I’m genuinely curious what dopers have to say about it…
I found it to be intriguing, stimulating, enlightening, disgusting, and (believe it or not) sobering.
I’m seriously a huge fan of this book, and while my wife was big-time skeptical, she actually thoroughly enjoyed it, finishing all 448 pages in less than 3 days.
I love the book. Read it during a phase where I was reading about debauched rock bands and artists. Please Kill Me is a much better book covering a much more important era - the rise of punk. And The Dark Stuff by Nick Kent covers more debauched artists in one book. But The Dirt is a compelling story and I really felt like I was getting real dirt - it wasn’t just a gloss job.
The thing is, in many ways, it clearly points our the Crue’s mediocrity. They have some songs that really stand out - Looks that Kill comes immediately to mind - and Tommy Lee, gossip pages aside, is truly a great hair metal drummer - one of the best. But they all go out of their way - Sixx especially, who is their leader and songwriter - to confirm my impressions all along: that with CD’s like Theater of Pain and GGG, they were really just phoning it in. They were so caught up in the Rn’R lifestyle that they didn’t have great CD’s in them at the time. At that point, they were coasting and the song quality shows it. Dr. Feelgood gets them back on track, but for such a huge band, they have a surprisingly weak catalogue.
Doesn’t change how great the book it, but tinges it with more sadness that I would’ve liked - it would’ve felt better to read it and revisit their catalogue with new insights that would’ve led me to liking the songs more. Didn’t happen.
I haven’t read it, and to be honest, I probably won’t. Crue’s music and tabloid stuff never really interested me. A couple questoins, though, if you don’t mind. Were you a big Crue fan before the book, or did it change your impression of them? How does it compare to Hammer of the Gods, if you’ve read it? Is there anything that would be surprising (crappy begining, drugs, sex, groupies, killing people while drunk driving, and hot models are not surprising? Finally, is there any reason to care about these guys?
Nice one, Hamlet. I’ve got the same questions. I can’t say that reading about the antics of a washed up 80s hair band really entices me - what else about the book makes it a worthwhile read? Or is it just a memoriam for those who were/are really into the Crue?
I read the thread title and to be honest if you had given me 100 choices for who “The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band” is, or was, I don’t think Motley Crew would have got a mention.
Perhaps the book will help raise their “notorious” profile.
I have read both. They are just different. In some ways they are similar in that they discuss mostly, well, the Dirt associated with a well-known rock band. But Zep is one of the Top 5 Bands Who Matter™, whereas the Crue are a decent band that had their heyday and have stayed in the public eye for “celebrity” reasons way past their music’s due date. That discrepency colors everything when reading the two books - the Dirt talks about scummy apartments and pig-like groupies; Hammer discusses the Yardbirds and specifically how they morphed into Led Zeppelin - with all the music-geek trivia and dates and facts. Davis may have facts wrong - there is much argument about it - but the point is: that trivia matters because Zep is one of the cornerstones of rock. Zep is Mickey Mantle, while the Crue is, I dunno, Jose Canseco or something…
To Hamlet’s questions:
Was I a big Crue fan before? No - I love Looks that Kill and one or two other songs.
Did it change my impressions of them? No - just supported my thinking about how their legend outweighs their actual music, which is disappointing overall
Good stories? To my mind - yes. The best, to me, involved Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden - 'nuff said.
Are they worth it? Honestly - not really. This is a trashy book about a trashy band. If you occasionally read People magazine and find yourself drawn in, this book is a much better-written, more detailed and with the support of the band, version of People magazine. Fun, but not “important” by any stretch.
Hammer is about one of THE Important bands and contains more critical analysis along with the dirt…
I read the book, and I thought it was great. The time… the place… the larger than life characters… it all combined to create a really interesting story. Seriously, I couldn’t put it down.
Also, let me say that, although I am big music fan (which perhaps helped, but did not account for my enjoyment of the book), I hated Motley Crue from the get go. They and their ilk (Twisted Sister et al) we largely responsible for me turning my back on metal (with the exception of Motorhead) and embracing punk rock instead. It took the release of Kill 'Em All by Metallica to bring me even part way back.
Regardless, The Dirt is a fine book… doesn’t matter who you are or what you like.
I love Motely Crue. They are one of the few bands I bothered to see in concert and I still put thier songs on and favorites music playlists. I haven’t seen or read the book but I will look for it. I saw a documentary on HBO or something in the late 80’s that sounds similar.
I never really liked them, I always thought that they were too bubble gummy for metal (didn’t they do “Pour some sugar on me?” ::shudder: and IIRC, weren’t they one of Beavis & Butthead’s Winger/Quiet Riot/I-forget-the-others axis of 80s hair bands that were so metal but not cool?
My estimation is that nobody would even remember motley crue now if Lee hadn’t married Pam Anderson.
but, what do I know.
hh
That was Def Leppard, who, apart from having a one-armed drummer, were never really metal: I never picked it out at the time, but listening to Hysteria again there’s a huge T. Rex influence in there. Of course, I liked them before they were hip.
No, Pour Some Sugar on Me was Def Leppard. That’s interesting, I never thought Motley Crue and Def Leppard were much alike but this week a DJ on a local classic rock station said Tommy Lee was playing again with Def Leppard or something like that. He got nicely chastised by all the former 80’s metalhead dudes! And several people called in said to play more Crue.
and IIRC, weren’t they one of Beavis & Butthead’s Winger/Quiet Riot/I-forget-the-others axis of 80s hair bands that were so metal but not cool?