Ex-Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars says the title of his album refers to the two sides of his playing style: the Mötley side and the Mars side. Which begs the question: why have we waited so damn long to hear the Mars side? Unencumbered by the Crüe's kooky cabaret, the man born Robert Alan Deal has magicked up a full-scale solo stormer: a 90s grunge record made by a marauding horde of evil mutants.
One suspected Mick was up to something special when he released a teaser, Loyal To The Lie, on Halloween last year. It sounded vicious, vituperative, vengeful. The accompanying video resembled a Hammer Horror film directed by a serial killer, Mick lunging out scarily from the screen: be-cloaked, cadaverous, white-faced, skin like parchment. A YouTube comment hit the nail squarely on the head: "Mars just beat the Crüe's output over the last several decades with one song."
