Review: Motley Crue, "Saints of Los Angeles"

It’s about time that Motley Crue remembered what they do best.

Since their first breakup in the early 1990s, they’ve struggled to find their identity. For those who haven’t been keeping score, it started with the heavier sound of 1994’s self-titled record with vocalist John Corabi. It was a solid record, arguably one of the best in their catalog from a musical standpoint, but a lot of longtime fans didn’t buy into Corabi. That resulted in the return of original singer Vince Neil for the dismal 1997 effort "Generation Swine," where the band tried to show off its “artistic” side. Really bad idea.

Another breakup followed, with drummer Tommy Lee leaving and the late Randy Castillo stepping in. In 2000, the band again tried to placate fans displeased with the direction of "Generation Swine" with "New Tattoo." An attempt at a return to their glam success of the 1980s, the record, for the most part, contained a collection of lame songs that would make the worst ’80s hair band cringe.

So then it was time for another reunion. "The Red, White and Crue" “best of” package brought us two very promising new tracks in “If I Die Tomorrow” and “Sick Love Song,” easily the best tune the band had recorded in 15 years or so. There was some excitement, but tempered. After all, fans have been there before.

The good news is, this time, they got it right. No electronic noise, no alternative, no plaintive ballads about band members’ children, just straight up rock. While "Saints of Los Angeles" is certainly no match for "Shout at the Devil," it is a return to what you want from a Motley Crue record: sleazy, three chord anthems about sex and partying. It’s music to turn off your brain, pick up a drink and rock out with.

There are some stinkers here. “The Animal in Me” takes itself too seriously. It’s too hard to get past the goofy lyrics of “Chicks = Trouble” to enjoy the pretty good blues rock stomp of the music. The tough guy bravado of “Goin’ Out Swingin’” doesn’t translate musically, and “Down at the Whisky” retains that thin, lifeless, going-through-the-motions feel that sank "New Tattoo."

But when they’re on, they’re really on. A concept record of sorts, since almost every song here is about the band, the best moments come when Motley Crue embraces their past and delivers some raunchy, glitzy, mindless rock ‘n’ roll. The title track is a standout moment, reminiscent of the "Dr. Feelgood" era. There are also some hot grooves to be found throughout the record on songs like “Mutherfucker of the Year” and the record’s second-best track “This Ain’t a Love Song,” which reminds me a lot of “Primal Scream” from their first “best of” compilation way back when. They rock out in fine form on the bouncing “White Trash Circus,” and tip the hat to Alice Cooper on “Just Another Psycho” - a song that’s begging for a guest shot from Cooper, but unfortunately doesn’t get it.

If you hated Motley Crue in the 1980s and wish that era in rock history would go away, then likely nothing will change with this record. If you’re a fan that wandered away during the band’s lost years, you should definitely give "Saints of Los Angeles" a listen. The record has its ups and downs and doesn’t completely match the energy of their heyday, but it’s easily their best work since 1994’s "Motley Crue."

Get "Saints of Los Angeles."

Review: Sixx A.M. - "The Heroin Diaries"

I'll admit it, I'm a Motley Crue fanboy. I own every record they've ever put out, even the really horrible stuff from the late 1990s, and "Shout at the Devil" would still make my list of top metal records. I've also at least checked out all of the solo attempts by the band's members. I've listened to Tommy Lee's laughable attempts at rapping and his pathetic attempts at showing his sensitive side. I've listened to Vince Neil try in vain to keep making Motley Crue records on his own. I've listened to Nikki Sixx's forays into punk with Brides of Destruction (which actually had some decent moments.) Ultimately, though it seems that every time I hear one of them, I have a lot more respect for Mick Mars.

So the latest is Sixx: A.M.'s self-indulgent "The Heroin Diaries," a soundtrack to Sixx's self-indulgent book of the same name. I heard "Life is Beautiful" on the radio, and thought it wasn't too bad in a radio-friendly rock sort of way. Sure beats the hell out of Nickelback. Then I took a listen to the album, which opens with "X-mas in Hell," basically Sixx rambling on about his drug abuse with, to borrow a phrase from the forums at Digital Metal, "a hackneyed use of Carmina Burana." He returns to that a couple of times during the record, mixing spoken word with a take on some classical piece.

To be honest, the Nickelback-like stuff on this record is really the best stuff here, and that's sad. The rest is Sixx trying to be the artiste that he's always wanted to be, but never really had the talent to be. Outside of "Life is Beautiful," the 1980s alternative rock-influenced "Pray for Me" isn't bad and a few of the other songs like "Dead Man's Ballet" and "Heart Failure" have their moments. But Sixx's attempts to channel Bowie and weave classical into the songs really just don't work. I mean, you just have a hard time buying the kind of depth this record is trying to sell from a guy that's been selling us sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll for 25 years or so.

I'm sure there are some devoted followers of the cult of Sixx (and yes, sadly enough, it does exist, I've met them) who will believe this is a masterpiece, and if I'm being honest, it is an ambitious project. Unfortunately, I don't think most people really want depth and introspection from Nikki Sixx. They want the kind of three-chord, fun rock 'n' roll that he got rich writing. The bottom line is that I'd much rather be holding a new Crue record filled with tunes like "Sick Love Song" from their best of compilation a couple of years ago, and that's the problem. Sixx and Lee can try to distance themselves from Motley Crue and try to prove that there's more substance to them musically, but at the end of the night the people in the audience really just want to hear "Shout at the Devil."

Get "The Heroin Diaries."

Interview: Johnny Solinger of Skid Row

Even though he joined the band more than 3 years ago, vocalist Johnny Solinger is still "the new guy" to many Skid Row fans. These days, he doesn't mind it so much, though.

The group is currently crossing the country with Poison and Vince Neil of Motley Crue, and they've got a new album and DVD on the way in August. For a band that hasn't released an album of new material since 1995's "Subhuman Race," it's a whirlwind of activity, and Solinger can't wait for it to reach a fever pitch.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," he said. "With all the touring we did to keep food on the plate, we had to work on it in between, so it was a long time coming. We finally got it right, and we finally got the record we want to put out. I just can't wait."

After more than three years of singing someone else's songs, Solinger said it will be nice to have a Skid Row record that he's played a part in making. But the worldwide release of "Thickskin" means even more to him.

"I'm an old hat at making independent records and trying to sell them to make a living, but to be able to go to the four corners of the Earth, wherever you buy records, and have me on a record, it means the world," he said. "It's like finally I've arrived. That's awesome."

Solinger was fronting his eponymous band in Dallas, which had attained moderate regional success, when he got an e-mail from Skid Row founders Rachel Bolan and Dave "Snake" Sabo in late 1999. They were looking to put the band back together and needed a replacement for departed singer Sebastian Bach (real name Sebastian Bierk). Solinger auditioned in January 2000 and about six weeks later he found himself opening for Kiss on a worldwide tour.

Though most fans of Skid Row consider Solinger's predecessor to be one of the best singers in rock, he said the challenge of filling those shoes never bothered him. He said the fans saw his confidence and warmed to him quickly.

"Everybody was kind of nervous about that, thinking there were going to be picket lines and sit-ins," Solinger joked. "But you know what? That just didn't happen. I'd say 99 percent of the fans are really cool with it, and if they're not, they don't come. It was actually a pretty easy transition."

He also looks forward to returning to the Smirnoff Music Theater in his hometown of Dallas on every tour. He said the homecomings are always fun.

"The audiences are always great in Texas, and I love that venue," he said. "I saw concerts there when I was in junior high and high school, so playing there means a lot to me."

Skid Row will play two songs from the new album, "Thick is the Skin" and "New Generation." Solinger said they've been playing them for the entire tour, and fan reaction so far has been good. People are even singing along with "Thick is the Skin," which is available in MP3 format on the band's Web site.

"I think it's cool, and the crowds are responding well to songs they haven't really heard before," he said. "We're the only ones out here playing new material, so it's really working in our favor."

Not every song is pleasing every fan, though. The new album also includes a punked-up version of the band's hit "I Remember You." Solinger said the song does signal a changing of the guard in a way, but it really comes down to doing something fun. They began playing the version in rehearsals, then tried it out live before putting it on the new album.

"It was never meant to be a part of the record, it just kind of worked out that way," he said. "I think it takes a lot of cojones on the original members' part to do something like this. I know Rachel has gotten some flack, someone e-mailing him and saying `how dare you mess with my high school song.'"

Solinger said on days when they play headlining shows with a longer set, the band plays both versions.

These days, it's common for bands from the same era as Skid Row to throw together a subpar album quickly and go out on tour, but Solinger said a lot of love and crafting went into their upcoming album. In the end, he's proud Skid Row didn't take the easier route.

"We kind of did everything backwards," he said. "We toured and started really getting the chemistry together before we made the record. There's a lot of pride involved in this record. I just can't wait for everybody to get a chance to hear the whole thing, because it's really, really good."

Interview: Jesse James Dupree

Hard rockers Jackyl are probably known just as much for their on-stage antics as for their music, but for frontman Jesse James Dupree, it's all in a day's work.

"If you don't (give the fans a show), they might as well sit home and listen to the record," Dupree says in his no-nonsense Southern drawl. "I've got to have the whole ball of wax. I want to see a man shot out of a cannon."

The self-proclaimed "Redneck Punk" from Kennesaw, Ga., has done his share of crazy things on stage. He regularly destroys stools with a chainsaw, sings from the back of a mechanical bull and fires off his shotgun microphone stand. He's even been known to take the stage clad in his cowboy boots, guitar and little else. But one performance stands out in his mind.

"We played an awards show in Atlanta, and they tried to tell us what we could and couldn't do," he says, his grin coming through the phone line. "We snuck about 40 chickens and roosters in and let them out on stage. They're flopping and flapping around everywhere at this black tie event. The Indigo Girls were there, and they were going crazy. I thought I was going to have to bare-knuckle fistfight one of them. That was messy."

Stunts like that aside, the band is also one of the hardest working when they're on the road. In 1999, they entered the "Guinness Book of World Records" by playing 100 shows in 50 days. After that, the band took a brief hiatus to focus on solo projects, but they reformed in 2001 and started writing new music. This summer they're out on the road as part of the Rock Never Stops tour with Tesla, Motley Crue singer Vince Neil and Skid Row.

Though Jackyl didn't release their first album until 1992, they're often grouped with the "hair bands" of the 1980s. Dupree describes Jackyl's music as "blue jean, blue collar" hard rock and doesn't understand why they're grouped with the glitzy '80s rockers.

"I spent the '80s playing in club bands, and I was playing '70s rock," he says. "I never connected with all the bands that had their heyday in the '80s."

Despite his reluctance to be grouped with those bands, he thinks the new tour is a good fit.

"We've always steered clear of packaging with anybody; we stayed out in left field and did our own thing," Dupree says. "It's kind of cool being in the middle of it, though. We're playing with Vince Neil - the guy sold 30 million records in Motley Crue, you've got to respect him. And Tesla is as far from a hair band as you can get. They're a straight up blue jean heavy rock band; they never wore eyeliner or puffed-up hair and neither did we."

Jackyl is probably best known for their 1992 hit "The Lumberjack," in which Dupree first broke out his signature instrument - the chainsaw.

"It's just a very definitive instrument," Dupree says. "It's loud, aggressive, abrasive, destructive, stanky - everything rock 'n' roll should be when it's done right. It's really a perfect fit."

Since then, every Jackyl album has featured a prominent chainsaw solo. But does he get tired of being known as the "chainsaw guy?" Not at all. It's just part of the package.

"If it was just that, it probably would bother me," Dupree says. "But there's another whole group of people who know me for going to jail about 10 times for getting naked, or the guy who has a goose gun for a mic stand or the guy that set the stage on fire at Woodstock '94 … I'm the guy that's in the band that doesn't mind showing their asses to entertain."

In late 2001, Jackyl racked up hits of another kind, when they posted the song "Open Invitation" to their Web site (www.jackyl.w1.com). The song, with its "I hate you, bin Laden" chant and blunt expression of the anger many people were feeling at the time, was downloaded 80,000 times in the first two weeks, causing the server to crash and costing the band about $10,000, says Dupree. But it's something Jackyl felt they had to do.

"We were in the middle of recording, and we wanted it to be a fun environment where we could crunch out some straight-up rock," Dupree says. "Then Sept. 11 happened. The only way we could vent was to record a song and put it out there."

That new album, which includes a song co-written by AC/DC's Brian Johnson, should be released later this year. AC/DC has been a big influence on Jackyl, and working with Johnson is like a dream come true for Dupree, who also traded vocals with the legendary screecher on the track "Locked and Loaded" from Jackyl's 1997 album "Cut the Crap."

"If you're a NASCAR fan, it'd be like Dale Earnhardt Jr. letting you take his car around the track for a couple of spins," Dupree says. "Brian Johnson is a perfect example of someone who has been very successful, but is still just a real guy. My friends will come over to the house, and he'll be there reading car magazines and having a beer. He's just a real, personable, down-to-earth guy."

Jackyl completed its obligation to Geffen Records with a "best of" album called "Choice Cuts" a few years ago, which leaves them free to shop their latest album to other labels. Dupree says they're looking for a company that really believes in the band.

The flamboyant frontman believes the future is bright for Jackyl. He thinks the world is ready for their brand of brash and cocky hard rock again. And if it's not, the band still has its hardcore fan base.

"We just want do what we do, and luckily, we've got such a supportive base - they've been incredible," he says. "I think the only thing that would end that is if I was to start rapping."