MÖTLEY CRÜE Guitarist JOHN 5: 'I Have Such A Respect And Fondness For MICK MARS'

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 spoke to Rock Feed about the three new songs he and his bandmates recorded early last year with legendary producer Bob Rock, including "Dogs Of War" and a cover of BEASTIE BOYS' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What's funny is I remember, just like you coming into this interview, you kind of think, 'Oh, I know how it's gonna go. Okay. We're gonna talk. We're gonna do this and that.' And that's how I was going into the studio with these guys. I was, like, 'Okay, I kind of know it's gonna be… We'll get in there. We'll play in the control room.' I was so wrong. We all got in the live room, and I was, like… I haven't recorded in the live room with everybody playing at the same time since [Marilyn Manson's 2000 album] 'Holy Wood [In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death]'. And so we were all in the live room, and I was, like, 'Oh, this is gonna be rad. This is awesome.' And Bob Rock was right in the center and Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] was here, I was there, Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer]. It was incredible. And we all played at the same time. So what you're going to hear is us pretty much just playing live. And I thought that was so special. I really thought that was so special, 'cause I didn't think it was gonna be like that… That's just how they did it with 'Dr. Feelgood' and everything. So it was so cool. It was really special."

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October of that year as a result of worsening health issues.

"I think what's important is that I have such a respect and fondness for Mick," John 5 told Rock Feed. "And I think that if anybody was gonna do it, I think Mick would want me to do it because I love the music and I love Mick so much and I love his solos, just like the world does. And I think that's important. I think that's really, really important 'cause I hold him on such a pedestal."

Last September, John 5 spoke to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about how much input he had during the songwriting process for the new MÖTLEY CRÜE material. He said: "We all sat in a room and did it together. 'Cause me and Nikki have written for years and years and years together. So it was nothing new. And me and Tommy worked in the studio together many times as well. So it was nothing new being in the studio, but it was new with Bob Rock.

"What was so wild was we got in a room… It was like total old school, man," he explained. "You get in the live room and there's my amp and there's Nikki's amp and there's Tommy's drums, there's a mic… 'Cause I'm so used to just playing in the control room. And it's, like, 'Oh no, no, no. We're all gonna get in this room and we're gonna play.' And that's how we recorded. It was incredible. I've never recorded that way. And it was maybe one of the best experiences I had recording. It was so fun. It was a blast. I had to, like, make notes and all this stuff, and we just played through it. It was incredible."

Last spring, John 5 told Sirius XM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about recording with Rock: "Bob would come in and [say], 'Okay, let's try this here, and that here and this here. It was one of the most incredible experiences ever… I'm thinking, 'We've got so much great technology today'… but we got in that room and it was like being in a garage working on a song when you were in high school… It was incredible, and we documented a lot of it too."

Regarding the musical direction of the tracks he and the rest of MÖTLEY CRÜE have recorded so far, John 5 said: "The songs are fucking heavy. I sound like a little excited kid right now, but they're heavy and they're mean. I can't wait for them to come out. I'm just so excited."

When host Eddie Trunk asked John 5 whether the new MÖTLEY CRÜE music can be compared to the band's breakthrough second album, 1983's "Shout At The Devil", the guitarist said that some of the new riffs are "heavier than anything" on that LP. "All I can tell you is that it's heavy and it's aggressive, and I think people are going to dig it because, talking as a fan, it's fucking badass," he said.

MÖTLEY CRÜE debuted its cover of "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" during a "secret" June 30, 2023 club performance for 450 lucky fans at the Underworld in London, England.

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE in the summer of 2022 that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in April 2023 the now-72-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.