What The Hell Happened To... 07.07.08: Mötley Crüe - New Tattoo Posted by Dan Marsicano on 07.07.2008
This week, Mötley Crüe's eighth album, New Tattoo, is highlighted, while punk band Tickle Me Pink is featured as a band you should be listening to!
The Introduction
It's July 7th, and you know what that means? Happy Bungie Day! Wait…wrong section. Well, it is the two year anniversary of Pink Floyd frontman/guitarist/founding member Syd Barrett's death. So pop in some Piper At The Gates of Dawn and wish you could be as crazy as Barrett was.
Speaking of crazy, what the fuck is up with Buckcherry? A new song off their upcoming album, Black Butterfly, was leaked, and what was the name of this masterpiece? "Too Drunk To Fuck." Fantastic, just what the world needs is another stupid hard rock song with 25 "fucks" in it for no reason. I believe that the working title of that song was "Too Drunk To Write."
A Mini-Me sex tape? Hell, I'll watch it...don't judge me.
The new Podcast is up and it's a great listen, as myself, Dan Haggerty, Ben Czajkowski, and Mitch "Simon" Michaels talk about the new Metallica album and get into a heated debate about Guitar Hero rumors! It's epic!
Speaking of epic, Dragonforce released their new song, "Through The Fire and Flames Pt 2"…wait, I mean "Heroes Of Our Time" on their MySpace page. If you love power metal, your probably creaming yourself right now. Anybody else is either going "what the hell is going on?" or "longest…song…EVER"
Speaking of "what the hell is going on?," we still got an album to analyze today. Mötley Crüe just released Saints of Los Angeles two weeks ago, which hit the Billboard at #4, a very respectable chart position. To celebrate the band's best album in over 20 years, I'm going back to 2000, when New Tattoo flew onto the shelves and quickly flew off them...right into the trash. The band was without drummer Tommy Lee and was still feeling the aftermath of 1997's commercial failure Generation Swine. So, with new drummer Randy Castillo in Lee's place, the Los Angeles hard rock band made another attempt to regain the glory they had obtained during the late 80's.
The result was New Tattoo, which would almost be the final death-blow for the band. If it wasn't for the prospect of a lot of money (c'mon, you really think the band got back together for "artistic" reasons?), New Tattoo would have been the band's final album. So what went wrong with New Tattoo? Was the band a casualty of the "nu-metal" wave sweeping the music industry? Well, I got some space to fill, and you got some time on your hands, so let's take a closer look at the Mötley Crüe album that nobody remembers (like most of their 90's output).
1. Hell On High Heels-4:15
2. Treat Me Like The Dog I Am-3:40
3. New Tattoo-4:18
4. Dragstrip Superstar-4:22
5. 1st Band On The Moon-4:25
6. She Needs Rock & Roll-3:59
7. Punched In The Teeth By Love-3:32
8. Hollywood Ending-3:43
9. Fake-3:44
10. Porno Star-3:45
11. White Punks On Dope-3:39
The History
Mötley Crüe formed in January of 1981 when Nikki Sixx left London and jammed with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Leon left, and in came guitarist Mick Mars, formerly of White Horse, and vocalist Vince Neil, who Lee knew from high school. Mars joined the band quickly, but Neil was hesitant at first, but eventually joined the band.
Mötley Crüe would release their debut album, Too Fast For Love, in November 1981, on their own record label, Leathür Records. A few months later, Mötley Crüe signed with Elektra Records, which re-released their debut album with a new re-mix in August 1982. The band would play the club scene, but would work their way up to international fame with a few publicized incidents during a tour of Canada in late 1982, including a bomb threat and a whole bunch of porn.
("Looks That Kill" Official Music Video)
1983's Shout At The Devil would be the breakthrough album for Mötley Crüe, with the help of MTV constant showing the video for single "Looks That Kill." Mötley Crüe became known more for their off-stage antics than their music, with heavy drinking, groupies, make-up, and lots of drugs surrounding the aura of Mötley Crüe.
1985's Theatre Of Pain would be another huge hit for the band. During this time, a lot of personal problems would beseech Mötley Crüe. Frontman Vince Neil would be charged for vehicular manslaughter and DUI after driving drunk and crashing his car, killing passenger Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, drummer for Hanoi Rocks. In 1987, the same year Girls, Girls, Girls was released, bassist Nikki Sixx would overdose on heroin for the second time in a year (the first time being in 1986 in the UK), causing him to be legally dead for two minutes.
("Wildside")
Management had seen enough and forced the band to go into rehab. The band members complied and 1989's Dr. Feelgood was the band at their most commercial. However, the members were sober, and were more of a cohesive unit than ever before. A huge tour followed and success seemed to be endless for the band, until the 1990's hit the band square in the jaw.
In Feburary of 1992, Neil left the band and singer John Corabi took his place. Their 1994 self-titled album bombed and Neil came back into the fray. 1997's Generation Swine would be another failure and the internal struggle between Lee and Neil got even worse. Lee would leave the band in 1999, forming his own band Methods of Mayhem and a solo career.
Mötley Crüe decided to soldier on and recruited Randy Castillo, a friend of the band, to provide the drum tracks for New Tattoo. With a new drummer and a sound more in the "glam metal" style, Mötley Crüe hope to make it big with New Tattoo...
The Analysis
2000's New Tattoo had the potential to be a great album. You had producer Mike Clink, who famously produced Guns N' Roses monumental debut Appetite For Destruction and every other sequential album by the band and Megadeth's Rust In Peace. Drummer Tommy Lee, the point of much of the internal struggles in Mötley Crüe, was gone, leaving the band to not have to worry about the constant bickering between himself and Neil. Randy Castillo was a worthy-enough replacement and the band decided to return to the sound that made them famous; glam metal.
When the pieces of the puzzle were put together, the end result did not have the impact that Mötley Crüe were striving for. New Tattoo debuted at #41 on the Billboard and quickly slipped down the charts. As of now, the album has only sold a bit over 200,000 copies, being forgotten by fans of Mötley Crüe.
Generation Swine was a forced attempt to sound "modern" by adding in more electronic and industrial influences. The problem was that the Mötley Crüe that people grew up to know and love weren't used to seeing their "glam metal" band go all Nine Inch Nails. The band experimented with their sound, not only adding more industrial elements, but adding some "rap-rock" vocals and having Lee and Sixx sing lead vocals on a few tracks. Some fans embraced it, but the general music population turned its head on Generation Swine.
New Tattoo is as close as they had sound to Dr. Feelgood, at that time. The glam metal sound the band became famous for was present and accounted for and led to some of the best music the band had written in over a decade. Opening tracks "Hell On High Heels" and "Treat Me Like The Dog I Am" lead the listener to believe that they have heard the return of the classic Crüe. Both songs are high-energy, quick-paced rockers that sound like Mötley Crüe is finally comfortable in their own shoes. The lyrics are cheesy, the melodies are solid, and Mars' guitar work is stellar.
("Kickstart My Heart" Live 2000)
The band keeps the momentum going throughout the album, only taking a breather for two decent ballads. The title track and "Hollywood Ending" are the two ballads, with the former being the better of the two. The title track is mostly acoustic, with bluesy licks and an emotional solo by Mars, which makes the song the perfect 80's ballad…if only it wasn't released in 2000.
Most of the tracks are mid-paced, with a few having a quicker pace. "Porno Star" would not be out of place on Too Fast For Love, at least musically. The vocals are all over the place, one minute sounding like a pop song (lots of "Na na na") and the next sounding like an outtake from "Rocket Queen." "Dragstripe Superstar" and "Fake" are as modern sounding as the band gets, employing nu-metal-like melodies and an increase in heaviness, done by Clink's production. The band would later expand on this sound on Saints of Los Angeles.
Mötley Crüe has never been known for their intelligent and thought-provoking lyrical content, but New Tattoo even surprised me. Don't get me wrong; many of the songs have the catchy choruses, ones chock full of gang vocals that would make Hatebreed jealous. However, the lyrics deal with the usual Crüe topics; sex, drugs, more sex, and space flight. Wait…what was the last one again? Yeah, you heard me: space flight. That's the subject at hand on the brilliantly-bad "1st Band On The Moon." Check out these words of inspiration from Nikki Sixx:
"There's a problem with the girls here on Earth
They stopped acting dizzy, wearing miniskirts
Seems like everything wild is in distaste
Gotta get my band off in outer, outerspace."
It's great to hear the hard rock band addressing a solution to the future problem they will have. The band also addresses the problems of internet pornography and its grip on our society, causing people to become addicts, ruin their families, and go into debt with "Porno Star."
"Going Down
Going Down
It's under my thumb
.com .cum"
Fucking inspirational.
("Punched In The Teeth By Love" Live 2000)
Barring the terrible lyrics and a few less-than-stellar tracks, New Tattoo isn't that bad. It's not up to par with any of their 80's output, but it sure beats the hell out of their self-titled album or Generation Swine. The lack of commercial success for the album is because of one obvious reason: it was released in 2000. Nobody wanted to hear glam metal in 2000. Hell, I know I didn't and most people echoed that opinion. Sure, the die-hard fans ate the shit up, but their fan base had been dwindling for about ten years to that point, which made it harder to find an audience for New Tattoo.
Even if it was released after Dr. Feelgood, the fact was that grunge and alternative rock was tearing up the charts, with heavy metal and 80's bands being pushed to the wayside and either being forced to change their sound to appeal to a mass market or to throw in the towel. Mötley Crüe did a little bit of both, but in the end, they were able to overcome the commercial and critical failures of the 90's for a brighter future ahead. New Tattoo is a good album that borders on great from time to time, but it was became nothing more than a footnote in the storied history of Mötley Crüe.
Last Tuesday, on the day of their release of their debut album, Madeline, Tickle Me Pink bassist Johnny Schou was found dead at his home in Colorado. He was only 22 years old. His death put a dark cloud over what was suppose to be a bright moment in the growth of a young punk band. While I didn't know the band personally, hearing about the lost of a key member just as the band is releasing their first album is a tragedy. R.I.P Johnny Schou.
I haven't had time to review their debut album, Madeline, which has been sitting on my stereo for about three weeks, but what better time and place than now to do it? The bandvformed in 2005 and slowly worked their way up through hundreds of club shows before making it big with many major tours around the United States. The band is young, eager to appeal to the masses, and seem ready to do so with Madeline.
The band is a mix of Brand New, Third Eye Blind, and At-The Drive In, with a little Yellowcard mixed in for good measures. The songs are immediate, catchy, and full of upbeat choruses and good guitar work. The lyrics are surprisingly dark, dealing with everything from depression to death to suicide, and show a maturity that most bands don't achieve for years. The album starts out strong, and stays that way, with the first half of the album and the last song ("Tomorrow's Ending") the highlight of Madeline.
Tickle Me Pink is a band that deserves to be recognized, not because of a sudden death in the band, but because of the immediate talent that they have. What comes next for the band is anybody's guess, but hopefully, over time, they can continue to soldier on together. For those curious, here is a live tracks from the band and other material can be found on their MySpace. Enjoy…
("The Time Is Wrong" Live Key Club Hollywood, CA 2007)
The Conclusion
That's it for this week's edition. Next week, I'm going classic rock on you crazy fuckers with a look at an early album from Queen. It should be a great one, like every edition of What The Hell Happened To, so see you all next week!
Man, you're dead wrong. Generation Swine is WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY better than New Tattoo.
Posted By: Glen (Guest) on July 07, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Perhaps the Buckcherry song is a cover of the old Dead Kennedy's song of the same title.
I'd rather hear the John Corabi-fronted version of Crue than Generation Swine or New Tattoo
Posted By: songremainsinsane (Guest) on July 07, 2008 at 02:31 PM
"I'd rather hear the John Corabi-fronted version of Crue than Generation Swine or New Tattoo"
+1
Posted By: JimmyDe (Guest) on July 07, 2008 at 04:01 PM
I'll second what Glen said and go even further - the self-titled album with John Corabi is WAY better than both Generation Swine and New Tattoo, and is probably one of the three best records this band ever created. I rank it right behind Dr. Feelgood. It gets crapped on because Vince's whining was missing, but Sixx's songwriting sounded liberated without having to account for Vince's squeal, the double guitar attack of Mars and Corabi sounded fantastic, and Tommy Lee never sounded better.
Posted By: Rob (Guest) on July 07, 2008 at 04:06 PM
Saints of Los Angeles is a FANTASTIC album and erases my disapointment with their last couple of releases. New Tattoo was so-so, but they are back with a vengeance.
Posted By: Shawn S. Lealos (Registered) on July 07, 2008 at 08:08 PM
You people are aware you're talking about a fucking Motley Crue album right? And a Motley Crue album recorded in 2000 at that?
Posted By: CharlesBronson (Guest) on July 08, 2008 at 12:55 AM
