{"id":11190,"date":"1997-06-24T00:00:13","date_gmt":"1997-06-24T00:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=11190"},"modified":"2013-06-01T15:09:41","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T15:09:41","slug":"album-review-motley-crue-generation-swine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-motley-crue-generation-swine\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcE – Generation Swine (1997) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcE
Generation Swine<\/strong><\/span>
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\nElektra (1997)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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So, after the short-lived love affair with former The Scream vocalist John Corabi, M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a> reunited with blonde bombshell and original frontman Vince Neil for what is undoubtedly their messiest record.<\/p>\n

With the grunge scene fading, Cr\u00fce found themselves in a nu-metal matrix of industrial-fueled grooves and clanking rhythms. This time round, the four-piece keep the hard edge that Corabi seemed to instil within them, and coat it with gluey glitter.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a heavy focus on futuristic dynamics while still trying to accommodate that distinctive Vince Neil whine which in the past had seemed more suited to dirty riffs and songs about girls and alcohol. Neil seems lost in the mix this time round, while all around him the band rattle out something akin to a groove-based kaleidoscope of noisy grunge.<\/p>\n

Album opener \u2018Find Myself\u2019 is just a disordered lump that clatters like an oil drum being thrown down a hill. Rarely does it breathe as a song, and neither does \u2018Afraid\u2019 with its clanking guitar and tinny drum.<\/p>\n

With Nikki Sixx (bass) and Tommy Lee (drums) now shorn of their locks, this is clearly M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce trying to step into the \u201cnow\u201d and slot alongside the wishy-washy nu-metal brigade. Cr\u00fce flirt with experimentalism, meaning of course that anthems are out the window and we are instead mistreated by several laborious, and arty workouts.<\/p>\n

In a sense, I can almost \u2013 and I say almost \u2013 see why the band rushed headlong into those icy cold waters. Metal was dead on its feet and the only bands who were making any noise at the time were Fear Factory and Machine Head, both employing harder dynamics and bombastic grooves.<\/p>\n

Although M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce somehow adapted to the 90s and outgrew the hair metal scene, this meant a patchy brace of records, from 1994\u2019s self-titled<\/a> opus to this disorderly cacophony. Even so, this was Cr\u00fce colouring the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll waters a little too much, with Sixx taking lead vocals duties on the watery \u2018Rocket Ship\u2019, while Lee threw his hat in the mix with the cringe-worthy ballad \u2018Brandon\u2019, featuring some of the band\u2019s worst ever lyrics.<\/p>\n

As if these pointless experiments were not enough we were force-fed a hideous remix of old chestnut \u2018Shout At The Devil\u2019 (from the 1983 album of the same name), this time round called \u2018Shout At The Devil 97\u2019, with its needless layers and noodling, dragged even further down by those jarring, choppy rhythms.<\/p>\n

Of course, Cr\u00fce being Cr\u00fce, there were moments when they did almost get it right. \u2018Glitter\u2019 is a wistful ballad \u2013 although many fans preferred the more obscure alternative version featured on the single release \u2013 but with those electronic sounding beats this was just another attempt at being down with the kids, and the band were quickly losing identity.<\/p>\n

\u2018A Rat Like Me\u2019 saves the day in the sense it\u2019s just a blunt rock \u2019n\u2019 roller, but with a majority of the tracks on this opus written when John Corabi was still in the band, Vince Neil struggles to fit into the tumultuous proceedings, and, as the wall of sound bleeps, blinks, rattles, smokes and churns around him, he must\u2019ve been feeling like an ill-fitting cog.<\/p>\n

Generation Swine<\/em> is typical of the late 90s, when it was a terrible time to be in a metal band. Tracks such as \u2018Let Us Prey\u2019 (guitarist Mick Mars\u2019 best moment) and \u2018Confessions\u2019 (with Tommy Lee\u2019s caveman backing vocals) leave me cold, swamped by those god-awful, fuzzy dynamics time and time again. \u201cElectronica\u201d and \u201calternative\u201d are not words I\u2019d associate with M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce, and I hope I never have to use those words again in reviewing one of their albums.<\/p>\n

Generation Swine<\/em> really is the black sheep of the Cr\u00fce family, making even the 1994 self-titled opus look brilliant. Thankfully, the meddling wouldn\u2019t last, but it would take three more years before the band \u2013 minus Tommy Lee \u2013 reverted back to basics.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M\u00d6TLEY CR\u00dcEGeneration Swine Elektra (1997)Rating: 6\/10 So, after the short-lived love affair with former The Scream vocalist John Corabi, M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce reunited with blonde bombshell and original frontman Vince Neil for what is undoubtedly their messiest record. With the grunge scene fading, Cr\u00fce found themselves in a nu-metal matrix of industrial-fueled grooves and clanking rhythms. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[485],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motley-crue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11190"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12148,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11190\/revisions\/12148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}