Bad Boys Mötley Crüe Are On A Rock And Roll Mission
During the 1980's, Mötley Crüe was mired in a apparently unending bouts of questionable women, substance abuse and run-in's with the law. There was a night in '84, an allegedly intoxicated Vince Neil was involved in a horrid frontal collision. Vinces' passenger, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley of the group Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident. Neil was condemned to thirty, but spent a meager eighteen days in jail for the incident. Later, the band turned disaster into music and released box sets irreverently called "Music To Crash Your Car To".
The drugs and alcohol were sweeping over their lives in a major way. In 1987, Nikki Sixx actually was thought dead from a heroin O.D.. His heart stopped and that could have been the end for him. Luckily for Sixx, the paramedics did not give up and gave him 2 shots of adrenaline to his heart. Obviously, he lived to rock on. This little incident gave the band the stirring for the song 'Kick Start My Heart' from the 'Dr. Feelgood' album.
It was not long after Nikki's brush with death that the groups managers stepped in. It was time for a serious intervention if this band was going to keep moving forward. The managers refused to allow the band to go on a European tour, fearing that more than one would die on the road. The reality of their conduct and the effects must have hit them where it hurts. All the members eventually got themselves to sober up. While the others preferred to go into a rehab program, Mars chose to deal with his addictions on his own.
In spite of their epic struggles with addiction throughout the 1980's, they still managed, in some manner, to piece together several popular releases. To this day songs from the albums, 'Shout At The Devil', 'Theatre Of Pain' and 'Girls, Girls, Girls' get lots of airplay. But it wasn't until '89, with a clean and sober band that they were eventually able to produce a #1 album, 'Dr. Feelgood'. Everyone, even the band believed that their sober attempts were much improved over anything they'd done earlier.
The 1990's bestowed more turmoil for the band. They released their 6th studio album, 'Decade of Decadence' in '91 and it reached the number 2 spot on the charts. Then, in 1992, Neil either left the band or was terminated, depending on who you listen to. He was promptly replaced and the group released a self-titled recording that reached #7 on the music charts. Eventually, in 1997, the group reunited and published still another recording, 'Generation Swine'. The album did not do well commercially, which led to them leaving their recording label, Elektra.
In 1998, since their contract with Elektra had expired, the group found themselves in a unique place. They are one of the few groups to have full control both over their catalog of masters and publishing. With this newfound power, the band re-published all of their albums and included many demos and formerly unreleased tunes.
In 1999, Tommy Lee departed the band to pursue his own solo career and to avoid further conflict with Neil. He was substituted and the band continued to tour and hit the studio, but fell short of true success. Sixx likewise went his own way and played for the groups "58" and "Brides Of Destruction". It took 5 years, but the band finally did get back together and got busy recording a new compilation release called 'Red White & Crüe'. They as well went on a a few tours, including their 2005 tour, 'Carnival of Sins' and the 2006 'Route of All Evil' tour that they did with Aerosmith.
Just last month, Mötley Crüe released their latest recording, 'Saints of Los Angeles'. Critics are saying the album is some of the best work they've ever recorded! It's a severe flashback to the Crüe's former style and a welcome one at that. Seems these bad boy rockers are still pursuing their original mission to rock the world as hard as they can.
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