Since We're Talking MC94...

Yesterday's post about Tommy Lee's crazy drum solo and the snippet of "Hooligan's Holiday" from MC94 made me nostalgic for that album and that time in Motley history. So naturally I hit up YouTube and found an awkward segment of Nikki Sixx and Tommy on "Headbanger's Ball" promoting the album. Tommy mentions that things are "cool" because they are playing "theaters." Something tells me he didn't honestly feel that way! Anyway, enjoy your Sunday. I'm off to enjoy it myself.

Comments

[Kenny Ozz]

Two things really struck me in this clip. 1, the fact that Rikki Rachman is, was, and will always be a massive poser/tool. And 2, the fatc that Nikki Sixx just ADMITTED that they rehearsed with Sebastian Bach, a fact that in the last year or so that he has strongly denied. The MC94 album was GREAT, and I woul dof KILLED to have seen the tour with them, KingsX, and Type O.

[Bob]

the album itself was great, but bootlegs of that tour reveal that Corabi's voice, amazing though it is, did not sound good singing the rest of their catalog. to me it was a similar situation to when Paul Shortino was in Quiet riot. Shortino also had an awesome voice, but didn't sound good singing the DuBrow material. Speaking of all things Crue, did you see the insulting tweet from Dickboy Tommy Lee trashing the crowd at their Allentown, PA show? Hey dickboy, if the crowd was "Absent", perhaps it's because they phoned in their reaction as much as the band phoned in its performance. You get what you give in this world my friend.

[Dj]

Personally I love the 94 album. Corabi has an amazing voice but he is NOT Motley Crue, no matter how much I love the record.

[Him]

That album is still my second favorite MC outing and, in terms of consistency (not something they have ever been known for on albums), number one.

Bob's got a point (he has a lot of them these days). Not sure that Corabi fit vocally with VN's stuff.

That said, I think (and this is only a partial reply to Dj's observation) that there was some sense of this direction in the band's music prior to VN departing in a glitterly unfurling of his silver trench coat. "Primal Scream" at least points in the direction of MC94/Quaternary sound. Still, with VN back in the fold, they seemed to have dropped back half a step, more in the direction of "Sister of Pain" and such.

I, for one, have always wondered what the next album with VN would have sounded like if he hadn't departed. But I thank my lucky starry eyes that Corabi blessed us with great vocals on a great MC album. But, back to Dj's point, I think they were damned if they did/damned if they didn't in terms of striking out under a different banner (why not _Quarternary_?).

Oh, life, it's misunderstood them,
so they close their eyes and dream of better days.
Oh, life, it's misunderstood, yeah.
Life's not always fair, or so they say.

[Gary]

Bob. After reading that I'm glad I chose not to drive the 45 minutes to see them in Allentown.Tommy has been phoning it in for the last few tours. He doesn't do the pre show meet & greets with the rest of the band.His "solo" is nothing but electronic noise,which they've cover up with The Crucify,the roller coaster, the tittle cam,etc. Dude,you're the worlds oldest teenager.Guy is one of the best rock drummers on the planet,and he basically wants nothing to do with it or the people w

[Jimbo]

gary.."worlds oldest teenager" spot on!! If Tommy wasn't famous he's be 'that guy' at the party,club,beach that people would be staring and pointing at.Would you want him hanging with your teenagers? The fact is Nikki has the Joe Perry coolness,always has, always will where Tommy had it, but now is a complete parody of himself. He's a cartoon but not in a funny way. a sad way.Techno Tommy wants no part of MC but will happily take the $$$

[Bob]

Exactly guys...If Tommy wants to be techno, then be techno. That's not my problem with him -- people's tastes change over the years. My problem with him is that he went on twitter and whined like a little baby when the Allentown crowd didn't slobber at his feet for giving a disingenuous performance. the more I hear about this tour, as much as I still truly love their albums, the more glad I am that I haven't handed over a dime of ticket money to those guys since '89.

[Jakki Steal]

I saw Motley Crue on the Corabi tour.
I was 13 & it was my first concert ever.
I loved it but there were a few Motley/Vince songs that Corabi sounded out of place singing.
I think it was more of me just being really used to how Vince sang those songs than it was Corabi's fault.

I was a fan of Motley Corabi the first time I heard "Hooligans Holiday".
To me the whole self titled CD has the same magic as all of their 1980's albums.
[I even put 'Generation Swine' in that same boat, I'm sure many here disagree w/me on that but it's the last motley album I truly love, before James Michael & all the outside writers took over most of Motley Crue's songwriting duties]

Still it was a killer show to see.
Type O Negative wasn't there but Kings X was.
During Kings X's final song Motley briefly came on the stage & threw a bunch of live chickens on the stage, at least a dozen or so.

The Corabi tour is the only Motley tour that I don't have a high quality bootleg DVD of.
I'm dying to get one since Motley will never release an official one.

In a perfect world I would love for Motley to release a CD full of demos from the proposed "Personality #9" album they were working on w/Corabi before Vince came back.

[Metalboy!]

Another one of those threads where ALL of the comments are GREAT!

Kenny O, I was thinking' the same thing! During the interview, Sixx more or less says Sebastian Bach auditioned for Crue.

I also love the detail about Steve Perry of Journey comin' over to jam! Imagine if he had replaced Neil. As far fetched as that sounds, can't you just hear all that classic Crue stuff being nailed way beyond the imperfect vocal stylings of Vince Neil. Don't get me wrong, Neil's voice is Crue... It would just be interesting to hear "Home Sweet Home", etc., with Perry's flawless vocal interpretation.

And, you are so right about, Rachtman, Kenny. What an annoying poseur. It really is amazing how he constantly attempted to hide his total cluelessness under such thinly veiled condescension.

Bob! Absolutely killarious comments. As HIM points out, you are to be commended for many an insightful observation of late.

HIM, You are so right about "Primal Scream" as a clue of things to come. Come true they did for that fleeting moment that is "MC94".

However, we do quite often respectfully disagree, so I must humbly say, here is a case where I politely submit you've gone off the reservation.

As great as MC94 is, it doesn't hold a candle to "Too Fast For Love", which they've never topped. Consistency? That album is ALL KILLER, no filler, IMHO. And for me, "Dr. Feelgood" also qualifies as such.

And forgetting the inconsistency issues for a moment, I would still put "Shout At The Devil", "Theatre of Pain' and "Girls, Girls, Girls" above "MC94" with "Girls, Girls, Girls" displaying quite a bit more consistency out of those three.

Jakki! Wow, man... As much as I tout the Neil Era Crue, I wish I had seen Crue with Corabi, too! I do love "MC94" for all it's adventurism and RAW METAL qualities. Corabi brought it and still does. You can see him performing "Hooligan's Holiday" on The Monster of Rock Cruise this past March on YouTube. I assume he'll do the same next year! Thanks for the intel on "Personality #9". I wonder if Corabi and some others have copies? Wish somebody would just leak that stuff.

[Gary]

Although Primal Scream is my all time favorite Motley song,I'm with my bro in Metal MB on the ranking of the whole MC 94. It's definitely top 3 or 4 to me. But for my tastes Dr. Feelgood was Motley's epitome.That entire album just blew me away. After that it's Too Fast and then a toss up between Shout & "Motley Corabi". It's too bad Crabby didn't stick as the lead singer,as imagine how much better they'd be live today on this final cash grab (I mean tour) with crabby doing the vocals (and actually singing all the words,and doing it in the actual key of the music)instead of Dom Deluise sweating and huffing around the stage singing every 3rd word,and holding the mic stand out to the audience to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.....

[Metalboy!]

Haha, Gary! Calling Corabi "Crabby" isn't too far from the truth.

The man may have once kissed me on the cheek during The Monsters of Rock Cruise but also acted all "harumphy" toward me when he and I nearly literally ran into each other coming out of the ship's cafeteria when he was coming the other way.

[bkallday]

This CD was ok but calling themselves Motley Crue was a joke of epidemic proportions. Corabi should've stuck with The Scream. Now that album kicked serious ass! So in summation....Vince>>>Crabby

[Him]

No. No. No. (sung to the tune of "Girls, Girls, Girls"). Corabi was, and is, a better singer than VN. Stage presence? Not even close back in the day. VN wins hands down. But now? Even with the odd dread look, Corabi is slinging it like he's meaning it. I am not an apologist or a fan on this. I think it is pretty accurate.

[Him]

. . . and I never said which album places ahead of MC94. "Too Fast for Love" is the answer.

Consistency is a fool's bargain. But I stand by MC94 being as good as SATD and certainly better, again in terms of consistency (and passion), than DF. "KSMH" was the start of the mushy side of MC, where the edge was projected but not respected. It was akin to Metallica's "Lords of Summer" (albeit two decades plus earlier). You heard the faintest trace of what you loved. But the glue--and the content--was missing.

Let me make this simple. You can wrap a ball in bacon. But that doesn't make the ball bacon.