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| TO THE LION'S DEN |
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| I know that this is all about ranting, but I guess you can call this ranting on a different level. I just got done reading this book and I figured it'd make for a helluva way to do that one thing I never liked in school : a book report. I bought this book the last time I went to see my fiance, and for the past week (it's June 29, 2001) I've been reading it off and on. I bought it for the simple fact that I am (and not ashamed to admit it, either) a Crue fan. I have owned damn near all of their albums at any point in my life (had the original CDs, but some fuck-wad stole all of them), and am in the process of finding them all once again, although I'll more than likely hesitate before picking up the John Corabi-era one. I knew all about the drugs, alcohol, women, general craziness and everything else one from the '80's could come to expect from the boys, but I never had any clue as to just how FUCKED UP it all was for them. From their beginnings as rebellious teens (Nikki stabbed himself and called the cops so they could arrest his mother), to the infamous Motley House (if you think you're place is a mess, read this and feel better) where they all joined up to rehearse, get laid, get stoned, get drunk and get stoned, laid and drunk some more, it's all here. Plus more than you ever thought possible. The recording sessions where more drug use was done than actual recording. Fighting when they were sobering up and not when they were in the stratosphere. Ego trips so powerfull that blinders were on to the world. I guess you can say that they were every band before and after them, only blown up to a much larger scale. I'd have to say that just about damn near everyone in Hollywood and the music business during that time is in here, either getting wasted with the band, or getting pissed on by Nikki. Their takes on people they toured with, and even mentioning guys and bands who hadn't |
| 'blown up' by then (Orgy is mentioned). From the infamous Ozzy tour (ever heard of a man snorting ANTS?), to how they self-destructed after the Girls, Girls, Girls tour, one gets to see life on the road as only told by people who lived it. And then the tradgedy is also included... Nikki Sixx's father abandoned him at a young age, and later all but disowned him years later (which led to Nikki changing his name from Frank Ferrano to Nikki Sixx legally). Immersing himself in drugs and music, I think he had his priorities messed up...drugs first then music then everything else could go fuck itself. Then the near fatal overdose where he was declared DOA, but managed to come back, to not learning his lesson (went and shot up AGAIN the day after). The ego-trip that eventually led to the argument where Vince walked, and the reluctant reuinon years later for Generation Swine and the fight that made them best of friends afterwards. To finding out he has a brother and that his father had died back in 1987 without the two of them ever coming together to talk again so he could find out why he left. His chapters make you hate him and feel sorry for him all at the same time, but never more sorry than when he found out about his long-lost sister who his mnother had said left them years ago. She had Downs Syndrome, was blind and mute and had been living in a hospital all her life. During the Girls tour, he was only an hour from where she was, but didn't even know it. And then when he did find her, he swore that he would go see her after the next leg of the tour he was on, only to come back and learn that she had died of a heart attack. I actually shed tears at this point in his story because after all he had been through, this was not something that you wanted to have happen to him. Vince Neil was almost as bad. From fucking every chick he met, to drinking almost as much as Nikki was doing drugs. But even the fatal car accident that took the life of his friend Razzle of Hanoi Rocks, and the brain damage caused to the two people in the other car because he was drunk and went too fast couldn't teach him much of a lesson. The pain he felt during his thirty days in prison because no one in the band called or came by, and the media calling him a killer who got off easy...it's no wonder he didn't stay sober. The argument that had him walk off and do his own thing is here, told from all four members, so take your pick on who to believe there. But the parts about his little 4 year old daughter Skylar are his tragic moments. Cancer was eating her, and no matter what the doctors did, it was winning. He hit the booze I think harder now than ever, but this time he had a good reason. And it's amazing that he hadn't comitted suicide when she passed away in the hospital, having finally lost the battle...and he couldn't be there to say good-bye and that he loved her. Like a part of Nikki's life, Vince lost someone close and didn't have the chance to say good-bye. Tommy Lee's chapters are practically public record these days (as well as prominantly displayed in porn shops). From joining Nikki on his power trips, to marrying the wrong women, it's all here. His hatred for Vince culminated in a fight during the Greatest Hits tour that eventually led to him leaving the band. Ironically, it was Tommy Lee who had mentioned Vince to the band when they needed a singer in the first place. His relationships with his wives and kids are here, and you can't really decide what to believe where this guys involved. His chapters are interesting to say the least, but I wish I could remember exactly what it was that pissed Tommy off about Vince to begin with. Pamela Anderson is a bitch, c'mon we all know that. And as for Mick Mars? One of the best damn guitarists on the planet, it's hard to believe that this man has been on the losing end of life for most of it. Not as rowdy as everyone else, he was always the butt of jokes told in the book, and the target for abuse by every woman he wound up with. Or at least until he found the one he's with now. From abusive women, to thieving women, he's suffered it all. From being made to feel like he's not worth it in the band, to being made to feel old. To telling the world that he's been dying for years. A bone-disorder has been freezing his body and grinding his joints to a halt for years, and will eventually take his life. He has an odd sense of humor about things, especially that...but as a fan of his music, I don't find it all that amusing. From laughing, to crying, to feeling for them, to hating them, to remembering the first time you heard them play, to seeing them play live no more than 10 feet away from your face in a SRO room filled with hundreds of moshing and thrashing fans, rabid to raise their fists in the air and scream at the world again, you get to know the four men who set the world on fire...and suffered every step of the way. From the highest point when they all hated each other, to their most desolate when they couldn't be separated, it's all here. I recommend this one to ANYONE that remembers what it was like to fucking rock. Anyone who remembers rock when it knew who and what it was. Read it...and feel dirty. Cause it won't come off when you're done reading it. |
| WANT TO FEEL DIRTY? MOTLEY CRUE : THE DIRT by Brian Clegg |