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VINCE NEIL

METAL EDGE: Other than the obvious -- money [laughing] -- what was the impetus for this?
VINCE NEIL: I guess everybody has their own reason for doing it... Mine is really the excitement of doing it--i can tour forever, and i love it, and i have been, it's fun for me. But to do it again with the guys, even if it's just one more time, doing it again, and the fans that haven't seen us, watching a new generation of kids enjoy it, that, to me, is really, really exciting. That's cool... And the money ain't bad! [Laughing]

METAL EDGE: You've been playing most of the hits for years now, with your solo band...
VINCE NEIL:Yeah, but doing it with the other three guys, the Mötley guys,it's real. When i do my stuff, it's great, people love it,and for them it's almost seeing Mötley--It's going to sound almost exactly the same as when you hear Mötley, but instead of there just being me in the front, and watching just me, at a Mötley show they're watching Tommy's every move, Nikki's every move... There's so much shit to do at a Mötley show, and that's the difference to me-- The realism.

METAL EDGE: You've been out there playing, you know what the environment is like now--Do you think music needs Mötley Crüe right now?
VINCE NEIL: I definitely think that music does. Right now it's like the bubble gum '70s. It's sad to say, but it really is--It's the prefab crap! When you've got the younger brothers & sisters of people that are doing stuff, just because they've got the money to make their brothers & sisters stars, that's sad. These people have no talent, they have nothing but money! With technology now, you can go in and sing a song, and for $100,000, you will sound flawless--Even if you're out of time, out of tune, you don't know what the fuck you're doing, you're drunk...Who cares! It's a sad state right now, people are lip-synching... Everyone does it, and it's sad--If you can't do it, don't! I think the world is ready for some rock 'n' roll. Some real time guys that play their own instruments, write their own songs, and sing the music and have a good time doing it.

METAL EDGE: There's definitely been a lot of jobbing between all of you over the years. How much of this is about being ''Brothers'' and how much of it is just about getting the band back together?
VINCE NEIL: I don't think the relationships in this band could ever be where they were twenty years ago--Not only because there's been bad blood, but because people have families, people have different agendas, people grow up, they're different, you can't never had that same camaraderie that you had when you're twenty years old, living together above the Whisky-A-Go-Go. That will never happen. Now we're all in our forties. Everyone has their nice houses and cars, it's different.

METAL EDGE: What's it going to be like going from Mötley back to Vince Neil? Have you thought that far ahead yet?
VINCE NEIL: Yeah, this will help! [Laughing] I completely enjoy doing what i do without Mötley, or else i wouldn't do it, and i absolutely am going to do more Vince after Mötley. Wherever it is, Whatever it is, it's going to be fun!

METAL EDGE: You just got a makeover from VH1--What was the story behind that?
VINCE NEIL: Basically, i was The Swan. [Laughing] It was like three or four months of working out, diet, just my whole life, our whole life [motioning to his fiancé] at our house, and the things that happened... I had a new chopper made, it was delivered, but i broke my ankle and couldn't ride it, just shit that happens to people!

METAL EDGE: How'd you break your ankle?
VINCE NEIL:[Laughing] I just slipped on some water and fell---Some people said i was drunk and totaled my ferrari, but with VH1 there that day, i dispelled those rumors real fast! I lost over 30 pounds, had plastic surgery, did a new song with Desmond Child ...We have a video coming out that, i think, is going to be competing with this video when it comes out! The show is called Remake, and it debuts on New Year's Day.

METAL EDGE: The last time i saw you was opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and you don't look like you've been radically ''Remade''. What did you have done?
VINCE NEIL: The cool thing about plastic surgery is, when people just look at you and go, ''Damn, you look good'', and it doesn't look like you've had stuff done. A friend of mine, Dr. Frank Ryan, spent nine-and-a-half hours on my face---A facelift, brow lift, upper and lower eyes, nose, cheeks, sculpting...That's it. No scaring, nothing. You don't want to come out of plastic surgery and look like Ziegfried & Roy, or Axl---You don't want the windblown look, and you don't want people who don't know you to know that you've had plastic surgery

METAL EDGE: Did you have any input on the new songs?
VINCE NEIL: Nikki wrote all of it, i had nothing to do with the songs, zero---I just came in and sang. I did demos with Nikki in Vegas, four or five songs, then i just went to L.A. and did the four songs in three days.

METAL EDGE: How about your solo song with Desmond Child?
VINCE NEIL: ''Promise me''. That's going to be the first single of the next Vince solo album, and i plan on putting that out six months before the Mötley tour ends, so it'll probably be out some time in late 2006---By the time we do the whole world, it'll probably be about eighteen months. Then, when the tour ends, i'll start a Vince tour.

METAL EDGE: You've got the Red, White & Crue anthology coming out with the four new songs on it, but no new album---Is this tour a one shot deal?
VINCE NEIL: You never know. It hasn't been put any way, to anybody, and i think everybody has different ideas in their heads as to what it might be. If it keeps going, that would be great, but after the Mötley tour, i know we ain't doing anything for awhile, so i'll do my thing. If we go back in the studio and record a real Mötley Crüe album, that would be great. If not, i'm still going ahead and doing my stuff.  

METAL EDGE: Your first single, ''Promise me'' is being released with the VH1 show?  
VINCE NEIL: It's part of the show, and it's going to be debuted for the show, because it's part of the remake---It's far from Mötley. It's not Mötley at all, but it's me, and that's what we're going for...

METAL EDGE: You've become quite the reality TV personality...Surreal Life, Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Remake...
VINCE NEIL: And we finally caved in and did Cribs, which airs out January 12. And we did VH1 Inside Out, a whole special on Mötley...I'll be on like five different shows on VH1 and MTV. [Laughing]

METAL EDGE: Was VH1 makeover done with the reunion in mind? VINCE NEIL: No, this had nothing to do with Mötley. Even at that time, there was no Mötley thing---It was talked about, but no more than ever before. I did that for me, it was one of those things where you need a kick in the ass. Everyone always watches those shows and goes, ''Oh, if only that could happen to me...'' Well, you know what? It happened to me! I got a call from my manager saying, ''There's this guy from VH1 on the phone wanting to know if you want some plastic surgery, and to get in shape?'' And i said, ''Sign me up!'' [Laughing]

METAL EDGE: How do you take that? When someone calls and says, ''Hey, want some plastic surgery? How about if we help you lose weight?''
VINCE NEIL: You know what? I don't need it, but it's normal to look in the mirror and say, ''If i could just fix this and that.'' And i thought it sounded like a great idea--- It took like three months to just get the paperwork done, so it was eight months before anything Mötley.

METAL EDGE: So between your shows, Tommy's TV show...
VINCE NEIL: You couldn't have planned it better! [Laughing] But it just worked out that way---A lot of people probably won't believe that, but it's the truth. You can't plan that far ahead with anything!

METAL EDGE: So, how did you actually end up getting back together for this reunion? How long has it taken?
VINCE NEIL: It's really been going on for more than one year now, with phone calls... You've got to remember, i've got my own manager, Tommy's got his own manager, and we've all got our own things. It's really hard to get people together and interested. Nikki called me up, and i was like, ''Is Tommy into it? Is Mick? What are we talking about? Sorry, I'm on tour, i'm busy...'' There was a lot of that, a lot of back and forth. Then, all of a sudden, it gelled---Everybody's schedules cleared up, and  everybody was available and willing. If it is the last thing---Which it probably will be--- It's a good way to put a stamp on the end of a career in Mötley Crüe. To go out one last time... Not like KISS, Madonna or Cher---When you say it's a farewell tour, fucking go! Go home and count your money, cruise the world or something!

METAL EDGE: Go back to your solo band!
VINCE NEIL:[Laughing] Or go back to a solo band! I never said i would quit music! It's just the last time you'll see the four guys together...

METAL EDGE: Was there concern over the possibility that mick wouldn't be able to tour?
VINCE NEIL: Mick's health was a huge concern... This whole concept of Mötley coming back together probably saved Mick's life---It gave him something to do, something to hope for. Without doing this, Mick probably wouldn't have had the surgery, he probably wouldn't have gone to the hospital, he'd have just laid around doing whatever it was he was doing, and one day we'd get a phone call saying that he died in his sleep---That's something that none of us wanted to happen. I see this as a sort of divine inspiration---This Mötley thing gave him something to kind of live for.

METAL EDGE: How did it feel seeing Mick for the first time?
VINCE NEIL: I hadn't seen Mick in years, yesterday was the first time i saw him... From the stories i've heard from Nikki, i'd expected the worst. Mick's very frail, but he's always been that way. Now he's extremely frail, and i'm just trusting in his doctors that he's going to get healthier and healthier. Mick had a hard day yesterday at the photo shoot, and today at the video shoot, those are long days---He's only got to be onstage for an hour and fourty five minutes, and we're going to make it as comfortable as possible for him.

METAL EDGE:Did the DIRT have any impact on you guys getting back together? Did that clear any air?
VINCE NEIL:No, that was years ago, and that had nothing to do with this at all.And the movie had nothing to do with this, either.

METAL EDGE: Do you know who's playing everyone in the movie?
VINCE NEIL: No. [Laughing] I've heard some people cast... I heard Ashton Kutcher is Tommy, and Johnny Knoxville as Nikki, but that's it--- And i hear it from the same places that you probably do... The internet, and it's probably my sister who's sitting there making it up! [Laughing]

METAL EDGE:There was always a sense of unpredictability and danger surrounding Mötley Crüe. Do you think that will be gone now?
VINCE NEIL:I don't think so. The fans are still fanatics, and there's still that rush--- When we play 'Wild Side', people get fucking wild. We've got the shit going on, girls dancing on stages, the visuals, the lights, it builds you up into a frenzy, it's part of MötleyCrüe. And this will be full-blown Mötley Crüe--- What you remember, and what you've heard about.


TOMMY LEE

Metal Edge: Over the years, you were always the most vocal about not going back to MÖTLEY CRÜE. Why go back now?
Tommy Lee: "I'm here… You know, I played on a couple of tracks, and [our manager's] been talking about people wanting us to come out and do some shows. I was like, 'Well, I'm making another record right now, the timing for this is fucking terrible, there's so much shit going on, but maybe I can kick the thing off and get it started...' I'm not sure, there's a lot of open things here, so we'll see what happens. Fuck, we haven't even rehearsed! [Laughing] [note: the interview was conducted prior to the press conference on Dec. 6 announcing the reunion tour] Here we are making a video and recording songs. This is so fucking weird. [Laughing]"

Metal Edge: Have you guys even been in contact at all?
Tommy Lee: No! Me and Nikki [Sixx, bass] were in there to record… Yesterday was the first time the four of us were even in a room together!"

Metal Edge: Did that feel weird?
Tommy Lee: "Yeah, it was fuckin' strange! And seeing Mick [Mars, guitar] was really freakin' me out… Really freakin' me out. I was sitting there yesterday when he walked in, and I was like, 'Whoah!' It made me extremely sad - it's just fuckin' crazy! The doctors are saying he's going to be fine by February, but they must know something I don't know. We're all supporting him, and we're all being buds, but it looks painful. I don't know what to say. It's quite a shocker, actually."

Metal Edge: How did the new material come about?
Tommy Lee: "One of the songs is a cover [ROLLING STONES' 'Street Fighting Man'], which I didn't play on - I think Josh Freese [A PERFECT CIRCLE] did. I think 'If I Die Tomorrow' came from SIMPLE PLAN. I played on that one, and 'Liar' is another one I played on. Then there's 'Sick Love Song' - that's the one that I told everyone should be the first single, but nobody's listening to me around here! I guess I can't expect them to, when you just jump in and everybody's already got it figured out!"

Metal Edge: It doesn't sound like getting back together was very organic.
Tommy Lee: "I'm going to be really honest with you, I just think this is all really rushed. First of all, my heart wants Mick to get well, and then let's go fuckin' rip it, it'll be awesome for one last time. But he's not in good health right now, and a lot of this doesn't feel good to me. Everyone else is in a good headspace here, but if I were running the show, I'd wait 'till he was absolutely one hundred percent, then go fuckin' rip it. This is scarin' me, but the doctors are saying he's gonna be fine. Who do I listen to around here? Paul Stanley [KISS] just had a hip replacement [at the same time as Mick], and he's still walking with a fucking cane, and that dude goes to the gym every day, he's in shape! That was only two months ago, and we're already talking about doing shows here!"

Metal Edge: The tour's set to start in February. Do you know how long it's supposed to last?
Tommy Lee: "From what I know, it's something like 35 shows in America, then Europe, Japan, Australia… But this shit could only last a week, we don't know…"


MICK MARS

Metal Edge: Other members of the band have said that they view the reunion as something vital in your recovery process. Do you view it that way?
Mick Mars: "No, because I refuse to be exploited. We all have reasons to come back. They have their side projects, but I don't think those are anything too serious. It's really rough for me being out on the road, it's rough keeping up with the schedule. It's rough enough for a healthy guy, but I weigh 112 pounds and I'm not fully recovered yet, and I've done all this stuff already that 's really wearing me down faster than I can heal."

Metal Edge: Was it rough for you on the road the last time MÖTLEY toured?
Mick Mars: "Pretty much. There's a lot of flying around, playing live at radio stations, then playing live at night, doing promotions like Macintosh - two, three, four places in a day. Even on a Lear jet, I still couldn't get healthy."

Metal Edge: Do you feel like you're recuperating at a decent pace now? Are you optimistic about being healthy enough to head out on tour in February?
Mick Mars: "Probably by then. It all depends how much they're going to schedule in between. It's kind of like if you wake up from a deep sleep, and have to go straight to work and can't go back to sleep - you're going to be tired. You need to catch up on sleep before you can really be awake. I have to be healthy before I really start working again."

Metal Edge: It seems like everyone's got their different reasons for going back to the band. Why do you think MÖTLEY is getting back together right now?
Mick Mars: "Greed. No on my part. And I won't say on everyone else's part, but there is greed around me. There's greed in everything, though, not just this. It's everywhere."

Metal Edge: For those that aren't familiar with the disease, what exactly does it do to you?
Mick Mars: "It changes up your spine, it affects your eyes, you can't see as clear with them. Right now, my disease has gone up to my brain stem and into my throat and stuff - I have one vocal cord working and the other is dead. I have a team of doctors trying to figure out how to get it back so that I can have a full voice again. It's like there are bones growing over your bones and shifting it up - like if you were to put a brace on your back, then try and stand up, you can't do it. It gets to your hands, it gets in your elbows, it gets in your knees, any place there are joints. It starts in the hips, and that's why I had the one replaced and need to do another one. It has nothing to do with age - you could be 17 or 18 years old and have it, and what happens is, they need to cut it out, or it goes through your whole body."

Metal Edge: It sounds excruciatingly painful.
Mick Mars: "It is, it is… And you go to the doctor, and they give you the quick fix, so I had to get myself off that whole thing, too. They don't try to treat it, they just give you pain pills. Well, why don't you do anything about it? Overseas they do things, they have remedies, and they work like eighty percent of the time, but over here, the doctors really don't seem to know a lot about it, and it's really upsetting."

NIKKI'S PART WILL BE UP SOON…