Tommy Lee
Never a Dull Moment
- MCA
It'd be mighty tough to make anyone actually long for the halcyon days of Motley Crue, but with this album, the band's ex-drummer Tommy Lee has actually accomplished just that.
Lee is probably best known for his marriages to Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson, the latter that triggered tabloid-topping episodes of spousal abuse, a stay in the slammer, and his own celebrated amateur film career.
Those off-stage antics will undoubtedly far outweigh any other contributions he's made to pop culture, including this disaster of a disc.
He does most of the singing on this set, which is a follow-up to the cameo-laden Methods of Mayhem album. The vocals here are dismal, frequently—and wisely—buried in the mix. The music is a sludgy mix of metal and various electronic riffing, produced by Scott Humphrey, who's known for his work with Rob Zombie, Powerman 5000, and others.
Song-wise, it's equally bleak, marred by synth-layered, scratch-filled blasts of rock rap rubbish like “Body Architects,” the muddy and mundane “Afterglow,” and a raunchy, and absolutely horrific remake of David Bowie and John Lennon's “Fame,” retitled “Fame-02.”
Lee briefly turns into a balladeer for the tolerable, if uninspired lead single “Hold Me Down,” one of only three tracks to offer even a moderate level of musical intrigue. The others are the surprisingly melodic “Blue” and the throttling, mosh-pit anthem “Higher.”
Otherwise, this is an overblown mess.