intothewellsabyss

Jul 10, 20234 min read

Mötley Crüe — New Tattoo

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

23 years ago, Mötley Crüe got a “New Tattoo”. This was the last studio recording to feature drummer Randy Castillo, who had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, and passed away on March 26, 2002 at age 51 from this form of cancer.

On this day (July 11) in 2000, Mötley Crüe released their eighth full-length studio album, “New Tattoo” via Mötley / Eleven Seven Music.

Artistically, “New Tattoo” shows the band returning to the earlier musical style that gave them commercial success in the 1980s and early 1990s. This is the only album by the band not to feature drummer Tommy Lee, who left the band a year before, and was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo on the album.

The album artwork was inspired by the cover of Bruce Dickinson's album “Tattooed Millionaire”, whose title track is said to be about Dickinson's wife cheating on him with bassist Nikki Sixx, as revealed in Mötley Crüe's biography “The Dirt”.

Background:

The original line up of Mötley Crüe, which consisted of singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Mick Mars, had reunited for the “Generation Swine” album and tour in 1997, mainly out of pressure from their management and record company. Even though the group had reunited, problems still existed between Lee and Neil, as Lee felt that the band had been going in a backward direction since Neil rejoined the group. Lee was also having domestic problems with his wife, model Pamela Anderson, which, after an altercation following an argument, led to him serving time in jail.

During this time, Mötley Crüe and Elektra Records severed their 17-year relationship together, with Mötley Crüe gaining full ownership of its music catalog and publishing rights. The break with Elektra allowed the group to form its own label, Mötley Records, to release future projects on.

Lee's legal problems forced the band to decline invitations from Ozzfest and various radio festivals, though the band managed to record two new songs for their 1998 “Greatest Hits” album, "Bitter Pill" and "Enslaved," which were more in vein of their 1980s output compared to their work during the 1990s.

While Lee was in jail, he decided that he was going to leave Mötley Crüe and start his own project, which eventually became Methods of Mayhem. Lee stayed with the group for the tour of their greatest hits album, but after each show he would retreat to his portable studio and work on material for his new project. With Lee out of the band, the band hired Randy Castillo, who had previously performed with Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne, as his replacement.

Mötley Crüe teamed up with producer Mike Clink to record the album that Sixx felt should have been the successor to their 1989 album, “Dr. Feelgood”.

“New Tattoo” debuted at No. 41 on the Billboard 200 and slid down shortly after. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album has sold about 203,000 copies in the U.S. to date. The songs "Hell on High Heels", which featured a music video and charted at No. 13 on the Mainstream rock charts, "New Tattoo" and "Treat Me Like the Dog I Am" were released as singles for the album.

Touring & Aftermath:

Several weeks before Mötley Crüe was set to tour “New Tattoo” album, joining Megadeth and Anthrax on the “Maximum Rock Tour”, Castillo became ill while performing with his mariachi side project Azul at the Cat Club in Hollywood.

Immediately after the show Castillo took a cab to nearby Cedars Sinai Hospital where he collapsed as he was being admitted. The doctors discovered a duodenal ulcer that had ruptured his stomach and performed emergency surgery that saved Castillo’s life. With Castillo out of action, Hole drummer Samantha Maloney filled in for the tour.

In October 2000, while taking time off from Mötley Crüe to recover from his surgery, he discovered a small lump on his jaw and a month later, after it had grown to roughly the size of a golf ball, he sought treatment and was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of cancer that is not usually fatal if it is discovered early but can spread rapidly if left untreated. The cancer went into remission in mid-2001, and he was rumored to be rejoining Osbourne's solo band for that summer Ozzfest tour (along with Geezer Butler on bass), though these rumors were later revealed to be untrue.

Within a few months the cancer returned, and a few days after returning to the doctors, Castillo died on March 26, 2002 aged 51. During the final weeks of his life, Castillo had been working with ex-Ozzy Osbourne and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez on a new band and was in the process of hiring a singer.

(𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚙𝚑𝚘 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘 - 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟾, 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟶 – 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝟸𝟼, 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟸)

After Castillo's death in March 2002, Mötley Crüe went on hiatus until their 2004 reunion, with Tommy Lee back in the fold.

None of the songs from the album were played live again after the tour ended; With the exception of one performance of "White Punks on Dope" in 2005.

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “New Tattoo” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/new-tattoo/1606730129

Click this link to listen to “New Tattoo” via Spotify: New Tattoo https://open.spotify.com/album/2a3BI8gkVCOa8VeULesbQR

Click this link to watch the official music video for “Hell On High Heels”: https://youtu.be/k0jQuzwnwGs

Click this link to follow Mötley Crüe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MotleyCrue

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Mötley Crüe — New Tattoo

Background:

Touring & Aftermath:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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