Motley Crue CANCELLED

[Love_Industry]

I am not sure if the mentions of tiktok and internet are a "How do you do fellow kids" moment or if they are aware enough that they are 60-65 year olds making music for people aged 50-70 - the same age group that's all over Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram in 2024.

[Mojo]

I guess I'm in the minority as usual, because I don't hate it. Granted, I have absolutely no expectations from Motley Crue. I already presume it's going to be majorly studio-created and most likely ghost-written by someone other than Nikki, although I'm not even sure what James Michael is up to, these days.

For a band that was always shitty, it's not terrible.

[The Prez]

I wonder if they'd ever consider or have considered in the last 20 years, setting up like they're in a garage and mic their drums and amps. Ramones style.

Well, the basic setup hasn't changed and apparently, they even recorded the new songs all together in the same room but these songs arent straight ahead rock anymore and whatever they record ends up sounding very polished, layered, overdubbed, overproduced....and the vocals have so much processing on them (for obvious reasons) they almost sound fake...I think this all helps them in the live setting so they can bury Vince in the mix and have all the other tracks running in the background...

[FreddyFender]

Nikki Sixx remove Mick Mars from the writing process, musically, after MC94 and then went Nashville - writing with professional songwriters - when he formed Sixx:AM.

The Motley Crue sound from the 80's is long dead.

Nikki's Nashville Papa Roach imitation is what we're left with.

[sirthx2]

I wonder if they'd ever consider or have considered in the last 20 years, setting up like they're in a garage and mic their drums and amps. Ramones style.

Well, the basic setup hasn't changed and apparently, they even recorded the new songs all together in the same room but these songs arent straight ahead rock anymore and whatever they record ends up sounding very polished, layered, overdubbed, overproduced....and the vocals have so much processing on them (for obvious reasons) they almost sound fake...I think this all helps them in the live setting so they can bury Vince in the mix and have all the other tracks running in the background...

Yes, all of this is true but my take is, I'd rather hear a 'garage band, raw' recording with all their limitations coming through than to hear this. Would be infinitely more interesting.

[The Prez]

Yes, all of this is true but my take is, I'd rather hear a 'garage band, raw' recording with all their limitations coming through than to hear this. Would be infinitely more interesting.

Yeah, no doubt. The 3 of them should have like a side project with a different singer where they could break away from this sterile Motley sound. Tommy and Nikki keep going on
how great John5 is (which he is) while he's basically stuck playing the same dozen songs with them which he can pretty much do in his sleep.

[LitaStrauss]

Nikki Sixx remove Mick Mars from the writing process, musically, after MC94 and then went Nashville - writing with professional songwriters - when he formed Sixx:AM.

The Motley Crue sound from the 80's is long dead.

Nikki's Nashville Papa Roach imitation is what we're left with.

Nashville has been the death to lots of rock bands who go there and start working with professional songwriters. What made these bands unique originally was the way they wrote their songs, even if it wasn't polished or technically correct. But when you go to Nashville and write with the "professionals," it all sounds generic and there's no passion behind it.

[StateOfShock]

Way better than expected. Probably their best song since SOLA. This should have been the first single from the EP.

[thechefs2003]

Better than expected … from :30 - :50 it’s very good and then it sucks hard for 4 minutes.

Cancelled
https://youtu.be/dn1U07NWQFo?si=2yasnJEir4NiCMAg

My take as well.

[Anthrax442]

Way better than expected. Probably their best song since SOLA. This should have been the first single from the EP.

THIS. This is by far the best of the three tracks. I'm not sure why they went with Dogs of War first. I wouldn't mind hearing this one live...or as live as it gets, anyway.

[Sticky]

Actually not too bad. The biggest problem I have is they've had to dumb down Vince's melodies and singing.

[Jason Jennifer Leigh]

I like the chorus, the ending is cool … the opening riff had serious potential for a kick ass 1994’ish tune but they failed.

Vince will never remember or be able to sing these lyrics not even with a teleprompter.

It does sound like AI Vince.

[DonJuanDeMarco]

I've always thought that too in regards to Poison. After hearing Bret's solo stuff for the last 20 some years, and the Poison Hollyweird record, how is he the same guy capable of writing Something To Believe In or Every Rose Has Its Thorn? Maybe he literally used all his talent then and once he got rich he just got lazy and doesn't care anymore. Who knows but it's like two different songwriters. However, it's been almost 40 years and nobody has ever come out saying they wrote anything for Poison. I would think after all this time somebody would have said something.

As for Nikki, I think he's just lazy like the entire band is.

With Poison…

I think CC wrote a lot of the songs. The music at least.

Plus they had world class producers working with them and huge budgets monitoring every note to ensure there were hits.

Back to Motley…the complete song is better than just the clip but it could’ve been much better.

[Darrien]

I honestly don't hate the chorus, and end part, it reminds me of SOLA era Crue. However, the lyrics are adolescent garbage which negate anything positive.

[Love_Industry]

Better than expected … from :30 - :50 it’s very good and then it sucks hard for 4 minutes.

The riff is cool, sounds almost like ToP /GGG era.
I'd say it's pretty good until 1.10, but that section after ("Everybody wake up, wake up ... etc) is atrocious and sounds very dated in a 90s way.

Also "Will you love me when I fall/die" is a very un-Mötley message. They were on top of the world and didn't need to ask anyone to love them.
1983-88 Mötley would never write anything like that. Sappiness started creeping in on Dr Feelgood and that's where they went wrong.

[Sleek]

I've always thought that too in regards to Poison. After hearing Bret's solo stuff for the last 20 some years, and the Poison Hollyweird record, how is he the same guy capable of writing Something To Believe In or Every Rose Has Its Thorn? Maybe he literally used all his talent then and once he got rich he just got lazy and doesn't care anymore. Who knows but it's like two different songwriters. However, it's been almost 40 years and nobody has ever come out saying they wrote anything for Poison. I would think after all this time somebody would have said something.

As for Nikki, I think he's just lazy like the entire band is.

With Poison…

I think CC wrote a lot of the songs. The music at least.

Plus they had world class producers working with them and huge budgets monitoring every note to ensure there were hits.

Back to Motley…the complete song is better than just the clip but it could’ve been much better.

I meaaannn, I was there while they were writing part of the first album (some of the songs were old) and writing the second. Bret had tons of ideas, especially with parts and melodies, tho the only full song I remember him bringing in was Every Rose, which had a slightly different beginning (First lyric was: Goodbye doesn't mean forever") and lacked the cool middle 8.

There was a very natural flow with the whole band. It boggles my mind more that those guys who had that easy songwriting rapport somehow lost it, not that it was ever there to start with.

[DonJuanDeMarco]

Good point, Sleek. I feel that happens with almost everyone. Whether it’s Motley or Poison or Guns n Roses or Bob Seger or John Mellencamp. They have their peak. Their prime years. And then it just goes away. They just don’t write anything that matches their best work.

And for what it’s worth, I think Bret does have some good solo songs. But if he brought them to the band with a producer I’m sure they would be better.

[Sleek]

Yeah, it's really frustrating with some great writers like Cheap Trick who just sort of forget how to write a great Cheap Trick song at some point...same with AC/DC, Aerosmith, Priest, etc etc.

I feel it is like every band has 20-30 good songs in them and then sort of run dry. Some of the greats might have 100.

But then they simultaneously run out of whatever their initial drive was, run out of their first batch of riffs and lyrics and simultaneously get caught up in the mind fuck of: "Okay. We are THIS BAND. What does a THIS BAND song sound like??"

At the beginning, you just do it, but once a band hits, you are conscious of having to BE that band, and fucks people up. You get people trying too hard to do more of their classic stuff and failing, or you get people trying too hard NOT to repeat themselves and putting out shit nobody wants.

I honestly think drugs help a lot, as bands who are fucked up don't get as as self conscious, so you get those 6 album runs like VH or Sabbath. The second somebody starts getting sober, it is all over, because sobriety means examining your whole everything, and magic does not hold up under scrutiny.

[endstand]

The production can never save the song itself, but I can guarentee that this song would still sound A LOT better if the drums would not have those AWFUL samples.

I mean, your producer is Bob Rock and musically the only unique strenght is your legendary hard rock drummer who still has the chops. And then you take away all that by using horrible drum samples. Why?

That being said, the lyrics are terrible. And not even in your typical Mötley Crüe way but just that they sound 100 % senior citizen. Who else cries about being cancelled than old guys? Totally cringe.

The riff is decent and the chorus might have potential a bit, but at this point it totally sounds like an unfinished idea.

Generally speaking 2/10.

[VinceVanLane]

The beginning and ending of the song are interesting. The chorus is okay. Nikki's been writing dumb lyrics since Theatre Of Pain, so the lyrics are on brand. As somebody said, it sounds like AI Motley Crue. The production ruins the song. Plus they haven't sounded like 4 guys in a room playing together and writing music as a unit in forever.

[TeslaFan]

Former Crue nutswinger here. Played the first 30 seconds to get a feel, then started the 10-second skips, which became 30 second skips = end. I haven't liked anything they've done in ages. The fucking amount of processing and layers in the production. So much gain. I wonder if they'd ever consider or have considered in the last 20 years, setting up like they're in a garage and mic their drums and amps. Ramones style. TFFL style. Surprise us! This certainly won't get airplay, so take a fucking chance!

Pretty much the same for me. The drums were okay. I hated the guitar parts. Bring fukking Mick back!! That tone was a huge part of Motley. MIA now. In two weeks, this single will all but be forgotten.

[Sleek]

Just like their most recent single, Dogs of War.

[Darrien]

Former Crue nutswinger here. Played the first 30 seconds to get a feel, then started the 10-second skips, which became 30 second skips = end. I haven't liked anything they've done in ages. The fucking amount of processing and layers in the production. So much gain. I wonder if they'd ever consider or have considered in the last 20 years, setting up like they're in a garage and mic their drums and amps. Ramones style. TFFL style. Surprise us! This certainly won't get airplay, so take a fucking chance!

Pretty much the same for me. The drums were okay. I hated the guitar parts. Bring fukking Mick back!! That tone was a huge part of Motley. MIA now. In two weeks, this single will all but be forgotten.

John5 is a great guitarist but his vibe doesn't fit Crue.

[endstand]

A TON of artists buy tunes or bring in writers to work with. Is Motley NOT doing this? Is it Sixx' ego that's preventing them from getting someone relevant that could write them at LEAST a solid single? They are NOT capable of it themselves. John 5 obviously brought nothing to the party. Seems like business 101 to salvage a brand.

With that said... I would imagine they just don't give any fucks and want all the $ they can scrape off legacy money. Thing is they could have more of a draw off of something decent that's not from 3 decades ago?

Yeah. It’s kinda interesting situation since it seems they are not interested putting out any music with effort, but they still release half assed sounding efforts. I am not sure what their goal is and do they even have any plan?

Like you said, if they would bring out some good song writers they could come out with decent tunes with a MAYBE tiny bit of radio potential. Maybe.

But now it just sounds like pumping out half finished ideas.

[daveg]

The beginning and ending of the song are interesting. The chorus is okay. Nikki's been writing dumb lyrics since Theatre Of Pain, so the lyrics are on brand. As somebody said, it sounds like AI Motley Crue. The production ruins the song. Plus they haven't sounded like 4 guys in a room playing together and writing music as a unit in forever.

This sums it up perfectly for me.

I'm sure music is written/recorded way different than it used to be..and that's fine..and I really don't care,. But if it sounds like it music recorded in parts..mailed in and spliced together, then I'm not interested..and that's what this sounds like to me

[tooth]

I like it, it may be the best song since Hooligan's Holiday. It sounds like Crue.

[Love_Industry]

John5 is a great guitarist but his vibe doesn't fit Crue.

Great guitarist but seems to suck at songwriting. Wrote Halford's worst album, Some of Roth's and Manson's weakest songs, some Lynyrd Skynyrd filler etc.

[schlonginski]

I like it, it may be the best song since Hooligan's Holiday. It sounds like Crue.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

Did anyone point out that this was not the "lead single"? That would've been "Dogshit of War." I was faded af when I posted this.

MY BAD!

As far as the tune goes, my vote is "Somehow worse than 'Dogs.'"

The lyrics are funny to me because Motley used to be like "The kids are misunderstood. They just want power to the music in the streets."

Now they're like "The kids get mad at me for being stupid and out of touch so they need to shut up, shut up."

[Playboyliquor59]

Do we have confirmation they were even in the same room for this? John 5 is a great guitarist, sure but hasn’t written a single riff anyone can name and I can find a 6 year old in Japan on YouTube who can play circles around him. Early motley stuff was great and fit the times but this is just some bs around the Vegas shows