Former Mötley Crüe frontman John Corabi has reflected on the making of the band’s 1997 album Generation Swine. The singer spoke with Rob’s School Of Music, portions of the interview appear below (via blabbermouth.net).
Corabi recounts, “We worked on that record for, God, almost two years. Now, the difference is I’m not a fan of the record that came out. ‘Cause you’ve gotta understand we had recorded a bunch of those songs, and they brought Vince back. Then they went back into the studio with him for, like, another year. And they switched things around, then they started playing with sound effects.”
“I don’t mean this in any disrespect to Mötley at all, but the bottom line of it is we did a record and it didn’t sell well — per their standards,” he continued, referencing 1994’s Mötley Crüe LP., “I mean, it went gold, but it didn’t sell well. The tour was a disaster. And I think, to be honest with you, [drummer] Tommy [Lee], [bassist] Nikki [Sixx, and [co-producer] Scott [Humphrey], were trying to reinvent themselves to be current. And at the time, bands like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Ministry, Pantera — all these bands were heavy, a lot of ’em were industrial, and they were just trying to figure out how to be relevant again. Which kind of led to a little bit of my demise, because I was just, like, ‘This is f–king bulls–t. Just do what you do. You’re Mötley.’ And I’ve done the same thing. Even after I got out of Mötley. and I was in Ratt, then I decided I was gonna do a solo record, I would record a few songs and I would do ’em and I’d go, ‘Man, I’ve gotta be relevant. I’ve gotta be relevant.’ So, everybody gets caught up in it. But the bottom line of it is it took a manager, or a friend of mine, to just sit there and go, ‘You know, Crab, listen, man. F–k that. You are what you are. You’re a bluesy kind of Beatles, [Led] Zeppelin, Aerosmith… That’s who you are. Don’t try to be something that you’re not. Stop looking at trends and just do what you do. There are people out there that like what you do.’ And at that point, once I just said, ‘You know what? F–k it. I’m just gonna do my own thing,’ then I was a lot better off.”
Returning the discussion to the musical direction of Generation Swine, Corabi said: “I’m not real happy with the record the way it came out, because I think they went so far left… We wrote a song, and then they turned it into a song called Glitter. And if you listen to some of the guitar parts that Mick‘s [Mars] is doing, it’s like this weird random noise. One song, I don’t remember which one it is, but there was a guitar solo on it; it sounded like a chainsaw. And I’m, like, ‘Why the f–k…?’ Mick Mars has got the most awesome guitar tone; he’s a very underrated guitar player. Why would you do that to his tone? So, it is what it is. A lot of that record was written while I was in the band. And there was a bunch of other songs that are probably in a vault somewhere that we wrote.”
When interviewer Rob Spampinato suggested that it would be cool for the band to one day release the demos for Generation Swine with his vocals, Corabi said: “To be perfectly honest with you, I think they were panicked. It was the first time for Tommy and Nikki to actually really produce a record. And to be perfectly honest with you, my vocals, if they were ever to release any of that s–t, I would wanna go back in and re-sing. Because I was so mentally… I couldn’t figure out what they wanted. Normally, when you go in with a producer, if you sing something, and they go, ‘Well…’ Like Marti Frederiksen, for example — I’ve done three records with Marti with The Dead Daisies, , and we’re working together on my solo album. And I’ll sing something for Marti, and he’ll go, ‘Eh. That’s really good, dude. But what about…’ And he’ll maybe sing 70 percent of what I was singing, and then he’ll just twist a note or two, and now I go, ‘Oh, s–t. I would have never thought of that.’ ‘
“The thing that I was struggling with Tommy and Nikki and Scott, as far as producing was, they would say, ‘Nah. that’s not it,'” he recalled. “Then I’d go, ‘What are you hearing?’ And they wouldn’t sing me anything back. They really didn’t know what they wanted. They would give me these random bands… Like, Nikki would say, ‘Something on the lines of Manic Street Preachers and old David Bowie.’ And then Scott would go, ‘Cheap Trick‘ And then Tommy would go, ‘No, dude. Like, heavy. Like Pantera. But lush, like Oasis.’ And I’m sitting there going, ‘Half of these bands I’ve never even f–king heard of before. Who are the Manic Street Preachers? Never heard of ’em.’ And I’m trying to process, how do you blend Pantera with Oasis or Cheap Trick or Bowie? I was trying to process it, so my singing was not peak, let’s put it that way. So I would definitely wanna re-sing a lot of that s–t.”
13 Responses
I agree, a lot of bands fall into that trap, and it is usually a disaster. It’s no secret how I felt about Priest’s Turbo album when it came out.
Corabi was definitely put in a tough position, between a rock and a hard place. I liked a few of the songs on “Generation Swine,” but HATED the sound of that album!
Sadly, many bands follow trends, and I hate it. Slayer was one band that remained a consistent kick ass thrash band, which is one of the reasons they had a passionate fan base. Slayer never betrayed their fans with trend…when a listener put on a Slayer album, that listener could be confident of a “music punch in the face”. Of all the “Big 4”, Slayer has my most favorite music catalog.
Even though I have always thought vince neil was a God awful vocalist , any singer would have had a tough time filling that role , motley was well established with a signature sound which included vince Neil’s voice , so even though Corabi could sing circles around neil , and I really liked crue with him on vocals , I completely understand why they went back to vince neil ~
Robert,
I agree that the singer is the hardest position to replace, as that is the person that most individuals connect with and hear. I can only think of a few cases where it was successful: Brian Johnson and Sammy Hagar come to mind.
However, I do believe that had Neil never left, nor got fired, depending on whose version one believes, the band still would have not been successful going the “industrial” route. That is not the sound they are known for, nor is it the sound that made them successful.
Manic Street Preachers were one if those cool bands that nobody else listened to. I dig it. Then again, I listen to everything from ABBA to Zappa, with rock music being my go to. Generation Swine sucks, period, and we all know this. This whole idea of being prolific, news for Nikki, you are not John Lennon. The only player worth talking about in Crue is Mick Mars. His leads are songs into themselves. Vince can’t sing and never could, Tommy is a good drummer but, nothing special, and Nikki is lucky. Mick Mars is definitely the most underrated guitarist in rock.
Mr. Rock and Roll,
Tommy Lee was always one of my favorite drummers, and when I was a teenager, I aspired to be a female version of him (as a drummer).
At least for me, I think what set Lee apart from the pack, was his showmanship. He was, and is, percussionist eye candy. He was always very animated with his once long hair flying all over the place, his drum stick twirling, throwing one stick up in the air and catching it, his ferocious pounding, and this was all before he even started incorporating his riser as an additional source of entertainment. He makes drumming look so cool and fun.
I recently saw The Dirt movie on Netflix, and while it could not even hold a candle to the book, I really enjoyed watching Machine Gun Kelly imitating Tommy’s drum antics.
It seems that Mötley Crüe released an official video for Shout At The Devil, with the actors playing them in the movie. So, if anyone is interested in seeing Kelly’s performance as Lee, click here. Also, here is Kelly, as himself playing to the track on his own tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgKaJF9xZXs.