"Mutherfucker of the Year" Released: August 25, 2008
"White Trash Circus" Released: February 25, 2009
Saints of Los Angeles is the ninth and final studio album by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on June 24, 2008, by Mötley Records and Eleven Seven Music. This was the only full-length studio album with the band's original lineup since 1997's Generation Swine, following the return of drummer Tommy Lee, the last to feature guitarist Mick Mars before his dismissal from Mötley Crüe in 2022, and the last before their initial dissolution in 2015. Following its release, the band has avoided releasing any further albums in favor of releasing singles.[2]
Saints of Los Angeles debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart, selling about 100,000 copies in its first week.[3] It debuted at No. 14 on the Australian ARIA chart, No. 5 in Sweden, No. 3 in Canada, No. 47 in Italy, and No. 9 in Finland (although it climbed to number 6 in its second week).
The album's first single, its title track, was their second highest-charting single in the US mainstream rock charts, peaking at number 5. However, subsequent singles fared less well: "Mutherfucker of the Year" peaked at number 29 and "White Trash Circus" at number 37 on mainstream rock charts.[4]
Writing and recording
Bassist Nikki Sixx stated in his blog that he believed the band were "on to some of the better songs we've had in years".[5] A tentative working title – The Dirt – was eventually scrapped.[6] "The album is loosely based on The Dirt," said Sixx. "Each song is like a mini-story, and you can plug it into the book. Some of its funny, some of its serious and in-your-face. It's like a typical, successful Mötley Crüe record."[7]
The album features production and songwriting from members of Sixx's other band Sixx:A.M., as singer James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba are involved in almost every song. Frequent Aerosmith collaborator Marti Frederiksen also was heavily involved with the songwriting process. Though it was not well known at the time, Ashba's contributions to the album were quite substantial, as he performed the vast majority of the guitar work on the album while Mick Mars' work was discarded. Sixx later confirmed that almost every guitar part was played by Ashba, saying that Mars "couldn't play his parts or remember his parts" in the studio.[8]
Saints of Los Angeles was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 11 reviews.[9]
In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer James Christopher Monger wrote: "Mötley Crüe have been trumpeting their hedonism for so long and so loudly that it's become more of a caricature than a way of life, and while Saints of Los Angeles is the best thing they've laid to tape since their codpiece heydays, it's more of a walk down memory lane/Sunset Strip than a legitimate call to arms."[10] Bram Teitelman of Billboard said: "While not every song is a winner, the title track and sleaze anthem "This Ain't a Love Song" are standouts.[20]
^"Motley Crue". timeout.com. July 22, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2023. 2008's Saints of Los Angeles, was at its best when it reprised the ludicrous glam metal that had made these guys so popular in the first place
^Their resolutely adolescent outlook is set to the usual thunderous drums, fiddly-widdly guitars and fist-pumping choruses, though none possessing the magnificent dumb charm of '89's 'Kickstart My Heart.' [Oct 2008, p.101]
