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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A return to form, January 25, 2006
Motley Crue, arguably the biggest pop-metal band of the 1980s, had a tough time in the 1990s. First there was the falling out and ensuing feud between vocalist Vince Neil and the rest of the band. Then there were the alternative and grunge moments that made the Crue's style of music passé. The Crue responded to the public's change in taste by releasing the grunge-sounding "Motley Crue" (1994) album with vocalist John Corabi that was a huge bomb. Then, despite Neil's return to the band, there was another flop with the faux industrial/alt.rock-esque "Generation Swine" (1997). All the while internal problems persisted. Unable to get along, drummer Tommy Lee and Neil almost killed each other at an Airport in the late 90s. Frustrated with both Neil and the band's audience for not liking the Crue's attempts to modernize, Lee quit the group in the summer of '99 to form the Nu-Metal outfit Methods of Mayhem. The final blow came when the Crue left their record label Electra, although they did receive the complete rights to their master-tapes, so they could re-release and repackage their back-catalogue as they saw fit.
Despite a decade that didn't treat them too kindly, at the dawn of the new millennium, the Crue soldiered on. The first task at hand was finding a new drummer. Randy Castillo, formally of Ozzy Osbourne's band, was tapped to replace Tommy Lee. With a new drummer, a new label, and a fresh perspective, Nikki Sixx, (bass) Mick Mars, (guitar) Vince Neil, (vocals) and Randy Castillo (drums) went into the studio in the spring of 2000 to record their eighth studio album.
For Motley Crue's self-titled album and "Generation Swine," the band tried to modernize. While some fans appreciated the Crue's more modern, updated sound (I personally feel that the self-titled album is the Crue's finest work) the public didn't bite. Fans of old-school 80s rock hated anything that wasn't about T and A, and why would a younger audience want to listen to an 80s rock band try to sound like music of their generation?
For their new album, the Crue decided to return to their roots and make an old-school, 80s sunset-strip, pop-metal album. In order to make an 80s style album, Guns N' Roses producer Mike Clint was brought on board. Assisting main songwriter and Crue leader Nikki Sixx in writing the songs was the unknown James Michael. After a few months in the studio, the Crue unleashed "New Tattoo" in the summer of 2000.
Fans are mixed on "New Tattoo." Some feel that it's the band's best work since "Dr. Feelgood" and a return to the sound of classic Crue after years of trend-hopping. Others, however, feel that it's a half-baked attempt to go back in time, or rehash a style where the well of creativity has long since run dry. To be sure, "New Tattoo" definitely sounds like old-school Crue. It actually sounds as though it could have come out around 1988, between "Girls, Girls, Girls" (1987) and "Dr. Feelgood" (1989).
While I don't love this album, I like it a lot. It has a lot going for it. For one thing, the band sounds great. "Theatre of Pain" (1985) and "Girls, Girls, Girls" may have had well-written songs, but the band was so smacked out of its mind on coke, heroin and booze, the quality of the music suffered. On "New Tattoo," the music is done in a similar pop-metal vein (melodic with a sing along chorus) only now the band sounds focused, and the performance is top-notch. Vince Neil gives the best vocal performance of his career with the title-track and sounds great throughout the entire album. Mick Mars's playing is also great, as his soloing has never sounded better and is pure ear candy. Similarly, Sixx and Castillo offer a solid rhythm section, thus making the band sound tight from start to finish.
"New Tattoo" is not as complex or ambitious as "Motley Crue" or "Generation Swine." It's a back-to-basics type of album, which is fine, as the album is generally very well written. There are a couple of weak songs, like the okay-but-not-great opening (and first single) "Hell on High Heals," and "Punched in the Teeth by Love," which sound like clichéd, by-the-numbers hair-metal. The rest of the album, however, is quite strong. The songs are generally fast-paced hard-rockers, that have good hooks and strong melodies that should definitely please fans of the pop-metal genre. The obligatory ballads, "New Tattoo," and "Hollywood Ending" are far less generic than most of its type, and show maturity, without loosing its edge.
The album's biggest flaw, however, are the lyrics. The Crue's lyrics (especially "Theatre of Pain" thought "Dr. Feelgood") have always been somewhat cheesy, but they're especially bad here, as titles such as "Treat Me like the Dog that I am" and "She Needs Rock N' Roll" would suggest. And while the Crue's lyrics in the past were somewhat cheesy, they were still edgy, and the Crue's members were young, and it was in the 80s, so the band gets a pass for past offensives. But in 2000, a middle-aged Crue has no excuse and the band just sounds goofy. Still, the cheesy lyrics don't ruin the album, as the band's top-notch performance and mostly solid collection of songs are more than enough to make this a strong release.
If you are a fan of Motley Crue or 80s-style hard-rock in general, you will probably get something out of this album. Despite a few bad songs and poor lyrical content, it's still a solid album. On a sad note, Randy Castillo succumbed to cancer and died a few years after the release of "New Tattoo."
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
QUIT COMPLAINING ABOUT IT...ITS THE CRUE!!!!!, August 5, 2005
I don't see why every one is bashing New Tattoo! People complained about Crue '94 and Generation Swine because it was too much of a departure from the Shout, Girls and Feelgood style. Everybody bitched, everybody pissed and everybody moaned . So...Nikki and the boyz decide to release a good 'ol fashioned Crue album to satisfy all these "hair rockers" that are now Losing their hair or aging very ungracefully by the time of it's release. What they gave us is a Motley Crue record. In the same style of those mentioned previously. It has all all the trimmin's!!!! Arena anthems, ballads and just plain ol raunch and roll. For this recording, Tommy Lee stepped aside to focus on Methods of Meyhem (another EXCELLENT attempt for what it is...) and former Ozzy drummer Randy Castillo joined the Crue, pounding away like clockwork. Songs like hell on High Heels, Treat Me Like the Dog I Am, New Tattoo, Punched In The Teeth By Love are perfect Motley Crue songs. Catchy, sleezy, melodic Crue songs to suit the taste buds of any Crue fan. See, what happened is this album came out as metal changed. Gone were the 80's style metal that we all know and love dearly. I am a fan of each and all genres of all eras, and New Tattoo gets a 4 out of 5 for me. Why not 5? Well, while it's a decent release, it's not a very stong one. The 4 is for the good tunes and for an EXCELLENT cover of the Tubes', White Punks On Dope! The other thing that makes this a very strong 4 is the sound quality! A crystal clear engineering job well done...if only the first 4 could have been recorded like this...! To Mr. Randy Castillo, thanks for giving us one more round of skin pounding before making you way to rock and roll Heaven. R.I.P brother...we'll NEVER forget you!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best Crue albums ever!!!!!!!!!, October 1, 2003
I love this album! songs like White Punk On Dope, Hell On High Heels, Fake, New Tattoo, and Porno Star are instant Crue classics! This was their comeback album and proved Motley Crue could still rock like they did in the 80's and give the fans a little more than usual!!! This album is one of my favorite albums of 2000 and should be in any Rock fan alikes collection! This album deserves 5 stars all the way!!!!!!!!!
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