Bad Boys Mötley Crüe Are On A Rock & Roll Mission

The group members, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil are well known for their bad boy antics and hard rocking lifestyles. From the very beginning, these boys have either made problems or problems found them. On their first tour in 1982, they were actually apprehended at the Edmonton International Airport as they had on their spiked stage clothes through customs. Officials at the airport confiscated all of what the group carried that they thought indecent or unsafe. No concern for the band though, it was all a promotional prank and it worked beautifully!

Throughout the 1980's, Mötley Crüe was involved in a seemingly endless cycle of loose females, substance abuse and run-in's with the police. There was a night in 1984, an allegedly intoxicated Vince Neil was involved in a terrible frontal crash. Vinces' passenger, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley of the band Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident. Neil was condemned to 30 days, but spent a measley 18 days imprisoned for the incident. Later, the band turned tragedy into music and released box sets irreverently called "Music To Crash Your Car To".

The drugs and alcohol were overtaking their lives in a major way. In 1987, Nikki Sixx actually was pronounced dead from a heroin overdose. His heart stopped and that could have been his demise. Luckily for Sixx, the paramedics didn't give up and gave him two shots of adrenaline to his heart. Plainly, he lived to tell the story. This small incident gave the group the inspiration for the song 'Kick Start My Heart' from the 'Dr. Feelgood' release.

It was not long after Sixx's near-death experience that the bands managers intervened. It was time for a serious treatment if this band was going to keep going. The managers denied the group to go on a European circuit, fearing that more than one would die on the road. The reality of their demeanor and the results must have hit them where it hurts. All the members finally got themselves sober. While the others opted to go into a rehab program, Mars preferred to deal with his habituations on his own.

In spite of their larger-than-life struggles with addictions during the 1980's, they still managed, in some way, to put together several best-selling albums. To this day songs from the albums, 'Shout At The Devil', 'Theatre Of Pain' and 'Girls, Girls, Girls' get alot of air-time. But it wasn't until '89, with a clean-living band that they were at long last able to produce a #1 album, 'Dr. Feelgood'. Everyone, even the band thought that their sober attempts were far better than anything they'd done earlier.

The 90's bestowed more trouble for the band. They published their 6th studio album, 'Decade of Decadence' in 1991 and it reached the #2 spot on the music charts. Then, in 1992, Neil either left the group or was terminated, depending on who you hear the story from. He was promptly replaced and the group released a self-titled album that achieved number 7 on the charts. Finally, in '97, the band reunited and released yet another recording, 'Generation Swine'. The album did not do well commercially, which led to them departing their recording label, Elektra.

In '98, after their contract with Elektra had expired, the band discovered themselves in a unique position. They are one of the very few bands to have full control both over their catalogue of masters and publishing. With this new power, the band re-published all of their albums and included many demos and formerly unreleased songs.

In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to pursue his own solo calling and to avoid further battle with Neil. He was substituted and the band continued to tour and record, but fell short of genuine success. Sixx likewise went his own way and played for the bands "58" and "Brides Of Destruction". It took 5 years, but the band finally did reunite and got busy recording a new compilation album called 'Red White & Crüe'. They as well went on a couple of circuits, including their 2005 tour, 'Carnival of Sins' and the 2006 'Route of All Evil' tour that they did with the group Aerosmith.

Just last month, Mötley Crüe published their latest album, 'Saints of Los Angeles'. Critics say the album is some of the best music they've ever produced! It is a serious flash-back to the Crüe's former style and a welcome one at that. Seems these bad boy rockers are still going after their original mission to rock the public as hard as they can.