My first experience with Mötley Crüe was Girls, Girls, Girls, both single and album. I was an early teen back in 1987…instant addiction! I think that was soon after being hooked up with the hard rock/heavy metal by a Christian band Stryper’s “Calling On You” (read My Music Influence)…well, from heaven to hell. As Mötley Crüe spread around bad influences to teenagers worldwide and gave parents serious concerns about their kids, I was quickly caught into their attractions. Nothing but addictive. Notorious but unforgettable. Simply admired to their larger-than-life wild side, both music and visual. Vince Neil’s sharp voice, Mick Mars’ thick and sticky guitar, and Tommy Lee’s big bang drums were too dope. Nikki Sixx’s skill as a melody maker…rough, wild, simple, dynamic yet catchy…was hilarious. And yes, I dearly dreamed of going to strip clubs like Mötley Crüe when I was grown up.
What is the most favorite Mötley Crüe album for me (NOTE: not meaning best quality album)? Probably Dr. Feelsgood in 1989. Girls, Girls, Girls? Shout At The Devil? No, I think Dr. Feelsgood. Dr. Feelsgood is my personal best. I still listened to the eternal masterpiece a lot. What’s my second favorite? Not Girls, Girls, Girls but Generation Swine in 1997, their 7th and first studio album after their reunion.
Many people will probably say what the hell upon hearing it. Are you fucking crazy? Greater than Girls, Girls, Girls? Even didn’t reach Platinum! As seen on the points below, I admit Generation Swine is far from Mötley Crüe’s charismatic hit albums. I actually listened to all of Mötley Crüe’s albums again to ask myself this question before writing this article but my answer was clear. I still love Generation Swine right after Dr. Feelsgood.
Generation Swine was not a glam metal album like Dr. Feelsgood and earlier. It was a grunge-influenced album like the previous self-titled album, a negatively sensational 6th studio album in 1994 after firing Vince Neil. The difference with Mötley Crüe album was, while Mötley Crüe album was like Soundgarden, Generation Swine was more like Purple album era (1994) of Stone Temple Pilots. “Flush” (3rd song) reminded me of STP’s “Interstate Love Song”, a smash hit from Purple. In addition to the new influence, some songs were earthy like Blind Melon, such as “Confessions” (5th). Even with Vince Neil, Mötley Crüe’s signature glam metal sound was retired.
Like I wrote on “HALSEY, “IF I CAN’T HAVE LOVE, I WANT POWER” ALBUM REVIEW. Hate To Love“, I didn’t like grunge rock. I liked Soundgarden but didn’t like STP and Blind Melon. I didn’t like Mötley Crüe album, either. But I like the Generation Swine. Not only such a cool title. Why?
First and foremost, the first impression. The impact of Vince Neil’s comeback knocked me out from the first song, just like my first time hearing his voice with “Girls, Girls, Girls”. Shouting “I’m a sick, MOTHERFUCKER!”. From opening his mouth at “Find Myself”! Oh, shit! Yes, I missed that VOICE. Even I listened to his solo albums (his first Exposed is still my favorite album). Yes, Vince Neil came back with his same ol’ voice. That was the voice of Mötley Crüe, not John Corabi. I was (am still) usually skeptical about the idea of a reunion, but Mötley Crüe was an exception. They certainly had unfinished business. Mötley Crüe was where Vince Neil should belong. Placing “Find Myself” in the opening was a perfect idea.
I also liked the first 5 songs nonstop instantly. “Find Myself” was an aggressive opening song that placed each member’s best part perfectly. Heavily drilling guitar intro impressed me Mick Mars was also back. Then Tommy Lee’s characteristic strokes right before the verse followed by blasting drum sound all over the chorus. Nikki Sixx’s bass was sticky rolling throughout the song. And again, Vince Neil. Despite the short and simple lyrics (the song was only 2:51), the impact of his comeback was well emphasized by his unforgettable shout. “Generation Swine” (4th) was the speedy yet catchy tune that still carried Mötley Crüe’s previous hard rock sound as well as “Find Myself”. “Afraid” (2nd), “Flush” (3rd), and “Confessions” (5th) were mid-tempo grunge songs but had a lot of catchy melodies. Catchiness might be against the concept of grunge rock that tried to stay away from”mainstream”, but I think that was an important Mötley Crüe element. Hey, that’s why many fans still love many of their masterpieces. Even the intro of “Afraid” reminded me of Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s “Under the Bridge” or Pearl Jam’s “Black”, and “Flush” and “Confessions” sounded like some other grunge/alternative bands like I wrote earlier, I enjoyed Mötley’s genuine melodies. Having 5 favorite songs from the beginning was strong.
And I didn’t have to seek “Mötley Crüe” from their music because of Vince Neil’s voice, unlike I did with their self-titled album. Generation Swine gave me a new discovery that Vince Neil’s voice was conveniently able to fit with various types of songs while keeping a strong identity. He never sang grunge rock but wasn’t unfit at all. He didn’t change his voice or singing method but was still the same Vince Neil even punk song “Anybody Out There?” (8th) or hardcore “Let Us Prey” (9th). His vocal performance with this album gave me an opportunity to recall his previous works. Besides their trademark glam metal, Vince had sung pop-metal like “You’re Invited (But Your Friend Can’t Come), deep ”You’re All I Need”, and romantic ”Without You” without a problem. No matter what the type of song was, he was a hard rock/heavy metal vocalist and Vince Neil, nothing else. He was such an iconic rock singer.
The most important reason was, after all, I could feel the band chemistry backed by Nikki Sixx’s unchanged brilliant songwriting skill in their music once again. The self-titled album, which was supposed to declare the superband’s new start with an “anticipated” new vocalist, ironically proved the world Mötley Crüe couldn’t survive without Vince Neil. The reason for failure with John Corabi was clear; they lost themselves. They lost in the wave of grunge rock. I wrote on Halsey’s album review “grunge rock, that destroyed my favorite hard rock/heavy metal scene”, and Mötley Crüe was among the declines but their case was actually suicidal. They turned themselves into an unfamiliar grunge rock scene right after the huge success of Dr. Feelsgood and Decade of Decadence 81-91 best album. There were many hard rock/heavy metal artists who struggled or were inspired by the grunge/alternative rock movement and changed their direction while simplifying their original sound and image. Poison abandoned party glam rock and went to simple blues-rock with a new guitarist, Richie Kotzen. Warrant, where did they go after Cherry Pie? The cherry pie didn’t contain poison ivy. Rob Halford started wearing cheap and dirty clothes like young grunge musicians with his new power metal band, Fight, after stripping his expensive leather costumes and an admired position as Judas Priest’s vocalist. The survival choice of Mötley Crüe was absorbing the trend. Sounded like Soundgarden. They lost their original music direction they built in a decade like their best album just released a year before Crüe/Vince split, ironically named Decade of Decadence that was the best described their career. They lost self-confidence after securing the big star status. Mötley Crüe was the pioneer of glam metal. Mötley Crüe was not Pretty Boy Floyd. They even succeeded to upgrade their music and status with Dr. Feelsgood‘s excellent quality and sales while still being themselves. That dynamic rock album was beyond the limited boundary of glam metal with solid and stunning quality in any aspect. The result; 6 million copies sold only in the U.S., and tens and hundred million copies worldwide after multi-platinum sales each between 2nd and 4th album. They wouldn’t be a legendary rock band without that album today. They didn’t have to worry about the decline of the heavy metal scene, not only glam metal, after establishing their music and success with Dr. Feelsgood. They had many existing and new fans worldwide who were attracted to Dr. Feelsgood. They even had the following Decade of Decadence, the best of best albums which made the public clear they were ready for another decade of decadence with more success. That best album was released in the fall of 1991 right after Nirvana ignited the grunge fire with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and still sold 2 million copies in the U.S. alone. Think Metallica. Metallica kept the same heavy metal without running into grunge a bit but enjoyed mainstream success with the self-titled album in 1991 and Load in 1996 during the heavy grunge storm. Ironically, Metallica’s producer for both albums was Bob Rock, the same with Dr. Feelsgood and Mötley Crüe. Metallica hired Bob Rock for their black album after being inspired by Dr. Feelsgood. I still think the early ’90s had a space for Mötley Crüe’s continuous success like Metalica even in the difficult era if they didn’t make a failed attempt. And they lost what they had by themselves; voice. Vince Neil. No way to be able to find another Vince Neil. Simply there was no voice like him and still not. Vince’s voice was Mötley Crüe’s strongest weapon to identify themselves. True star material. But they let Vince go. Nikki Sixx said the self-titled album was the result of focusing only on “music”, and John Corabi was the best suitable vocalist to pursue their new purpose. The reality was the “new” Mötley Crüe just exposed their corruption. John Corabi failed to empower their new album with limited vocal ability. I saw their concert in San Francisco, and that was one of the worst concerts I’ve ever seen. That was like a doomy local garage band’s concert at a theater called The Warfield with only 2,300 seats…that’s right. Not an arena like their previous sold-out tours, and they even couldn’t fill the show. Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, they were all somebody else lacking auras. And John Colabi was terrible. His vocal was absolutely powerless. He couldn’t keep vocal keys even the songs he wrote. The worst was he couldn’t sing any of Mötley’s hit songs that fans would eventually compare with Vince Neil. When John sang “Dr. Feelsgood”…I thought Mötley starship would crash. I got a headache. “Kickstart My Heart” was actually braking my heart. About half of the audience left with middle fingers during the concert. They lost many fans by losing themselves, too. So for me, naming “Find Myself” on the opening track of the reunion album sounded like an irony, although the lyric wasn’t related to the era they lost themselves.
On the other hand, Vince fell in dilemma he couldn’t surpass Mötley Crüe even he was fortunate enough to have an exciting combo with Steve Stevens and created a hot solo debut album. Even Steve Stevens was a skilled guitarist, he couldn’t be a replacement for Mick Mars, another backbone of Mötley Crüe’s sound. Vince still needed to play many of Mötley Crüe’s hit songs aside from his songs on the stage. And the relationship with Steve wasn’t long-lasting like Vince’s old band; Steve left after the solo debut album.
Generation Swine proved that Mötley Crüe still got their original chemistry no other band could imitate. Probably Generation Swine‘s grunge-infused music was what Nikki Sixx wanted to pursue with John Corabi, who co-wrote before being replaced, but again, ironically Vince Neil and the original members did much better. Nikki’s creativity shined the best with Vince’s primal scream once again. Mick’s edgy yet bluesy heavy guitar was still the same Mick Mars even the sound distorted heavier than ever. His tight technique was still uncomparable with a bunch of instant grunge bands. Tommy Lee’s drum was impressively striking hard as always. Generation Swine didn’t betray my anticipation of their comeback with the original lineup unlike Mötley Crüe did with their self-titled album after firing Vince Neil.
So probably it would be a different story if Generation Swine wasn’t released after Vince Neil’s comeback. Nostalgia was indeed a big factor for this album to be my second favorite Mötley Crüe album. Generation Swine is not second in terms of quality and impact. The second half of the album was weak. I like “Anybody Out There?” (8th) and “Let Us Prey” (9th), but the previous 2 songs (“Beauty” and “Glitter”) made the impact of those aggressive songs weaker than it supposed to be. The remake of “Shout At The Devil” didn’t win the original. Two ballads that were sung by other than Vince (“Rocketship” by Nikki and “Brandon” by Tommy), unfortunately, sounded those songs dull. On the other hand, I don’t find issues about the songwriting involved by John Corabi and the production by Scott Humphrey, unlike critics. The album conquered many problems well despite the sudden vocalist change in the middle of production and the constant arguments between the band and producer. I don’t think Bob Rock, who was also fired during the pre-production, would be a good fit with this “rough” album.
Mötley Crüe celebrated 4 decades of decadence with the original members last year, 24 years after Generation Swine and the band reunion while experiencing some internal feuds and temporary termination of band activities. In 2022, the middle of generation swine after a chaotic pandemic, Mötley Crüe still has a lot of news to offer. The first stadium tours with Def Leppard and Poison this summer after the reunion and one year delay for pandemic social distancing, streaming melodrama “Pam & Tommy” started just this month and selling their whole catalog to BMG over megamillion deal. Whatever happens now and in the feature, one thing is clear. Mötley Crüe has been, and will always be, special with this original lineup in history.
OVERALL POINTS: 80/100
- Eternal dopeness: ★★★
- Overall integrity: ★★★
- Songs: ★★★★
- Originality: ★★★★
- Song orders: ★★★
- Vocal: ★★★★★
- Background: ★★★★★
- Sound: ★★★★★
- Production: ★★★★
- Strong songs: “Find Myself”, “Afraid”, “Flush”, “Generation Swine”, “Confessions”
EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)
- Title: A+
- Album cover: D
RELEASED DATE (U.S.): 06/24/1997
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