In a recent interview with Masa Ito, a Japanese music critic and radio personality on TVK‘s “Rock City,” MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee discussed why it was crucial for him and his bandmates to create new music, including their latest single “Dogs Of War.”
“Going to record was, yes, it was really important to us because during that [early 2023] tour, we felt all this new energy,” he said. “Having John 5 in the band really, really inspired us to share with our fans what we’re feeling. This new energy is like a rebirth in many ways, and so we started writing some music — myself, Nikki [Sixx] and John — and we were, like, ‘Well, let’s get Bob Rock. Let’s go in and let’s put this on tape and record it.’ And so, yes, the whole tour and having John in the band, all of it was very inspirational in getting us to share some new music with our fans, because, also, we’re really strong believers in you’re only as good as your last effort, and we hadn’t recorded anything new in a while. It was really important for us to show our fans and everybody where we’re at right now. What is inspiring us? What are we feeling?”
When discussing how the new music came together, Tommy said: “During the tour, we talked about it and everybody kind of had their ideas, and we just put them aside. But when we got home is when we started [going], ‘Okay, listen, what do you got? What do you got? What do you got?’ And then we just put it all together and, boom, it happens quickly. Two of [the songs] came out of that sort of explosion, and the one song, we did a cover [of BEASTIE BOYS‘ ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)’], that was just for fun. We were, like, ‘Ah, let’s just play, this is for fun.’ And so, yes, ‘Dogs Of War’, and there’s another song called ‘Canceled’ that sort of inspired the whole thing, really.”
Commenting on what was different about the latest CRÜE sessions compared to the band’s previous work, Lee said: “I would say the only thing different would be John 5‘s energy. He has a very different energy that we’ve never experienced before. But also working with Bob Rock made it seem comfortable and familiar. So the process went really fast, like it usually does with Bob, because he sort of inserts himself as a fifth member of the band, kind of. He gets out in the studio with you with a guitar and a microphone and we’ll make changes. And he gets very involved. He’s not your typical producer who just sits back and goes, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know if I like it yet. Let’s try this. Let’s try [that].’ He’s in the trenches doing the work with us. So, some part of the experience was brand new and exciting and the other familiarity with Bob was as usual.”
John 5 stepped in as Mars‘s replacement in fall of 2022. Mick officially retired from touring with the band in October 2022 due to deteriorating health conditions.
In April 2023, Mars initiated legal action against his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates, alleging that he was unjustly terminated by his “brothers of 41 years.”
In his lawsuit, Mars asserted that the other CRÜE members sought to unlawfully strip him of his 25% ownership stake in the band after he disclosed his inability to tour due to an arthritic condition known as ankylosing spondylitis, which he described as a “tragic announcement.” Mars also claimed that Nikki Sixx “did not play a single note on bass” during the entire 2022 tour, that “100% of Sixx‘s bass parts were nothing but recordings” and asserted that a “significant portion” of Neil‘s vocals and “some of” Tommy Lee‘s drumming were pre-recorded.
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