One of rock’s most dysfunctional rock bands is back after an 8 year hiatus with one of their best efforts yet. The Crue’s last album ‘New Tattoo’ wasn’t a success and many critics thought at this point the band was washed up. Motley Crue’s worst enemy has been themselves the last 15 years since originally breaking up with Vince Neil going solo for a few years before the band reuniting in the late 90’s. Then Tommy Lee would leave the band for a few years, only to return. ‘New Tattoo wasn’t that bad of an album, and any fan of the band was smart enough to realize that Motley Crue was slowly declining from an artistic standpoint. It appears like the 8 years that the band hasn’t written a studio album, it has given them the time needed to get back to what they love the music. Crue’s last studio recorded song came from their 2 disc Greatest Hits, ‘Red, White, & Crue’ titled ‘If I Die Tomorrow’ which was an excellent song. We have been waiting for 3 years since the release of “If I Die Tomorrow” for new material.
Come 2008, Motley Crue returns with their latest album ‘Saints of Los Angeles’. What helps make this new album so good is that in almost every single song, Motley Crue reflects back to their years in rock glory. Songs reflect back on the good and bad times, the drugs, alcohol, and the women, amongst some of the issues that are touched upon. I think that many artists’ albums that have their heart poured into the lyrics tend to be a success. This is the case with ‘Saints of Los Angeles’, it is Motley Crue looking back and reflecting on what has gone right and wrong throughout their career.
Crue fans, you will be happy to hear that ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ is close to what the band offered with ‘Too Fast For Love’, except with top notch refinement to the music. There are a lot of songs on this album that are radio friendly and could help catapult Motley Crue back on the music scene. The self titled song ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ for over a month now has been #1 on Billboards Modern Rock singles chart. Go listen to ‘Generation Swine’, ‘New Tattoo’, and then ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ and you will see what a tight production that the new album has compared to their last few efforts. Granted, Tommy Lee wasn’t a part of ‘New Tattoo’, they have lived up to expectations.
‘Saints of Los Angeles’ is comprised of 13 songs, that never let up from the start with ‘Face Down In The Dirt’ talks about the bands love for the ladies, ‘Down at the Whiskey’ about the bands drinking issues to the self titled ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ recollecting their lifestyle. One song that stands out the most is “The Animal in Me” which is about Nikki Sixx’s battle with heroin addiction. By now, usually a lot of albums have either blown out of steam or they tread territory that contradicts the message from the first half of the album. Only song I didn’t care for on the album was ‘Welcome to the Machine’, just didn’t seem to fit here. They get back on track with ‘Just Another Psycho’, to another song about the ladies ‘This Ain’t a Love Song’. ‘Chicks = Trouble’ really tells the truth about the boys and their trip down memory lane about how women have gotten them into trouble over the years. The album ends on a high note with ’Goin’ Out Swinging’ which has that ‘Too Fast For Love” album flavor written all over it.
If you are a fan of Motley Crue, their new album ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ is a return to glory. Only a few bands have been able to reconnect with the sounds/lyrics that made them great in their heyday. Motley Crue joins bands like Whitesnake and Queensryche from the 80’s that lost a little bit of their sound over the years, but with their latest album releases in the last 2 years have made a return to what made them so great. This week stores like Best Buy and Circuit City are selling ‘Saints of Los Angeles’ of $9.99, don’t hesitate to get the new album, run to the store to pick this one up.
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