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WHEN WE MAKE LOVE
IT'S HARD TO TELL
IF YOUR DREAMING OF ME
OR SOMEONE ELSE
THAT DRUNKEN KISS
SEEMS LIKE A LIE
DON'T SAY IT'S FOREVER
AND THEN SAY GOODBYE
Generation Swine
is the seventh
studio album by
the American heavy metal band
released on
June 24, 1997.
The album marks
the return
of lead singer
Vince Neil
following his
last appearance
on 1991's
Decade of Decadence
and the last to feature
drummer
Tommy Lee
until the 2008 album
Saints of Los Angeles.
It is also the band's
last album to
be released on
Elektra Records.
The album's name
as well as the title track
is derived from
Generation of Swine
by Hunter S. Thompson.
Background
Following the
commercial disappointment
of the band's
self-titled album,
Mötley Crüe
was under pressure from
executives at
Elektra Records
to return
Mötley Crüe
to the level of
commercial success
that the band enjoyed
in the 1980s.
The band,
then officially consisting of
vocalist/guitarist
John Corabi,
bassist
Nikki Sixx,
drummer
Tommy Lee
and guitarist
Mick Mars,
were so frustrated
with the failure of
the previous album
and tour sales
that they fired
numerous people
around the group,
including longtime
manager
Doug Thaler
and producer
Bob Rock.
The band then hired
Allen Kovac
as their new manager
(given his reputation for restoring
the faltering careers
of other veteran acts)
and started looking for
another producer
to work with
for their next record,
which was originally titled
Personality #9.
After the mass firing,
the band was called to
a meeting with
Warner Bros.
CEO Doug Morris
to discuss their future
prospects at the label.
At the meeting,
Morris tried to convince
Sixx and Lee
to get rid of Corabi,
as he wasn't a "star",
and reunite with
original singer
Vince Neil.
Sixx and Lee
were not interested
in the idea of
working with Neil again
and insisted on
keeping Corabi
in the group.
With some additional convincing
from Elektra
CEO Sylvia Rhone,
Morris agreed,
and the band continued
with their work with Corabi
Recording
Crüe returned to the studio
intending to record
a straight rock record
that was more aggressive
than the
Mötley Crüe album.
With Bob Rock producing,
they recorded material such as
"The Year I Lived in a Day"
and
"La Dolce Vita".
The band was so excited that,
according to Corabi,
"At the end of each day
we'd walk around the studio
carrying our huge cocks
in our hands because
the music rocked so hard."
After Rock was fired for being
"too expensive",
the band eventually chose
Scott Humphrey,
with Sixx and Lee
serving as co-producers.
But the process became disorganized;
Humphrey was an
inexperienced producer
and constantly argued
with Lee and Sixx
over how the
album should sound.
Mars' role was greatly reduced
due to an ongoing
feud between him
and Humphrey,
and Corabi grew
increasingly frustrated,
as he would learn
and write material
only to find it
completely changed
by the time he returned
to the studio.
Mars and Corabi
both claim that while
Mars was very much
a part of the
recording sessions,
virtually all of his contributions
were discarded
at some point.
Instead,
various uncredited
session musicians
filled in for him.
Mars described
the Generation Swine period
as his only regret
as a member of
Mötley Crüe,
due to this fact.
"They had no respect for Mick",
said Corabi
of the sessions.
As the recording continued,
the band was being
pressured to reunite
with Neil.
Corabi quit the group
after deciding he
was tired of working
under the pressure
that the band
and Humphrey
put on him.
With Corabi out,
the invitation was open
for Neil to return.
Neil had been busy
with his solo career
and the
untimely death
of his daughter Skylar
when Kovac approached him
with the idea
of reuniting with Mötley,
which Morris
had presented to
Sixx and Lee earlier.
Neil,
like Sixx and Lee,
was against the idea,
but Kovac planted the idea
of a reunion in Neil's head
that eventually
changed his mind.
After meeting with
Sixx and Lee,
Neil agreed to rejoin
and finish the album,
whose title had been changed to
Generation Swine.
Musically,
the album shows
Mötley trying to update
their image and sound,
experimenting with trends
such as electronica
and alternative rock.
The songs draw heavy influence
from Cheap Trick
in the first half
of the record.
Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander
did backing vocals
in some songs.
Most of the album
was written while
Corabi was still
with the band,
and as such Neil
had difficulty adjusting
his voice to the
material and sound.
"There's a lot on that album
that I'd have changed
had I been there
from the start,"
he remarked.
"I didn't think the producer
really knew what
he was doing,
because he wouldn't let me sing
in the style
I was accustomed to.
He wouldn't let Mick
play his usual way either.
It was a nightmare."
Even with Neil
back in the band,
the album proved
a departure from traditional
Mötley albums.
Besides the
aforementioned experimentation,
the album featured
Sixx and Lee
on lead vocals
for the first time:
Sixx on
"Rocketship"
a love song for his
new romance with model
Donna D'Errico
and parts of
"Find Myself";
and Lee on
"Brandon"
a namesake song
for his first-born son,
and his then-current wife,
Pamela Anderson
and
"Beauty".
Lyrically,
Generation Swine
ranges from songs
about drugs and prostitution
such as
"Find Myself"
and
"Beauty",
to the anti-suicide
stance on
"Flush"
and familial love on
"Rocketship"
and
"Brandon".
Lee was more involved in
the writing for
Generation Swine
than with previous
Mötley Crüe albums,
and
"Brandon"
is described as being
a heartfelt tribute
to his newborn son.
In negative reviews
of the album,
critics often made fun
of the song
"Brandon"
for being overly sentimental.
In a March
1998 interview with Spin,
Sixx said that this upset him,
commenting
"[the critics]
love it when Tommy's
busted with a gun
or having sex in a video,
but he's not even
human to them.
How can you
expect someone
to not write about the most
beautiful thing
that's ever happened
in his life?"
TRACKLIST
Find Myself
Afraid
Flush
Generation Swine
Confessions
Beauty
Glitter
Anybody Out There
Let Us Prey
Rocketship
A Rat Like Me
Shout At The Devil '97
Brandon
Afraid
(Swine Mix Jimbo Mix)
Wreck Me
Kiss The Sky
Rocketship
(Demo)
Confessions
(Tommy Lee Vocal)
Plant Boom
(Tommy Lee Vocal)
Chip Away At The Stone
(Vince Neil) [*]
Cold Ethyl
(Vince Neil) [*]
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