Arranged in Fours

Shifting gears again, back into the metal, today’s post comes from Quaternary, a 12-year-old Motley Crue EP.

In 1992, Vince Neil either quit or was fired (depending who you’re talking to) from the Crue. The remaining band members selected John Corabi to fill Vince’s leather pants, and in 1994, they released the eponymously-titled Motley Crue. Although that album cracked Billboard’s Top 10, it wasn’t the success either the band or their management had hoped for.

Out of those Motley Crue sessions came the Quaternary EP. It was initially going to be titled Leftovers, and was made available only by a mail-order coupon included with the Motley Crue album. The disk was issued in a limited quantity of 20,000 copies and is now, I believe, out of print. There is also supposedly an even more rare Japanese version with additional songs. The songs by Tommy, Mick, and Nikki were eventually included on later Motley Crue compilations. As far as I know, though, the John Corabi song has not surfaced anywhere else.

The songs on Quaternary are solo numbers from the band members. Following each tune, I’ve included what the Crue-sters wrote about their individual tracks.

Planet Boom.mp3 Tommy Lee
“This groove was set up from drum loops of mine while getting sounds for the Motley Crue album. With help from Scott Humphrey I started to add guitars, bass, and assorted sounds that moved me rhythmically. The lyrics are about the way rhythm makes you feel. ‘Planet Boom’ is my rhythmical drug that fucks me up…so crank it!”

Bittersuite.mp3 Mick Mars
“The blues have always been a big part of my life, and a major influence on my guitar playing. On this tune you may hear some overtones of my guitar heroes such as Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, and Jimi Hendrix, to name a few. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed playing it.”

Father.mp3 Nikki Sixx
“I’ve always used music as a vent for my feelings (good and bad). When I was three years old, my father walked out of my life. I realized how fucked up it was when I was with my own three-year-old boy, so I wrote my dad a letter and put it to music.”

Friends.mp3 John Corabi
“I originally wrote an acoustic piece for my solo track, but one evening at the studio I was in one of my moods and missing a couple of people I hadn’t seen in a while, so I sat down at the piano and started toying with a few chords n’ melodies which turned into ‘Friends.’ Considering I’d never played a note on piano I think it turned out very cool…so I recorded it.”

Labels: metal, rock

posted by aikin @ 10:11 PM