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''Generation Swine'' is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band
Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...
, 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 Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...
until the 2008 album '' Saints of Los Angeles''. It is also the band's last album to be released on
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
. 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 by executives at
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
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 Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and radio personality, best known as the co-founder, bassist, primary songwriter, and only constant member of the hea ...
, drummer
Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...
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 Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician. In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
. 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. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
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 Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952) is an American record company executive. Since 2019, she is the Chairman and CEO, chair and CEO of Epic Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Rhone served previously in senior positions at Vested ...
, Morris agreed, and the band continued with their work.


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 and overproduc ngthe music", the band eventually chose Scott Humphrey, with Sixx and Lee serving as coproducers. 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 Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
and
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
. The songs draw heavy influence from
Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...
in the first half of the record. Rick Nielsen and
Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...
did backing vocals in some songs. Most of the album was written while Corabi was 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 Donna Jeanette D'Errico (born March 30, 1968) is an American actress. She posed for ''Playboy'' as its Playmate of the Month for September 1995 and had a starring role (1996–1998) on the television series ''Baywatch''. She continues to act i ...
) 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 " he criticslove 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?".


Release and promotion

" Afraid" was released as the first single from the album. The video featured '' Hustler'' publisher Larry Flynt, who also put the band on the cover of an issue of ''Hustler'' that year. The song reached #10 on the US
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
charts, but that too did little to generate interest in the album. The second single released was "
Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...
", which reached number 37 on the mainstream rock charts; "Glitter" was also released as a single. "Find Myself" was released as a promo single and a music video was made for " Shout at the Devil '97". The band felt that the album's sluggish sales were due to Elektra not promoting the album properly, claiming that the label was only interested in promoting R&B acts. Rhone denied this claim though, stating that Mötley Crüe was a major priority for Elektra and that the label had spent a large sum of money in order to get the band to perform "Shout at the Devil '97" on the
American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
in January 1997. To promote the album, Skeleteens Beverages in Pasadena, California created a soft drink for the band called "Motley Brue". The drink came in bottles that featured the new "Pig logo" and consisted of large amounts of blue #1 that turned everything blue. The intentions were to have people that drank the soft drink urinate green fluid. Mötley Crüe helped design the bottles that featured lyrics from ''Generation Swine'' songs on the reverse of each label. The Japanese release of the album included the track "Song to Slit Your Wrist By" a song recorded by Sixx's solo project 58. ''Generation Swine'' debuted at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling over 80,500 copies in its first week and was certified
Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
on August 27, 1997. Despite the strong charting debut, the album failed to return the band to the level of critical and commercial success that had been hoped for with the reunion, and according to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
the album has sold about 306,000 copies in the U.S. to date. In 2008, singer Vince Neil stated that the album was "terrible" due to "too much experimenting". ''Generation Swine'' would be the group's final release on
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
, as the label and Mötley Crüe would break their relationship off in early 1998.Layne, Anni
"Motley Crue Breaks From Elektra"
''Rolling Stone''. April 17, 1998.
Future releases from the group would come from their own Mötley Records.


Reception

''Generation Swine'' received mixed reviews. "Somehow", Sixx observed in 2000, "the spin had got out there that Mötley was going to flirt with an alternative sound – that we'd sold out. Sure, it was experimental, but it wasn't alternative,
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
or
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
. So I was a little disappointed at the way it was received." Sputnikmusic highlights the experimental nature of the production, which "is devoted to hard rock tracks structurally very similar to their so-called 'classic era' but sonically re-wired and approached from a direction entirely alien to the band" and praises "the vast improvement, or at the very least development, in Nikki Sixx's songwriting", finally declaring ''Generation Swine'' "a worthwhile experiment for the band that produced some of their most enduring music." David Grad of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' praises Neil's voice, which lost "none of its hormonal urgency" and describes the music as a display "of highly burnished metal trumpeting the pleasures of drugs and nasty sex."
Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...
calls it "the summer record of '97." In contrast,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
calls the album "nothing short of an embarrassment" and blames the band for "simply recycling old ideas and sounds", not coming up "with any catchy riffs" and making the return of Neil "just a coincidence." Dean Golemis of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' agrees, writing that despite "nose-bleeding punk runs", what transpires is the sound of a "Hollywood metal band from the '80s." Jon Wiederhorn of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' remarks how the band tried to fuse "cornball glam-metal techniques" with "cutting-edge production and grinding industrial effects", but – instead of a "new direction that would defy expectations" – produced an album "more schizophrenic than Wesley Willis", unwelcome to Mötley fans who "crave consistency". J. D. Considine, another ''Rolling Stone'' reviewer, finds the album "as limp as overcooked spaghetti." Neil Arnold of '' Metal Forces'' calls ''Generation Swine'' "the black sheep of the Crüe family, making even the 1994 self-titled opus look brilliant" and ascribes its failure to the fusion of "industrial-fueled grooves and clanking rhythms" with the "distinctive Vince Neil whine", concluding that "'electronica' and 'alternative' are not words ed associate with Mötley Crüe."


Legacy

In a 2016 '' Louder Sound'' article on the ten worst Mötley Crüe songs, they placed "Brandon" fifth, calling it "probably very touching for the people involved, including mum Pamela Anderson. But embarrassing and awkward for the rest of us." Vince Neil claimed in a 2024 interview that he has always "hated" the album. He said that producer Scott Humphrey and the other band members were "trying to reinvent themselves to be current", adding that it was derivative of contemporary artists of the time, such as
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
,
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
,
Rob Zombie Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
, Ministry and
Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...
.


Lawsuit

On July 7, 1997, Corabi filed a $4 million lawsuit against the band for alleged breach of contract, fraud, and slander. Corabi's claim was that he had not received royalties or credit for his work and contributions while he was in the band. Corabi was only officially credited for two songs on the original pressing of ''Generation Swine'', "Flush" and "Let Us Prey", but claimed that he was responsible for at least 80% of the material on the album.


Track listing


Personnel


Mötley Crüe

* Vince Neil – lead vocals (on all tracks except "Rocketship" and "Brandon") * Mick Mars – lead guitar, backing vocals *
Nikki Sixx Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and radio personality, best known as the co-founder, bassist, primary songwriter, and only constant member of the hea ...
– bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Rocketship", additional vocals on "Find Myself", production *
Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...
– drums, piano, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Brandon", additional vocals on "Confessions" and "Beauty", production


Additional personnel

* John Corabi – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (credit only) * David Darling – rhythm guitar * Suzie Katayama – cello * Bennet Salve – string arrangements * David Paich – piano, harpsichord * Scott Humphrey – synthesizer, computer programming, backing vocals, production * Gunner Sixx (Nikki's son) – additional vocals on "Find Myself" * Rick Nielsen and
Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...
– backing vocals on "Glitter"


Technical personnel

* Lenny DeRose, Brian Dobbs,
Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician based in Vancouver. Ogilvie started his recording career as a mixing engineer at Mushroom Studios. He frequently collaborated with industrial band Skinny Puppy ...
, Steve MacMillan, Marty Ogden – recording * Brian VanPortfleet, Barry Moore, Mike Geiser, Patrick Thrasher, Patrick Shevelin, David Bryant, Brandon Harris, Bill Kinsley, Gary Winger, John Nelson, Dave Hancock – assistants * Paul DeCarli – head programmer * Tom Baker at Future Disk – mastering


Artwork

* John Eder, William Hames, John Harrell, Dean Groover – photography * Duke Woolsoncroft, Duke Design Co. – art direction and choreography


Charts


Album


Singles


Certifications


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control Mötley Crüe albums 1997 albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by Scott Humphrey Alternative metal albums by American artists Alternative rock albums by American artists Industrial rock albums