Mötley Crüe
Saints of LA
Eleven Seven
30 June 2008
by Hugh Platt
There’s a line in The Dirt, Mötley Crüe’s thunderous, essential autobiography, when Allen Kovac, manager of the then Vince Neil-less Mötley Crüe, corners Neil in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel manoeuvre him into re-joining the band:
“Are you a star as a solo artist? In the environment of four guys in a group called Mötley Crüe, you are a real star. And the audience that comes to see you gets its money’s worth”
That little exchange took place in the wake of the in the wake of the Crüe’s sixth album, a disastrous self-titled mess featuring John Corabi as frontman, but the message of back then is still relevant today. People love the classic Mötley Crüe line-up playing classic Mötley Crüe songs.
Ever since the LA misfits became active again in 2005, the biggest cheers have been for Dr Feelgood, Live Wire and Girls, Girls, Girls, not Sick Love Song or any of the other token new songs.
Watch Mötley Crüe performing ‘Wild Side’
Saints of Los Angeles does at least have the dignity to no longer pretend that it is made by four young bucks out to carve their name into the Sunset Strip with a trail of drug’n’booze-fueled destruction. ‘Down At The Whiskey’ is a nostalgic chant about past glory days, while ‘Welcome To The Machine’ is a breakneck cynical sneer at the industry that sucked in and spat the Crüe back out.
Sure, Neil can’t hit the high notes anymore, and Tommy Lee’s drumming no longer sounds like it might break his drumkit in half and the sleazy riffs don’t quite have the bubblegum punch of old, but if Saints of Los Angeles gives what was once the most destructive, fist-swinging , rock’n’roll train-wreck an excuse to keep on touring, then that’s all that matters.
3/6
Mötley Crüe – Saints Of LA tracklisting
L.A.M.F.
Face Down In The Dirt
What’s It Gonna Take
Down At The Whisky
Saints of Los Angeles (Gang Vocal)
Mutherfucker Of The Year
The Animal In Me
Welcome To The Machine
Just Another Psycho
Chicks = Trouble
This Ain’t A Love Song
White Trash Circus
Goin’ Out Swingin’