Mick Mars told Rolling Stone that he had little involvement in MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s last three records: Generation Swine (1997), New Tattoo (2000) and Saints of Los Angeles (2008).
He said the band began to exclude him from the creative process more than 20 years ago when they brought back their original vocalist Vince Neil.
“I don’t think there’s one note that I played,” Mars said, referring to Generation Swine. “They didn’t want my guitar to sound like a guitar, basically. They wanted it to sound like a synthesizer. I felt so useless. I’d do a part, they’d erase it, and somebody else would come in and play.”
Former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi, who was present for the beginning of Generation Swine, previously said that that majority of guitar parts on the record are his. He said: “When we were doing the Generation Swine record, they were complaining about his guitar playing then. And if you really look at all of the records they’ve done since then… The majority of the guitars on the Swine record, which is one of the reasons why I sued the guys, are mine. They were complaining about Mick the whole f*cking time. And I don’t know if he played on New Tattoo — I’m not sure — but I know on Red, White & Crüe, it was D.J. Ashba; on Saints Of Los Angeles, it was D.J. Ashba; and on The Dirt [soundtrack], it was John 5.
Mars is suing CRÜE alleging that the band reduced his share of earnings from 25 percent to a mere 5 percent after revealing his decision to withdraw from touring. Additionally, he states that the group’s attorneys made him feel as if he should appreciate this minimal portion, as they believed they had no obligation to provide him with anything. Mick also asserts that a complete band gathering took place where they chose to “unilaterally” exclude him from MÖTLEY CRÜE.
Mick consistently alleged that bassist Nikki Sixx was “gaslighting” him by suggesting his guitar abilities were declining, even though Sixx didn’t “play a single note on bass” throughout a recent tour, as stated by the guitarist. Mick asserts that all of Nikki‘s segments were pre-recorded.
