THE BEAST

MÖTLEY CRÜE 's   Nikki Sixx   says that he doesn't understand why   PEARL JAM 's   Eddie Vedder   felt it necessary to "take a swipe" at his band.

A month and a half ago,   Eddie   gave an in-depth interview to   The New York Times   to promote his recently released solo album and he discussed a variety of topics, including what "ripples" of change he believes the Generation X / alternative rock culture of the early '90s may have been responsible for.

"You know, I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club,"   Vedder   said. "I'd end up being at shows that I wouldn't have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-'80s   MTV . The metal bands that — I'm trying to be nice — I despised.   'Girls, Girls, Girls'   and   MÖTLEY CRÜE : [expletive] you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous."

The   PEARL JAM   singer continued: " GUNS N' ROSES   came out and, thank God, at least had some teeth. But I'm circling back to say that one thing that I appreciated was that in Seattle and the alternative crowd, the girls could wear their combat boots and sweaters, and their hair looked like   Cat Power 's and not   Heather Locklear 's — nothing against her. They weren't selling themselves short. They could have an opinion and be respected. I think that's a change that lasted. It sounds so trite, but before then it was bustiers. The only person who wore a bustier in the '90s that I could appreciate was   Perry Farrell ."

A few days after   Vedder 's interview was published,   Sixx   took to his   Twitter   to respond to   Eddie 's comments, writing: "Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in   PEARL JAM   hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they're one of the most boring bands in history it's kind of a compliment isn't it?"

In response to fans' tweets,   Sixx   compared   Vedder 's vocal technique to singing with "marbles in your mouth", and wrote to a   PEARL JAM   fan who tweeted in defense of   Vedder : "Remember there were zillions of brown haired bands for brown haired fans…..Go find them. You will know them by the bored look on their face."

Nikki   elaborated on his   PEARL JAM   comments during a recent interview with Brazilian entrepreneur   Paulo Baron   and music critic   Regis Tadeu . In a chat that was recorded on February 25,   Sixx   initially broached the subject while discussing how he has evolved as a songwriter since   MÖTLEY CRÜE 's inception more than 40 years ago. He said (as transcribed by   BLABBERMOUTH.NET ): "I'm not trying to be the guy that wrote [the   CRÜE   song]   'Bastard'   [from 1983's   'Shout At The Devil'   album], 'cause I'm   not   the guy that wrote   'Bastard' . I wrote that song about somebody that ripped us off. I   am   the guy that if you fuck with me, I will fuck with you back. And that's what that song is about. You take a swipe at my band; I'll take a swipe at   your   band. You try to hurt my family, which is my band; I will try to hurt you. That's not something to be proud about. [ Laughs ]"

Asked specifically about his   PEARL JAM   criticism and why he felt compelled to respond to   Vedder 's comments,   Nikki   said: "I remember going to   MTV   with [a copy of]   'Nevermind'   before it had come out,   NIRVANA . Me and   Tommy   [ Lee ,   CRÜE   drummer] were on there. We were, like, 'Hey, you guys gotta check out this band. You gotta check out this band.' And they were bands that were coming. I remember having a cassette — I think it was demos; it might not have been; it might have been early recordings — for   RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE , and I remember telling everybody about that.

"We've never been afraid to embrace music changing because that's the whole idea behind music," he continued. "If you listen to   'Too Fast For Love'   and then you listen to   'The Dirt' , you're, like, 'Well, it's the same band, but it has grown.' So we never had a problem with that.

"My only thing is, you wanna take a crack at my band, I'm probably gonna say something back. But what I don't understand is why's the guy even talking about my band? He's a successful guy.

"Listen, let's face it: the guy flies around in private jets; he lives in a mansion in a gated community; he sells out stadiums; and then he dresses at the thrift store and tries to pretend some guy in the '90s. Don't take a swipe at my band, dude. I mean, I'm at least being honest."

Back in 2019,   Sixx   spoke to U.K.'s   Kerrang!   spoke about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and   MTV , with album and tour sales plummeting. Asked if it was fair that   CRÜE   was lumped in with bands such as   POISON   and   WARRANT ,   Nikki   replied: "I have to say that I don't think that   NIRVANA   and   PEARL JAM   killed the bands you mention, I think that they killed themselves. They were making copycat music. We, on the other hand, simply imploded."

He continued: "Forget about the lifestyle for a minute — the thing that ultimately allowed us to pull ourselves through was the music that we made, and how good we can be when we really put it together. Every great band has hills and valleys; they start at the bottom and if they're lucky they make it to the top of the mountain. But eventually you have to go down. Very few bands are lucky enough to become popular and stay popular forever. That's just the way music is — it changes, technology changes, fashion changes, and social outlooks change. But again, today a lot of bands are just so fucking safe."

Upon release in September 1991,   NIRVANA 's   "Smells Like Teen Spirit"   wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on   MTV .

Former   MÖTLEY CRÜE   singer   John Corabi   told   Newsday   in a 2014 interview that the   CRÜE   album he sang on was a commercial disappointment because the music scene had changed, with hair metal brushed aside for grunge. "Everybody was listening to   ALICE IN CHAINS   and   SOUNDGARDEN ,"   Corabi   said. "At that point, we were considered passé."

According to   Corabi ,   CRÜE 's ill-fated 1994 American tour " was a nightmare. We weren't selling tickets. It was just horrible," he said.

After working with   Corabi   for two years on a follow-up album,   "Generation Swine" ,   CRÜE   dropped the singer and reunited with   Vince Neil .

Despite   Neil 's return,   "Generation Swine"   sold poorly when it was released in 1997.

Nikki Sixx   photo credit:   Jason Shaltz   of   SiriusXM   /   Eddie Vedder   photo credit:   Danny Clinch

Via Blabbermouth