I grew up in the 1980s, the decade
of excess, and many of my tastes (from music and films to food and clothing)
were shaped during that decade. It’s no surprise then that, given its ubiquity
on radio and MTV, that I developed a serious love for heavy metal and hard
rock. I not only decided that I wanted to play music like this, I also wanted
to live the hard-partying lifestyle that my musical heroes lived. That’s
neither here nor there. And while many people grow out of the music they loved
as a kid, “hair metal,” for lack of a better term, has never stopped meaning a
lot to me. And no artist exemplified the hedonism of the ‘80s better than my
favorite band at the time, Mötley Crüe.
Cut to the 1990s: a decidedly tough
time for many formerly successful metal and hard rock bands. While some
completely faded away, others tried rather misguidedly (looking at you,
Metallica) to glom onto the rising trend of “grunge” and “alternative” music. Still
others, like Winger and Cinderella, put out some of the best, most focused records
of their career in the ‘90s and they sadly went almost completely unnoticed. The
Crüe fell into this latter category with
the release of their self-titled album in 1994. But first, a bit of history.
In
1991, The Crüe released their first official career retrospective, Decade of Decadence ’81-’91 and with it,
three new songs. Of those three songs, the first single was called “Primal
Scream” and it was possibly the heaviest and best written song they’d ever
recorded up to that point. It was a good time to be a Crüe fan and, naturally,
I was excited to see if they would continue in this direction for the next
proper album. The band enlisted engineer Bob Rock, who had worked with The Crüe
on the hugely successful 1989 album Dr. Feelgood
and set to work on its follow up. During these sessions, the band had a rather
public falling-out with frontman Vince Neil which resulted in his being fired
from the band. Or he quit. Neither camp can exactly remember this rather large
detail correctly - and who really gives a shit now? But this left the Crüe in
the rather unenviable position of replacing the widely adored voice and face of
the band for the past 12 years. 
Enter
John Corabi, vocalist for the fellow L.A. band The Scream, of whom bassist and
chief Crüe songwriter Nikki Sixx was a huge fan. Corabi brought a fresh new
element to the band with his gravelly, Rod Stewart-esque voice and his rhythm
guitar capabilities. This was in stark contrast to Vince Neil’s high-pitched
whine and limited musical ability. Lead guitarist Mick Mars said at the time
that he appreciated being able to work with a second guitarist for a change as
it allowed him more room to experiment with his riffs and solos rather than
“having to focus on just keeping the rhythm.” Corabi also was a competent
lyricist, bringing a few of his own songs to the sessions with lyrics tackling
much darker and more thoughtful topics than those to which Sixx was accustomed.
“Droppin’ Like Flies,” for example, deals with environmental issues of the day
and “Uncle Jack” is a scathing track about Corabi’s own uncle, a convicted
child molester. The material was such a drastic departure that they even
dropped the trademark umlauts from their name for the first and last time ever.
Sonically,
Motley Crue (or MC94 as some fans call it) is even bigger and grittier than Metallica’s
“Black Album,” making it a career defining moment for Bob Rock as well. Tommy
Lee’s drumming on this album is better and heavier than it’s ever been, with
pummeling beats and interesting, complicated fills, particularly on the album’s
lead single “Hooligan’s Holiday.” The album still boasts the rock swagger that
the Crüe are known for, like in the glam rocker “Poison Apples,” but for the
most part it’s almost completely unrecognizable as a Crüe product. Songs like
“Smoke the Sky” or “Hammered” would be at home on a Bay Area thrash or speed
metal album, and Mars ventures into Jimmy Page territory with his lead riff on
the killer “Welcome to the Numb,” my personal favorite track on the album.The album sold about as well as could be expected. Fans and critics alike were not ready to embrace such a drastic change from the band’s sound and, in particular, Corabi himself. That goes for myself too, by the way. I had nothing against Corabi personally. I even owned the Scream album. But I was very pro-Vince at the time and refused to buy MC94 for the longest time (even though I did secretly think “Hooligan’s Holiday” was a killer song when I first saw the video on MTV). Although the record did make it to number seven on the Billboard charts, the sales rapidly declined to the point that the ensuing world tour had to be re-booked from large arena venues to small clubs and theaters. Eventually, the tour was cancelled altogether. A far cry from the band’s ‘80s heyday.
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| J. Eagle - a 9-year old Crue fan |
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Jonathan Eagle
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