HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Saints Of Los Angeles – Mötley Crüe

If you’re noticing a surge in glam metal chat here on Distorted Sound, you have this particular writer to thank and here we are again diving into one of music’s guiltiest pleasures. Though this entry only has us travelling to 2008… and we’re not so sure we can refer to MÖTLEY CRÜE as glam metal any longer. Regardless of arbitrary genre boundaries, 2023 marks 15 years of Saints Of Los Angeles.

June 24 2008 saw the return of the original MÖTLEY CRÜE lineup as Tommy Lee (drums) and Vince Neil (vocals) finally buried the hatchet and came together to create some good ol’ sleaze rock. We couldn’t have one of the biggest bands of the 80s go out on the weirdness that was Generation Swine (1997) now, could we? Sure, New Tattoo (2000) was indeed an album MÖTLEY CRÜE brought into the world but, much like the John Corabi fronted self-titled (1994) era, steadfast fans seem to pretend it didn’t exist. It’s a shame really as both aforementioned albums contain some strong material.

But that is in the past and MÖTLEY CRÜE wanted to return with a bang. The band’s ninth album saw the Los Angeles bad boys collaborate with Nikki Sixx’s (bass) side project SIXX:A.M., with James Michael and DJ Ashba having both songwriting and production credit on every track Saints Of Los Angeles has to offer. Though Mick Mars (guitar) and Lee would get credit for a song each. With autobiography The Dirt: Confessions Of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band sending shockwaves through the newer generations of sleaze fans, MÖTLEY CRÜE wanted to capitalise upon it, leading the album to have the same name for a while. Writing on his blog, Sixx would comment how it was “CHALLENGING AND EXCITING TO HAVE TO WRITE THE SONGS INTO TIME CAPSULES SPREADING OVER YEARS[sic]”

While Sixx harboured excitement about Saints Of Los Angeles, the recording process had its own challenges. Putting the album together was more disjointed than usual as Lee and Neil had busy schedules outside of the band. This was something which led to the band’s demise in the past but they were determined to leave demons behind. Talking to Ultimate Guitar, Mars would comment; “Nikki and I would record some things, put them down on ProTools, cut ’em up, splice ’em together… And had Tommy and Vince do their parts when they had time to do it. And it worked out pretty well.”

And pretty well it did. The album would debut at number four on the US Billboard charts and sell 100,000 units within the first week. It fared well this side of the pond as well, peaking at number six on the UK Rock And Metal Album Charts. Though the album would only reach number 78 on the UK Official Album Charts. Part of that success would be down to the title track. Becoming their second highest charting single in the US (the first being Dr. Feelgood), the track would also garner MÖTLEY CRÜE their third Grammy nomination. In the same category they had been nominated for previously for Kickstart My Heart and Dr. Feelgood, the band ultimately lost out on the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy to THE MARS VOLTA’s Wax Simulacra. Makes a change to losing out to LIVING COLOUR as they had done twice in the past. The single had also garnered the attention of the gaming community with Rock Band including it as downloadable content on the day of release.

The accolades are all well and good; being certified Gold in Canada is certainly an achievement, but what of the reviews of the time? Saints Of Los Angeles would be met with a mixed bag. Consequence Of Sound’s Alex Young would describe the album as having the feel of “the forgotten soul of a once great rock band struggling underneath the weight of the Brave New World”. AllMusic’s James Christopher Monger would be a touch more scathing as he wrote: “…while Saints of Los Angeles is the best thing they’ve laid to tape since their codpiece heydays, it’s more of a walk down memory lane/Sunset Strip than a legitimate call to arms.”. While PopMatters would brand the album as “another satisfying platter of ass-jiggling drag race rock for the NASCAR set”. We’ve yet to determine how backhanded that compliment is.

With reviews in the bag and the singles doing their thing, albeit Mutherfucker Of The Year and White Trash Circus having less of an impact, it came time to roll out the tour buses. The inaugural Crue Fest would run in the summer of 2008. Having BUCKCHERRY, PAPA ROACH, SIXX:A.M. and TRAPT on the bill, it was a stacked tour. The cross promotion of having the vocalists of each band appear on the album version of the title track helped massively also. The standard Saints Of Los Angeles tour would roll through North America in early 2009. What of consequent tours? Where does the material sit there? All the singles as well as This Ain’t A Love Song would make healthy appearances after the band’s hiatus from 2015 to 2018. But in the current tour with DEF LEPPARD? Only the title track remains.

The omission of the barn burner White Trash Circus is one pang to the heart but there is another entirely. This would be MÖTLEY CRÜE’s last album with Mick Mars. His long time battle with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) prompted his retirement in 2022. Are we about to address the elephant in the room of legal battles and public mudslinging? No. Distorted Sound isn’t a tabloid. What we will say though is Mars’ contribution to MÖTLEY CRÜE and his status as one of the world’s most underrated guitar players will ensure he is remembered “in the same vein as [Eric] Clapton and [Jeff] Beck” for years to come.

Aside from the soundtrack to the band’s Netflix biopic The Dirt in 2019, the band hasn’t released an album since. Now that John 5, previously of MARILYN MANSON association, is stepping into Mars’ boots, MÖTLEY CRÜE have been writing and recording new music. Whether that culminates in an album is yet to be seen. In terms of Saints Of Los Angeles, it seems to have faded on the desert wind bar one track. While it doesn’t necessarily measure up to the likes of Girls Girls Girls (1987) or Dr. Feelgood (1989), this is one of the band’s stronger entries in their discography. The sickly riff of White Trash Circus and the unhinged arrogance of Mutherfucker Of The Year blend nicely into balladesque The Animal In Me. The 15 years that’ve passed may not have been kind to Saints Of Los Angeles, but with the departure of Mars, it will be a record which lives in the hearts of Crue Heads for the next 15 years and beyond.

Saints Of Los Angeles was originally released on June 24 2008 via Eleven Seven Music.

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