This week, worlds collided as The Rock Revival was invited to invade the set of VH1‘s That Metal Show. I had the opportunity to trek to New York City for taping of this week’s episode. Take it from me, there’s some really great stuff coming your way in this one for sure. This week’s special guest was the one and only Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe. The Crüe recently announced their Final Tour, the last Mötley live trek ever. It was a great experience being on the set of the show. For rock music fans everywhere, especially the metalheads, this is our show. It’s our one our a week to immerse ourselves in all things heavy.
A long-awaited guest on the show, Mick sat down with host Eddie Trunk and his
comrades Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine to talk about the band’s decision to no longer tour, a movie based on the Crüe’s autobiography The Dirt, his upcoming solo material, and much, much more. Also on hand was Kurdt Vanderhoof, founding guitarist of the legendary Metal Church. After what appeared to be a retirement for the band in 2009, the boys are back together touring in support of a new album, Generation Nothing, which dropped back in October. This week’s musical guest was Tom Keifer, renowned front man of Cinderella. Keifer has been touring relentlessly as of late in support of his debut blues-infused solo effort, The Way Life Goes.
For 33 years, Mötley Crüe have embodied all that is excess in rock ‘n’ roll. They exploded onto the Sunset Strip in the early ’80’s with their raw-as-hell debut album, Too Fast For Love, in 1981. The band achieved their greatest commercial success in the late ’80’s with 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls, which hit #2 on the Billboard Top 200. The follow-up, 1989’s Dr. Feelgood, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and spawned five huge huge hit singles. Both albums are now certified over 7x platinum. Throughout their legendary career, The Crüe have garnered three Grammy Award nominations and four American Music Award nominations. They won the American Music Award for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Album in 1990 for Dr. Feelgood. In 2006, the band received their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mötley Crüe are one of the best-selling artists of all time, with over 80 million records sold worldwide. The band’s last album, 2008’s Saints of Los Angeles, debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 and sold approximately 100,000 copies in it’s first week of sales.
“I’m thrilled that the show is coming back,” said host Eddie
Trunk before the season started. “But, I’m really excited that we’re now shooting on a weekly basis, as fans will now have the opportunity to see the new episodes as soon as they are completed.” Since it’s inception in 2008, the talk show has brought fans a unique heavy music news and discussion experience. To date, the show boasts a roster of special guests including members of Aerosmith, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, KISS, Anthrax, Pearl Jam, Heart, Metallica, and many more. To hold fans over until the next season, full episodes and exclusive bonus clips from Season 12 are now airing on ThatMetalShow.VH1.com. Don’t forget to download the new VH1 App to keep up with That Metal Show on the go. – by Matt Bishop (Top left Photo Courtesy of Colin Douglas Gray, Mötley Crüe Photo Courtesy of Eleven Seven Music)