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Generation Swine
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Date Aired
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September 6, 2022
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Running Time
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28:08
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Website
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Intro[]
Todd clears his throat, cracks his knuckles, and mimes conducting as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" plays
Todd (VO): Yes everyone, it's time to return to my favorite running theme through my videos, [text appears, in the same font as in the Cyberpunk episode, reading...] "Nirvana Killed My Career".
Clip of Nelson - "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" abruptly melts into live footage of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Todd: It's the hardest and most abrupt cultural shift in rock history, where the entire '80s got thrown out on its ass and everyone who seemed important instantly became yesterday's news.
Todd: And since I never get tired of it, I think it's finally time we look at one of grunge's most famous victims.
Live footage of a 1980s Mötley Crüe concert
Todd (VO): Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx...together they were Mötley Crüe, and they kicked ass up and down the '80s.
Clip of...
Mötley Crüe: Girls, girls, girls
In a decade of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, they had the most sex, did the most drugs, and played rock 'n' roll so massive that they became the defining band of '80s rock.
Todd: Not necessarily the best band, though certainly not the worst, but by far the most '80s of '80s rock bands.
Video for "Livin' on a Prayer" by...
Todd (VO): Bon Jovi? Too clean-cut. You could take them home to mom. [clips of "Nothin' but a Good Time" by...] Poison? They were about as metal as New Kids on the Block. [...and "Paradise City" by...] Guns n' Roses? Great band, but they showed up late to the decade and they just never seemed to be having any fun. Mötley Crüe was the only one who brought the party but kept their dangerous edge, and for ten years their trajectory was nothing but up. [footage of various Mötley Crüe performances] They released their first record in '81, and by '89, they were the biggest rock group on the planet.
Todd: And then...
Clip of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Kurt Cobain: With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Todd (VO): Oh, it's beautiful. Kurt Cobain arrived and Mötley Crüe instantly flamed out in a toxic cloud of mascara and hairspray.
Todd: So, here's what happened. After a long break...
Footage of a promo video for the 1994 self-titled album
...their first record of the 90s was 1994's "Mötley Crüe", part of a grand tradition of defensively self-titled albums.
Todd (VO): "We named this record after ourselves because it's our definitive statement! We're still relevant, dammit!"
Todd: "We're not on the verge of collapse!"
Video for Mötley Crüe" - Hooligan's Holiday"
Todd (VO): Mötley Crüe's self-titled had two major things going against it. First off, they had split with their lead singer Vince Neil in 1992, and brought in a new guy, John Corabi. And with it, a much different, more alt-rock sound that made them basically unrecognizable.
Mötley Crüe: We're on a holiday
Hooligan's holiday
And secondly...
Todd: it was 1994. What are you guys even still doing here?
Todd (VO): Maybe without the change in lineup, they could have kept the ship steady and steered through the changing tides of rock, but instead they wound up with an album that was too passé for casual fans, but too different to keep the diehards, and it led directly to a Spinal Tap-esque dive bomb out of arenas and into small clubs.
Footage of a self-titled era interview with Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee
Interviewer: Now you're playing some smaller places...
Nikki Sixx: Well, we played-we played a couple smaller places to see how, you know, how it fit, you know, see how we liked it.
Todd (VO): Sure, Nikki.
Todd: Now despite that...
Video for Mötley Crüe - "Smoke the Sky"
Todd (VO): ...there seems to be more respect for that album in hindsight, and a general sense that the problem was with the marketability, not the music.
Todd: I'll admit, it's actually a pretty solid album, so...
Todd (VO): ...despite being a massive commercial flop, I don't really consider it a true disaster.
Todd: But there are two kinds of records on this show.
Clips from the Fairweather Johnson and Passage episodes
Todd (VO): One is the career-ender that instantly marks the end of an era, and the other is when that band can see their career is already declining and desperately try to stop the skid.
Todd: If given the option, I will always choose the latter. So why don't we skip ahead?
Clip of an MTV Promo
Kurt Loder: Now, however, Mötley Crüe is back...
Todd (VO): After the self-titled album flopped, Mötley Crüe rehired Vince and planned their big comeback. [clip of a Mötley Crüe live concert in Tokyo, Japan in 1997 with their name in stylized text underneath] Yes, the band you loved in the '80s was restored. Did that mean they were gonna go back to that passé Eighties sound?
Todd: Oh no, no, no.
Clip of trailer announcing...
Vince: Welcome... [burps] to Generation Swine!!
Concert footage of Mötley Crüe performing "Find Myself"
Todd (VO): Now that they had Vince back, they could bring this band into a new decade the right way. Yeah, this is the real Crüe, updated for the '90s. Crüe in their Attitude Era!!
Todd: [makes excited arm gestures] Extreme!!!
Todd (VO): The result was 1997's Generation Swine. That's right, a whole new generation of piggish sleaze, reflected through the modern sounds of the Nineties.
Clip of "Afraid"
Vince: Do you wanna scream
It's Mötley Crüe punk, alternative, glam, industrial! It's all of these things and more.
Todd: Or more accurately, it's all of these things and much less, because basically none of it works.
Audio for "Generation Swine" plays over more concert footage
Vince: Back in your face, such a disgrace
Todd (VO): It's a disaster. Generation Swine turned out to be a fitting title, because only [image of pigs covered in mud and filth] an actual pigsty full of actual swine...
Todd: ...could be as much of a mess as that album.
Vince: Generation swine
Todd (VO): Mötley Crüe tries to catch up to the Nineties and gets left in the dirt. Todd: This is Trainwreckords. [throws up devil horns]
Trainwreckords intro followed by album cover for Generation Swine
Tommy Lee[]
Clip of an episode of Pam & Tommy where a fictional version of Mötley Crüe is promoting Generation Swine
Nikki Sixx (Iker Amaya): The album, there's all kinds of new sounds there. Industrial, techno, alternative...
Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan): This is Nineties Crüe.
Todd (VO): This is a scene from the Pam & Tommy miniseries that aired earlier this year, and... Oh, my friends, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that there is a prestige, Emmy-nominated TV show that has this shitty album as a plot point. I am overjoyed that they dedicated an entire episode to "Nirvana Killed My Career". Look at him, he's so unhappy!
Todd: It is kinda nuts that we're still getting Mötley Crüe content in 2022. Like... [image of a news article about Tommy Lee's full-frontal nude Instagram picture] Tommy Lee made headlines while I was writing this episode.
Footage of the band from a promotional event for The Dirt
Todd (VO): You don't hear shit about Def Leppard! How are these guys still as famous as they are?
Todd: Well, a big reason is some pretty careful packaging.
Montage clips of Mötley Crüe's Behind the Music episode, promotional video for The Dirt, and film trailer for The Dirt
Todd (VO): For the past three decades, Mötley Crüe's most important output hasn't been their records or their shows; it's their story. An all-timer episode of "Behind the Music" that basically made that entire show, the legendary chronicle of depravity that is their memoir, The Dirt, the film adaptation of it on Netflix a couple years ago. A good story goes a long way.
Footage of a Generation Swine-era interview with Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee
And even in 1997, before they realized their biography was their most valuable resource, it was their larger-than-life personalities keeping them afloat.
Todd: In this case, Tommy Lee, especially.
Clip of Tommy Lee at a film premiere with Pamela Anderson
Todd (VO): Thanks to a heavily publicized celebrity marriage and a [image of the cover for Pam & Tommy Lee, Hardcore and Uncensored] leaked sex tape, Tommy Lee was still a household name. And the band was poised to take advantage of his high profile.
Introducing the New Crüe[]
Clip of Mötley Crüe performing at the 1997 American Music Awards
Todd (VO): And so, in January of 1997, the reunited but re-fashioned Mötley Crüe debuted, ready to kickstart some hearts. This happened at the American Music Awards, where they were reintroduced to the world by Tommy Lee's then-wife, a giant sentient hat.
Pamela Anderson: They got tattooed long before it was fashionable. They got pierced long before it became a trend. And they reinvented themselves with every album, refusing to be pigeonholed into any specific genre, format, or category.
Todd: [pause] Yeah, what genre even are Mötley Crüe?
Video for "Looks That Kill"
Todd (VO): It's not like they're primarily [book cover for The Big Book of Hair Metal] identified with one, singular, decade-specific style of music!
Todd: Come on.
Pamela: They reinvented themselves with every album, refusing to be...
Todd (VO): Well, Pamela is...
Todd: ...lying. She's lying.
Todd (VO): And you can tell why; she's clearly been told to lay the groundwork for a [Generation Swine-era image of the band] radical reinvention. You know, pretend like the band was always eclectic and progressive so that this new version goes down smoother.
Todd: "Change is good, actually!"
Todd (VO): So yeah, we're in for a pretty sudden swerve here, so get ready for the new Crüe with their...
Todd: ...brand-new single...
Todd stops himself when he notices the video's title
Todd (VO): ..."Shout At The Devil '97"?
Todd: Wait, really?
Mötley Crüe: Shout, shout, shout
Vince: Shout at the devil
Mötley Crüe: Shout, shout, shout
Todd: Seriously?
Clip of Mötley Crüe performing the original version of "Shout At The Devil"
Todd (VO): Okay, "Shout At The Devil" was the title track from their second album way back in 1983.
Vince: He's the wolf screaming lonely in the night
He's the blood stain on the stage
It was never a single, shockingly, but it may as well have been. By '97, it was definitely the biggest song of their early years. Todd: I guess if you're gonna update a song, it'd be that one.
Clip of "Shout at the Devil '97"
Todd (VO): But why do an update at all? I thought this was going to be the new Crüe, you know? Is it-is it radically different?
Todd: Completely reworked for the Nineties?
Vince: He's the wolf screaming lonely in the night
He's the blood stain on the stage
He's the tear in your eye
Been tempted by his lie
He's the knife in your back, he's rage
He's the razor to the knife
Todd: Okay, so, uh...
Todd (VO): ...it's exactly the same song, except they play the riff from "More Human Than Human" over it.
Clip of White Zombie - "More Human Than Human" followed by the same footage of the AMA performance to demonstrate how similar they sound
Seems like you guys are trying to sell me the same old shit with a thin veneer of '90s.
Todd: Well, I'm sure that doesn't portend anything for the rest of the album. [shrugs]
Vince: Shout at the devil
Todd (VO): Okay, well that's not really a single, is it? That's a warm-up. It's a teaser for the album, which wouldn't come out for six months. It's more of an announcement of their reunion than anything. But...
Todd: ...the circumstances behind that reunion need to be looked at.
Todd (VO): Following the failure of the self-titled record [clips of Allen Kovac and an award for Mötley Crüe album sales], Mötley Crüe got a new manager, Allen Kovac. Same guy who engineered big comebacks for [clips of "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by...] Meat Loaf and [...and "Ordinary World" by...] Duran Duran. And Kovac had one immediate directive for the band if they wanted to save their careers.
Todd: They had to get Vince back.
Todd (VO): I mean, you were [side-by-side photos of Mötley Crüe's lineups in the 1980s and early 1990s] successful, and then you weren't.
Todd: What changed?
Todd (VO): Kovac's wasn't the only one who wanted that. That's what their label said too, and of course, that's clearly what the fans were telling them. The band initially refused, and proceeded in making the next album, but [clip of interview with John Corabi] morale was extremely low, and the band took out their frustrations on the new guy. And the situation devolved until the band finally gave in and rehired [clip of...] Vince. By which point, Corabi was not really too disappointed to leave. But the band did still want to continue in the direction they'd begun with Corabi - you know, darker, heavier, less '80s. And for what it's worth, they seem to be pretty sincere about it. They'd been through rehab; they were done with all the hairspray and partying.
Clip of Nikki Sixx interview
Nikki: The whole chick-party thing is-is not part of what we're about anymore.
Todd (VO): And if you read the backstory of their lead songwriter, Nikki Sixx, going darker and more emotional doesn't completely seem out of the question. [clip of...] In a lot of ways, he was a lot like Kurt Cobain; he had a similar background of abuse, homelessness, heroin addiction.
Todd: [shrugs] Sure.
Todd (VO): So surprisingly, or not that surprisingly, the first voice you hear on the album...
Todd: ...is Nikki's.
"Find Myself"[]
Clip of live performance of "Find Myself"
Nikki: I've got to find myself some love
I've got to find myself some drugs
Todd (VO): Alright, this is the album opener, "Find Myself". And immediately, I can tell the difference.
Todd: Crüe were adapting the same way that [clip of live performance of "The Fly" by...] U2 did: playing the over-the-top rockstar with a heavy layer of '90s irony.
Clip from a promotional video for the album
Nikki: That song is my opinion of what people think about us. It says "I gotta find myself some drugs, I gotta sniff myself some glue." So, it's like a sarcastic way of saying "Okay, you win."
Todd (VO): I get it. I see what you're doing. Maybe this can work after all.
Nikki: I've got to find myself
I've got to find myself
Vince: I'm a sick motherfucker
Todd is visibly turned off
I'm a sweet sucker mother
Todd: No, hold up, I take it back.
Vince I'm a wreck
I'm a sleaze
I'm a rock n' roll disease
Todd (VO): No, we're back to hair metal, aren't we?
Todd: Boy, these two parts of the song do not work together at all.
Todd (VO): We got Nikki Sixx on the mic trying to do his Marilyn Manson thing, and then once Vince comes in, it's like...
Todd: [does an imitation of Vince's high-pitched squeal] "I'm a sick motherfucker! I use a lot of hairspray!"
Todd (VO): Like, the second he arrives, all the irony goes out the window.
Todd: I don't know, it was working for me and then it wasn't. Well, let's move on to the next one.
"Afraid"[]
Video for "Afraid" starts
Todd (VO): Okay, well after that, we get the lead single, "Afraid".
Todd: Like, this is the song that's really going to introduce the world to the new Crüe.
Vince: Do you
Do you want to bleed
Todd holds his head in disappointment
Do you want to scream
Todd: Wow, it's great they got Vince back, huh?
Mötley Crüe: It's only life
She's so afraid to kiss
And so afraid to laugh
Todd: Man, no offense to Nine Inch Nails and every other '90s band, but...
Todd (VO): ...I really do not miss the era of every video looking like this. Like Terry Gilliam directed a Saw movie.
Todd: Okay, I guess this woman is...
Todd (VO): ...like a giant doll, and Mötley Crüe is in her skirt, but not like in a sexy way. And then at the end, Larry Flynt is there to be, like, the Vincent Price to her Edward Scissorhands, I guess.
Todd: From the band that brought you Dr. Feelgood...
Todd (VO): ...here's... Dr. Feel-Really-Gross.
Todd: Okay well, the song.
Todd (VO): Nikki wrote this about his future wife [images of...] and future ex-wife, Donna D'Errico from Baywatch. Apparently, at the beginning of their relationship, she was a little reluctant.
Todd: So, Nikki wrote this song about her.
Mötley Crüe: She's so afraid to kiss
And so afraid to laugh
Todd (VO): I think it's funny that this was his conclusion after she was nervous about dating the [brief clip of...] recovering addict-hedonist rockstar who wrote such romantic ballads as "Girls, Girls, Girls".
Todd: "It can't be me, she's just afraid of love."
Mötley Crüe: Is she running from her past
Todd (VO): "Afraid" is by far the biggest song on the album, and the only one fans seem reasonably fond of.
Todd: I think this sucks.
Todd (VO): I mean, I want to be fair to this song; I don't hate it. It's more like... I don't get it. Like, who is this for? What is the tone supposed to be? What's the aesthetic you're going for?
Todd: It feels like no part of this works with any other part. We got like this [clips of "The Memory Remains" by...] mid-Nineties Metallica video with this [..."It's My Life" by...] Bon Jovi chorus and [...footage of...] nu metal bass and [...and "Jaded" by...] Aerosmith lyrics. [back to "Afraid"] And they're still trying to do all their '80s moves, like "Oh, look! My guitar's like a dick! Dow-dow-da-dow!!!" Even Vince's new hair color looks wrong!
Todd: I guess my main issue is... What?
Todd (VO): And clearly the world agreed with me. "Afraid" got some rock airplay, but didn't really make very much noise, even compared [clip of "Humans Being" by...] to their old-school peers like Van Halen. I know some Crüe fans still like this song but...
Todd: ...Man, it's just not good.
Crüe Generation[]
Clip of live performance with Vince introducing...
Vince Neil: It's a song called... "Generation Swine."
Todd (VO): Alright well, let's try the title track, "Generation Swine".
Vince: Back in your face, such a disgrace
We're the Generation Swine
Todd: This is at least classic Crüe.
Todd (VO): No electronic effects or irony, just good old rock n' roll.
Todd: Except... that title. What the hell's that supposed to mean?
Todd (VO): 'Cause they went all-in on the pig thing, as evidenced by this [image of...] Primus-ass album cover.
Todd: The name comes from a [cover of...] Hunter S. Thompson book, though Hunter was probably talking about a [picture of generic white politician] different breed of swine. You can tell that a more talented writer than Mötley Crüe coined that phrase; it-it just sounds wrong coming out of them.
Vince: We're the Generation Swine
Todd (VO): "Swine". It's almost too classy a word for them. It sounds way better than "Generation Shithead", I guess.
Todd: But what does it mean, exactly? Well, the label had this to say: [screenshot of highlighted quote...] "The whole point is to make "Generation Swine" a statement within itself, thereby making Mötley Crüe a movement."
Todd: [brief pause] A movement of what?!
Todd (VO): Whether Mötley Crüe ever defined a generation is debatable, but [clip from Pam and Tommy showing a line of Gen-Xers wearing the shirts of grunge and alternative bands] if they did, it wasn't this one. I think you're only allowed to write a song about "your generation" while you're still a young man. Like, if there are already younger generations doing more interesting things, like, you-you need to stop.
Todd: But give this to them; they were trying to keep up with the kids, and I don't think it was just trend-riding.
Clip of band interview
Todd (VO): According to what they've said, they did seem genuinely interested in the harder, newer stuff.
Todd: And they did not have to be doing this.
Montage clips of Aerosmith - "Falling in Love (Is Hard On The Knees)"; Ozzy Osbourne - "I Just Want You"; AC/DC - "Big Gun"; Bon Jovi - "This Ain't A Love Song"; Kiss - "Psycho Circus"; Ozzy Osbourne - "See You On The Other Side"
Todd (VO): Like yes, the '90s were pretty hostile to the old school hard-rockers, but not as much as people remember. Aerosmith was obviously a big outlier, but also, you know, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Kiss. Maybe they weren't big hitmakers anymore, but they were still visible, keeping the flame alive without changing their sound very much.
Footage of live performance of "Afraid"
Todd (VO): So, not trying to coast, staying relevant with the changing scene - I guess that's laudable, and it's certainly more ambitious than any of their peers.
Todd: But the question is, if they're not going to be this, [image of Mötley Crüe at their peak] then what are they?
"Beauty"[]
Audio for "Beauty" plays over another live performance
Todd (VO): Okay, here's the second single, "Beauty".
Nikki: Decked out like an hourglass
Ammonia and a razor blade
Okay. Okay, got kind of a Monster Magnet groove going.
Todd: I'm diggin' this.
Vince: Ah, I will always love her
Todd (VO): [sighs] No wait, I take it back again.
Todd: For what it's worth, I think this is the best song on the album.
Nikki: Beauty
Vince: Call her Miss Divine
Todd (VO): It's just that weird pre-chorus renders it...
Todd: ...basically incoherent.
Video for "Hooligan's Holiday"
Todd (VO): Like, at least with the self-titled album, grunge gave them a target to aim at.
Todd: But Generation Swine came out in that weird [clip of Beck - "Devils Haircut"] post-alternative, pre-nu metal period where the dominant trend was anyone's guess. Like, what was the predominant sound in rock?
Montage clips of Soundgarden - "Pretty Noose"; Foo Fighters - "Monkey Wrench"; Pantera - "I'm Broken"; Marilyn Manson - "The Beautiful People"; Tool - "Stinkfist"; Oasis - "Champagne Supernova"; Green Day - "Nice Guys Finish Last"; and Reel Big Fish - "Sell Out"
Todd (VO): Is it grunge? Alternative? Groove metal? Industrial metal? Alt-metal? Britpop? Pop punk? Ska?!
Todd: No one knew, least of all Mötley Crüe.
Todd (VO): Which is why they seem to be trying to do basically all these things and failing.
Todd: The album careens wildly from old-school punk songs, to middle-of-the-road '90s radio alternative, to heavy-ass thrash metal.
Todd: What are they doing?
Tales from the Pigsty[]
Clip from a 2009 interview on the making of Generation Swine
Mick Mars: That album... fucked me up.
Todd (VO): Like, it will surprise none of you that all of the band members describe the recording process as miserable. Nikki and Tommy, the two band leaders, couldn't agree or decide on anything. They promoted [footage from Guitar Center interview with...] their engineer, Scott Humphrey, to producer, and he clearly wasn't ready to call the shots and couldn't handle these big personalities. And the other two guys say they both felt really shit on during it.
Mick: Every time that I would come up with a part, it was always wrong.
Todd: But the most telling testimony about what went wrong comes from their [footage of...] temporary frontman, John Corabi, who worked on the album for a good year before getting shitcanned. Here's how he describes it.
Clip of 2020 Instagram Live interview John Corabi, intercut with clips of various bands and artists
John Corabi: They really didn't know what they wanted. Nikki would say, [brief clips of "Motorcycle Emptiness by...] "Manic Street Preachers and [..."Ziggy Stardust" by...] old David Bowie". And then Scott would go, [..."I Want You to Want Me"...] "Cheap Trick". And then Tommy would go, [...followed by "Walk" by...] "Heavy, like Pantera, but [...and "Champagne Supernova" by...] lush, like Oasis!" And I'm trying to process here, like "How do you blend Pantera with Oasis? Or Cheap Trick? Or Bowie?"
Todd: That sounds right to me. I definitely hear snippets of all those bands, and several others. One band I definitely thought of a couple times was [clip of "Vasoline" by...] Stone Temple Pilots. Like, here's a song called "Flush".
Live performance of "Flush"
Vince: So long say good-bye
Someone tell me why
I'm feeling cold inside
Todd (VO): It sounds just like STP. The title's a random word that's not in the lyrics like a [single cover for "Creep"] Stone Temple Pilots song. [single cover for "Plush" with audio of the song playing over it] It's literally just one letter away from the title of a Stone Temple Pilots song.
Todd: Okay, here's the big problem with their attempts to go alternative or industrial or whatever: Vince Neil can't do it. He's the big millstone around this album. Yes, there's a really bizarre grab-bag of styles and they don't work together, but even if it did, Vince couldn't pull off any of them. And there's a reason: Most of these songs were written for John Corabi. [shot of LA Times article: "Former Crue Singer Sues Bandmates, Elektra"] And according to an $8 million dollar lawsuit by Corabi. And he and Vince have completely different vocal ranges and completely different energies. Like, imagine Vince trying to sing Nineties songs.
Todd does his Vince Neil impression over the lyrics to "Creep" by Radiohead while concert footage of Crüe in their heyday plays
Todd: I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, wooooooo!!!
Todd (VO): Doesn't surprise me to find out that Vince wanted to be there even less than when he quit the first time.
Vince: Got back in the band, still really weren't getting along with each other. I probably quit five times throughout the making of this-this album. Didn't wanna be there. Uh, but [clip of live performance of...] "Glitter" was actually a really cool song.
Oh, is it, Vince? Alright, well, we should check that out. Here's the final single, "Glitter." And if you thought those other songs were un-Crüe like, well, you ain't heard nothin'
Writing with an Outsider[]
Vince: You and me, or someone else
Todd: It's a ballad with a lot of electronic stuff going on in it.
Vince: Glitter, don't you leave me
Todd (VO): Vince says he didn't like the electronic elements; he felt like he was singing karaoke instead of with a real band.
Vince: ...want your love
Todd (VO): The synths do make an easy target, but... honestly, I actually kinda like them. I think they're an interesting idea. My problem with the song is... is just that it's a Mötley Crüe ballad.
Todd: 'Cause Mötley Crüe's ballads blow.
Clip of "Without You"
Vince: Without you, I'd be lost
Todd (VO): Yeah, they're like the one hair band who just couldn't do ballads. They have one good one, "Home Sweet Home," and the rest fucking suck. Like, even worse than most hair ballads.
Todd: Listen to this.
Clip of a Nikki Sixx interview
Nikki: "Glitter" was... a song... that was an experiment in writing with other songwriters.
Todd: The other songwriter he's talking about is Bryan Adams.
Clip of Bryan Adams - "Heaven"
Bryan Adams: Now, nothing can take you away from me
Todd (VO): He had to send the song to [screenshot of Wikipedia page for Generation Swine, with Nikki Sixx and Bryan Adams circled in Red] Bryan fucking Adams and have him fix it. And I say this with every insult intended: I wish Bryan Adams had written more of this.
Clip of "Glitter" Vince: This is fine for now, but maybe
Let's make a baby inside of you
Todd (VO): That line is confirmably Nikki's. Like, say what you want about Bryan Adams, he at least knows what a romantic lyric is!
Todd: So do any of them have anything good to say about this record? Yes, actually.
Clip of Tommy Lee interview
Todd (VO): Even though the recording process was miserable, Nikki and Tommy seem to have at least a couple fond memories of it. Why?
Todd: Well, for one... they got to sing!
Tommy: With Swine, it's, uh, like... it was one of those... uh, like a band effort, where, like, Nikki sang, uh... sang the fuckin' verses. It's not just the singer, or you know, there's... and I like it when the focus moves around, it keeps it fun, keeps it... you know, fresh.
Todd: I think it's funny that [clip of earlier Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee interview] Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee, who are by far the two most famous members of the band, still have lead singer envy. Okay, they got to sing. And, in fact, the final song on the album was sung by Tommy
"Brandon"[]
Live clip plays of Tommy sitting at a piano on-stage
Tommy: I'd like to play you something I wrote about a year and a half ago about a dream come true, man.
Todd (VO): Sure, just like [clip of Kiss - "Beth"] Kiss let the drummer write and sing one ballad, and it was one of their biggest hits!
Peter Criss: Oh Beth, what can I do? Beth, what can I do?
Todd: It can work!
Todd (VO): This one is called "Brandon," a love song to his infant son. Awww...
Todd: Every bad boy has a sensitive side. So let's hear this monster ballad.
Tommy: Brandon, I love you
Your mother gave birth to you with love inside
Todd: Oh, my.
Tommy: Brandon, I love you, I love her, she is your mom
Todd (VO): Yes... she is your mom.
Todd: This is a completely factual statement.
Todd (VO): Okay, maybe Vince wasn't the right singer for this kind of music, but he is at least a singer. He's the lead singer for a reason. You know, it's great that you love your kid, but man. Couldn't you just... make a photo album or something?
Tommy: You are the one, Brandon, my son You are the one
Okay, it's weird to call your kid "the one," right? You're generally not supposed to do that.
Todd: I mean, for one thing... [image of Pamela Anderson with...] they had other kids! Well, sucks for you, number two, you're not "the one."
Todd (VO): Oh, God. This is... horrifically cringy, but...
Todd: I guess at least it's sincere.
Footage of Pamela and Tommy with Brandon
Todd (VO): Even if it's not good, I think we can all agree that this is a very touching portrait of a wonderful, happy family. Awww...
Todd: Incidentally, I have not finished the Pam and Tommy miniseries yet, so don't tell me how it ends.
Underpromoted?[]
Video for "Shout at the Devil '97"
Todd (VO): After this, the album was written off as a failure. In their book, the band blames it on [image of...] their new label head, Sylvia Rhone, who they say just plain didn't like them or rock in general, and didn't promote the record properly because the...[image of Sylvia with Brandy Norwood] label was more focused on R&B. They started attacking her publicly, and it [shot of Spin Magazine article showing...] got really ugly, and made Nikki look like a real fuckin' piece of shit... [exhales] swine indeed. Rhone was interviewed about it once, and she argued that they actually promoted Mötley Crüe a lot.
Todd: And honestly, for a...
Todd (VO): ...well past their prime band coming off a flop album and now promoting an even worse one, they sure seemed pretty promoted to me!
Todd: Like, I can find tons of P.R. for them from the time.
Montage clips of Mötley Crüe interviews on...
Todd (VO): Like, here they are on Letterman, on Leno, on Regis and Kathie Lee. Like, what the hell is Regis Philbin doing interviewing Mötley fucking Crüe?!
Regis Philbin: I wasn't kidding when I said they sell out in minutes out of these stores, 3 to 6 minutes, I guess the first batch went, just like that.
Like, this album debuted at [image pops up of Billboard's chart showing the album at...] #4! I don't think it got there without some massive help!
Todd (VO): And yeah, there does seem to be only one music video for it. [clip of "Shout at the Devil '97"] I can only find one other video that showed up on one of their DVD collections, and it's for "Shout at the Devil '97." I mean, that doesn't even really count, that's practically a bonus track.
Todd: But I think it's fair that the label didn't pay for anymore videos, considering the album sucked and no one liked it.
Todd (VO): Like, if they wanna make the case that they were poleaxed by the label, a better case for it is that the label let them make an album this shitty! Like, something has gone very, very wrong in the recording process when "Brandon" makes it on the record.
Todd: Labels exist to prevent things like this from happening!
Todd (VO): But the album isn't so much crappy as it is confusing. I don't get what the point of "Generation Swine" is. I don't get who would listen to it, I don't get what purpose it serves.
Todd: I had real trouble trying to review this record because I don't even really get what it is.
Todd (VO): I can't critique its ideas, 'cause I can't identify them! All I hear is Mötley Crüe trying desperately to figure out what their band is without the makeup, pyro, and girls, and they just never find it.
Outro[]
Todd: And to be fair, none of this stopped Mötley Crüe, who remained a humongous touring act.
Video for "Saints of Los Angeles"
Todd (VO): And during the nu-metal days, they toured with several of the younger bands, and they legitimately did seem like elder statesmen of rock. For what it's worth, their final single, "Saints of Los Angeles" was actually pretty fuckin' awesome. To me, that song cemented their legend. A lot more than their sad attempts to lead a generation of swine.
Mötley Crüe: Pray to the Saints of Los Angeles
Todd: [flashes the devil horns] Fuck, yes.
Todd (VO): The lesson Nikki Sixx got from "Generation Swine" is that no one wants anything from Mötley Crüe but parties and rock 'n' roll and "Girls, Girls, Girls." You'd think he'd be stung by that, but he seems pretty fine with it! I mean, fair enough, there are worse things to be known for. Keep kicking ass, you complete swine!
Todd: ... [sighs] Seriously, I read their book, they're all awful people.
Live performance of "Afraid" ends
Ending music: Todd plays "Afraid" on piano
THE END
"Generation Swine" is owned by Elektra Records
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!