By Rashod D. Ollison , rashod.ollison@baltsun.com|March 12, 2009
The fact that all four are still alive is nothing short of miraculous.
The original members of Motley Crue - lead singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, lead guitarist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee - spent much of the Reagan era wasted on drugs and alcohol and partying with groupies around the world. The wild times were funneled into the music, producing some of the most enduring hits in heavy metal: "Live Wire," "Dr. Feelgood," "Girls, Girls, Girls" and one of the genre's best ballads, "Home Sweet Home."
The infamous miscreants of rock reunited for Saints of Los Angeles, the band's most focused album since 1989's Dr. Feelgood. The CD, released in June by the band's Motley Records, has received generally favorable reviews. To support it, Motley Crue is on a national tour that stops at 1st Mariner Arena on Saturday night.
At this point in the band's career, after more than 25 years of storied decadence on and off the stage, the hard-living image has long eclipsed the music. Though strong in spots, the new album is nothing more than a musical tribute to the group's hedonistic past. And that was best chronicled in The Dirt, the band's 2001 best-selling tell-all.
In a time fraught with demoralizing news about a wobbly economy and record job losses, the bristly yet accessible rock of Motley Crue is pure escapism. The spectacle of the expletive-littered shows (the glam get-ups, theatrical makeup and spiky hair) is pure nostalgia for fans saddled with 9-to-5 blues and grown-up responsibilities.
"It's less about Motley's music, although much of their classic catalog still holds up very well, and more about how Motley Crue just epitomizes the ultimate decadent rock band," says Lyndsey Parker, managing editor at Yahoo Music. "No current group even comes close to being such an utter embodiment of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll."
On the Saints of Los Angeles tour, which kicked off early last month in San Diego, old fans are introducing their children to the "Crue experience."
"Going to see the Crue is an opportunity to be young and free again and let loose for a couple of hours," says John Page, operating officer of Global Spectrum. The company manages the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, and the UCF Arena in Orlando, Fla., two early stops on the band's tour. "We saw three generations of fans - a lot of parents with their teenage kids showing them what it was like. ... The music inspires fans to raise their fists, pump them in the air and scream those lyrics you remember from high school."
