Artist: Motley Crue 
   Title: Saints Of Los Angeles
   Label: Motley Records

Well here it is the long awaited new album from the kings of sleaze the mighty Motley Crue.  To say I’ve been waiting in anticipation for this release is somewhat of an understatement. As a long time hardcore fan of the band since their ‘Toast Of The Town’ days, I’ve longed for the band to bring out an album worthy of the Crue name.

The album is without a doubt Motley Crue from start to finish.  It's gritty, sleazy, dirty and totally Cruelicious.  Things get underway with a narrative intro ‘L.A.M.F.’ from Neil then the album really gets underway with ‘Face Down In The Dirt’ and from the off there can be no doubt this is a Motley record.  This head on rocker gets things off to a great start as Neil sounds simply superb and with those unmistakable Mars riffs riddled throughout the track, this along with the pummelling rhythms of Sixx and Lee, all go to make this one hell of an opener.  Instantly all those disbelievers who thought the band were past their best will be eating those words when they get a hold of this one.

The band keep the momentum going with ‘What’s It Gonna Take’, a little slice of Sunset sleaze as the band reflect on their early days with this one.  Then it's all guns blazing once more as again they reflect on those Sunset Strip days with the rocking ‘Down At The Whiskey’.  From these three opening tracks it's clear to me as a diehard fan that the band are most definitely back and ready to take on the world once more, as the meanest dirtiest rock band around.

This immense album continues with the title track and one of the many highlights of the album ‘Saints Of Los Angeles’, as Neil opens up with the narrative of the Lords Prayer before the track really takes off with Mars, Lee and Sixx doing what they do best, then those unmistakable Neil vocals take the album to another high.

‘MF Of The Year’ is another classy slice of Crue.  The slower pace still has that unmistakable Crue sound with Mars’s gritty guitar sound against the thumping beat of Lee and Sixx the ever present force that has been the essence of the band since those early Sunset Strip days.

The slower tempo material is carried on with ‘Animal In Me’, with the tub thumping of Lee being the dominant force on this one along with Mars’s haunting guitar licks.  But fear not, the band are not going soft as the tempo is brought back up to boiling point with the excellent rocker vibe of ‘Welcome To The Machine’.

The rock just keeps on coming as another of those highlights comes around with the superb 'Just Another Psycho', again Mars is just magnificent as he spews out the licks like only he does.

‘Chicks=Trouble’ is top draw Motley as they go back to the 'Girls, Girls, Girls' era with that sleaze ridden sound that made that album so popular among the bands fans.

It's back to the more modern Crue with ‘This Ain't A Love Song’, with Vince again sounding real real good and what can I say about Mars that I haven’t already said, he has to be one of the most underrated guitar players of all time. The band keep to their nu-crue sound with the Mansonesque tones of ‘White Trash Circus’.  Along with the first semi biographical sound of tracks two and three, this is where the band reflect on more recent times and the 'Carnival Of Sins' tour.

The band round off the album with a really great rocker and I’m sure reflects the mood of the band right now as the lyrics of ‘Goin Out Swingin’ clearly state.

I’m sure the bands critics were hoping this album wouldn’t live up its expectations but it far exceeds anything the band have done in the past tens years and let's hope a full fledged tour, or even Cruefest, will be coming to these shores soon because the band are coming out fighting and they aren’t gonna pull any punches. 

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