which was released in 1985.  The song was released as a single and did nothing on the radio. On MTV, that is a different story.

The song is a ballad and is about the band’s life on the road.  After being out on the road for 18 months touring on the album ‘Shout at the Devil’, the band couldn’t wait to get home.  When they got home, they were so bored they started getting in to a lot of trouble, but they did write this song.  It was a song the record company didn’t want to release, but the band stuck to their guns and financed the video themselves.  The video showed the band on and off stage from several concerts and the less happy life of road life.  That video blew up on MTV, but the record company didn’t promote it on the radio so it flopped there and was never officially a hit.  This song helped prove that all metal bands at the time, better have a freaking ballad on their album if they want to succeed.

The song opens with Tommy Lee on piano and like every ballad has its slow moments and those power moments that picked up the volume and tempo.  It even includes a brilliant guitar solo by Mick Mars where he shreds the crap out of that guitar.  The song then ends as it began with Tommy on the piano and then Vince humming the song before fading out.  It was so popular for the band, that the last song they ever played when the broke up as band was “Home Sweet Home”.  Now, we know that it actually won’t be the last song they played live as they are back and about to Tour…again.

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My Sunday Song – “Wild Side” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #187, we are going a little nuts with the song “The Wild Side” by Motley Crue. The song is off the band’s 1987 album ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ which went to #2 on the Billboard charts and saw three singles including this one. It sold well over 4 million albums in the U.S. alone and saw the band reach another level of success.

The song “Wild Side” is very similar to the song we did last week, “Saints of Los Angeles”.  They both talk about their lives on the Sunset Strip and both reference the Lord’s Prayer.  “SOLA” opened with Vince speaking it and “WildSide” was inspired by a school girl who Nikki asked to recite the Lord’s Prayer and then he incorporated some of the prayer in to the lyrics like below…

“Our father
Who ain’t in heaven
Be thy name on the wild side”

The song is about the dirty side of the Strip with all the drugs, pimping, and many other abuses going on at that time in their lives.  Heck, even Nikki wrote when he was severely hooked on Heroin.

Musically, it belts at as a rocker with a mean guitar riff by Mick Mars. The pace goes from fast to slow with tempos reaching 118 beats per minute at one time.  There is actually no guitar solo in the song only many instances of Mick belting out some cool riffs and guitar parts.  Tommy pounds away and you can tell it is him on those drums. Vince sounds great and still so young.  And Nikki is always doing his thing.  There is a blues sound to the song as well and ends with sirens, breaking glass, gunfire and lots of mayhem.

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My Sunday Song – “Saints of Los Angeles” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #186, we are exploring the title track to the band’s 2008 album ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ and their last album at this point in time.  The song was the debut single and was the first single released simultaneously as normal single release and a download through the video game Rock Band.  A creative way to make some noise and get their name out there.

The album is loosely based on the band’s book “The Dirt”, I believe we have all heard of that book and Netflix movie.  The song was written by every member of the band…not Motley Crue, but Sixx A.M.. That is Nikki’s other band and they pretty much had their hands in this entire album so really this is a Sixx A.M. album performed by Motley Crue.

The song is a rocker and anthem that celebrates the band coming up in L.A. and being rock & roll kings.  It has references to playing at the Troubadour and all the partying and drugs they did back in the day.  The Gang Vocal version opens with Vince softly speaking the Lord’s Prayer.  And it has Josh Todd (Buckcherry), Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), James Michael (Sixx A.M.) and Chris Taylor Brown (Los Gatos) on backing vocals.  It comes at you like a fist to the face and all the Motley elements you want in a song including Mick’s guitars and Tommy’s drum sound.  It was a welcome return to a band that needed a hit record.

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My Sunday Song – “Afraid” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #185, we will discuss “Afraid” by Motley Crue off their 1997 release ‘Generation Swine’.  This was the first single off the album and first single to feature Vince Neil back in the band. The song reached #10 on the rock charts, but I don’t remember much noise being made as music had changed significantly.

The song was written by Nikki Sixx and was about his relationship with Donna D’Errico.  As she felt she was getting to close to him, she ended up running away.  I think he feels she is so broken that she is incapable of a relationship.  That fear of being too close to anyway; heck, I think that is something we have all felt at one time or another.

Musically, the song rocks out, they tried to modernize their sound to fit the late 90’s and they do a good job.  However, it sounds like Motley Crue like it should.  They didn’t try and turn it in to anything grunge thankfully as Grunge was kind of over at this point.  The guitar work by Mick is great, loud and heavy, but has a melodic feel that gives the tune some solid emotion.  Nikki and Tommy lay down the groove and keep a great rhythm.  Vince sounds fantastic.  The trademark little screams and it was nice to hear the band back together again.

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My Sunday Song – “Hooligan’s Holiday” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #183, we are going to discuss a song from the self-titled gem called “Hooligan’s Holiday”. The song was the first single off their 1994 album and was the first song the world got to hear with new lead singer John Corabi.  The song did pretty well reaching #10 on the U.S. Rock charts, but overall the album was a dud, sales wise.  I find it to be quite a satisfying record and one of Crue’s best although the band now ignores this album.  But it is an album that shouldn’t be ignored.

The title of the song come from the news that Nikki was watching during the LA Riots where the broadcaster stated that the rioters were on a Hooligan’s Holiday.  Nikki liked it so much he and John based a song around that concept.  The song is basically about living large and doing whatever you want.  What started out as a demo between John and Nikki that no one wanted to do, became the first single and one of the more popular songs on the album.

The song is a pure, fun, rock song.  It sounds like Crue at a time when Crue were going through major changes with a new lead singer.  It opens with Mick and Tommy hitting a few riffs and fills and turns in to a ball buster when the whole band kicks in.  The song has balls and delivers quite a punch.  John Corab’s gravelly voice gives the vocals an edge of rebellion and toughens up the sound of the band without the high vocals they would have had with Vince Neil.  It was the perfect combination the band needed and for me a shot of adrenaline the band needed.

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My Sunday Song – “Primal Scream” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #182, we are discussing “Primal Scream” by Motley Crue.  The song is one of three new songs that were released on the band’s 1991 greatest hits package “Decade of Decadence”.  The song was released as a single, but only reached #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, but made it to #21 on the Mainstream Rock Chart.  Those low ranking surprised me as this is one of the best Motley Crue songs ever.

The song was written by Nikki Sixx and is pretty much about his childhood and his rather rough upbringing.  His abusive childhood was both physical and emotional and luckily he escaped out of it, but not without major mental issues and drug addiction throughout most of his life.  Nikki also has said the song is based off a book by Arthur Janov called “The Primal Scream. Primal Therapy: A Cure For Neurosis.”  And if you listen to the song, you will hear a shout out to Janov.  Nikki has a way of capturing his pain and turning it in to some great music.

The song opens with a primal drum beat by Tommy Lee and Nikki with a great little bass line.  Mick’s guitar comes screaming in and then Vince’s vocals come in angry and primal in nature.  It is a heavy song with a lot of pure, raw emotion being delivered.  An energy that conveys the stark, disturbing childhood Nikki faced and how he persevered by fighting it head on. Mick does a great solo, but the best part is that primal scream by Vince towards the end after the last verse.  That made the song for me.  It was short and sweet, but just what the song needed.  This is a darker, more edgy Motley Crue and I am totally okay with that.  Actually, I would like more of that.

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My Sunday Song – “Live Wire” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #181, we are going to tackle the song “Live Wire” by Motley Crue. In fact, the next 10 songs will all be Motley Crue songs.  I figured we will start with a bang and with very early Crue.  “Live Wire” is off the debut album “Too Fast for Love” which came out in 1982 and reached #24 on the BillBoard Hot Rock songs chart.  Not bad, but it was MTV that made them blow up, not the radio.

If you’ve seen the Motley Crue movie “The Dirt”, you will see that Nikki’s childhood wasn’t the greatest.  This song is about that life and the domestic violence he was surrounded with.  The way he was treated and his mom by his stepdads is played out in the song.  The verse below spells it out nicely…well not really…

I’ll either break her face
Or take down her legs
Get my ways at will
Go for the throat
Never let loose
Goin’ in for the kill
Take my fist
Break down walls
I’m on top tonight

I have seen people say it is about rape and glamorizing that behavior, but that is far from the truth.  The song was a way for Nikki to work through his demons and what he experienced as a child.

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Motley Crue – ‘The Dirt’ – Movie Review

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I will admit that I hadn’t read the book (yet) and I was apprehensive about watching the movie because the trailer looked like a bad Lifetime Movie.  But being it was on Netflix and it wouldn’t cost anymore than I am paying now for the service, I finally broke down and watched it.  What did I think?  Well, that is the whole point of this review, to let you know what I thought about the movie.

The movie is very graphic.  It doesn’t shy away from the drug use or any of the sex…at all!!  The opening scene where they are partying doesn’t hold back and pretty much sums up the whole band in 1 minute.  When I was a kid, this scene would have been epic, but as a 50 year old male, with two daughters, I now found it disturbing and sad…damn how perspective changes with age and life experiences.

Without having read the book, I can’t speak to how accurate the movie stuck to it, but then again we can’t speak to the accuracy of the book based on how drugged out these guys were all the time.  I can speak to the performances overall.  The actors portraying the band are as follows:

  • Nikki Sixx – Douglas Booth
  • Tommy Lee – Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly)
  • Mick Mars – Iwan Rheon
  • Vince Neil – Daniel Webber

The movie started off too crazy and too outlandish which left me not really caring about these guys a whole lot.  As the movie progressed, the acting progressed and the movie actually got better.  As far as Razzle’s death (of Hanoi Rocks) by the drunk driving of Vince, I didn’t feel the proper tension build up it needed. It felt flat.  But later when Vince lost his little girl to cancer, I felt that.  That was way sadder and more believable (plus it could be I have girls and I could relate to how awful that would be to lose one).

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Motley Crue – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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Motley Crue called it quits  back in 2016 with The End Farewell Tour. I have The End Deluxe Edition Tombstone set which I love and I have all their CDs (only missing a couple that will be remedied shortly.  I was listening to them the other day and thought it was time to rank their Albums from Worst to First.  As usual, I will keep it to strictly the Studio albums and will exclude greatest hits and live albums.  However, I am going to include the Supersonic And Demonic Relics album which was a collection of rare songs and unreleased tracks.  It isn’t a greatest hits collection and I think it stands out nicely on its own.

With all that being said, let’s get started…

10 – THE WORST – ‘THEATRE OF PAIN’ (1985):

The album was an utter disappointment after the first two.  There was so much filler and not enough memorable songs.  Yes, you have “Home Sweet Home” and “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” but the album felt lost.  The band lost it’s edge of the last two albums and overall it was just lacking.  There were a couple other good songs as I really liked “Tonight (We Need a Love)” and “Louder than Hell”.  Outside of that it wasn’t the same band.  Luckily, the regained that edge for the next release.

The album did well and sold over 4 million copies and went to #6 on Billboard.  The success of the ballad “Home Sweet Home” was good enough to keep the momentum going and drive further success, but it is one of the albums I revisit the least.

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Motley Crue ‘The End: Live in Los Angeles’ – DVD & CD Review 

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One of the great things in the Motley Crue Box Set ‘The End’ is the live concert CD & DVD of the final Motley show in Los Angeles on December 31st of 2015.  It is a lot a money to spend for the DVD & CD of the show which thankfully, you can buy separately if that is all you want to buy.  For the casual fan, that is definitely the way to go.  Sadly, I am not the casual fan.  I had to have it all.

First up was the CD version.  The track list is as follows:

1.) Intro
2.) Girls, Girls, Girls
3.) Wild Side
4.) Primal Scream
5.) Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
6.) Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
7.) Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room
8.) Looks That Kill
9.) Mutherf***** Of The Year
10.) Shout At The Devil
11.) Louder Than Hell
12.) Saints Of Los Angeles
13.) Live Wire
14.) Dr. Feelgood
15.) Kickstart My Heart
16.) Home Sweet Home

I popped the CD in while I was in my car on my commute into the office and I won’t spend a lot of time talking about as my focus will be on the DVD.  The songs were great, but I had issue with the vocals. I had a hard time understanding what Vince was saying or wasn’t sure if Vince was even saying the right words.  It was also lacking the spectacle of a Motley Crue show.

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