Mick is criminally under-rated, and it makes me sad. Sure he wasn't overly technical or flashy, but his riff and solos fit perfectly. His solos flawlessly complimented the songs. Nothing more, nothing less, and that's just fine And OMG that picture of Eddie in the background 😍
The best riffs aren't the ones with technical & harmonic complexity. The best riffs are the ones that get the mammaries jiggling. Also, that double-cut is beautiful.
I have always liked the music and the playing on Motley Crue songs but I just can't stand Vince Neil...just can't. This video demonstrates the music perfectly! Thanks Uncle!
I saw Motley Crue on their first farewell tour. I arrived as a Tommy Lee fan (I mean, a rotating drum set is hard to beat). Then something involuntary happened: Mick Mars melted my face. It was a good show, but Mick Mars absolutely carried that concert. He’s a beast.
This is so cool. This is part of why I love transcribing songs. You pick apart this heavy music and find all these cool licks from blues and other genres you wouldn't think about, especially when it's slowed down.
Dude, you are making me feel super old. In '87 I was just hitting my teenage years. I went to my first concert, Def Leppard/Tesla, in November. I was 14 and life was glorious.
Live wire. Down stroke awesomeness Mick has always been an under rated player. He makes Motley Crue sound the way they do. Just look at when he guest plays with Crash Diet ( I dont care) who sound great as is btw. He brings their sound to another level. Love Mick. Guys a gun.
I know nothing about playing guitar, but I sure as hell can tell you how great it was to be a teenager in the Summer of 1987 with Girls, Girls, Girls plastered on MTV all day! Great time to be alive.
I know John 5 is a crazy good guitar player, but Crue will never be the same without Mick. He was the heart and soul behind anything they ever did that was awesome. They should have just let their final tour actually be their final tour.
I remember playing that in the cover band I used to be in, I had to stretch my wrists (holding a drumstick then twisting out) otherwise I kept cramping up.
This brings back the days of trying to learn this Drop-D, because I didn't want to reset my Floyd Rose....fixed bridges, oh yeah...thanks for the memories Ben
Too Fast, Shout, and Girls for me. Saw Crue live for the second time on the Girls tour. Great stuff live! Thanks Ben! Great retrospective! Oh crap .. Sesame Street .. AAAARRRGGGGGGHHH!!!
Hah! Reminds me of a shop I worked at in the 90s with a couple of guys younger than me. I put Lynch Mob's "Wicked Sensation" on the shop cd player (there's a killer retrospective album for ya) and one of the young guys looked at the other one and said: "Stripper music." They weren't wrong!
Girls Girls Girls has another really common rock trick, also used in -Dancing On Glass- _the entire album._ Open power chord, interspersed with a bend from the string below, a half or whole step down up to the root note of that chord. So cool. Were the split tracks I sent for Dancing On Glass useful, Ben? Totally agree. One of, if not THE best dirty riff container on the entire album.
Mick is the reason I started playing guitar. Wild Side, Dancing On Glass and All In The Name Of... are some of his coolest riffs. I still love playing them after all these years. #iStandWithMick
Definitely my favorite crue album too, bad boy boogie and all in the name of, dancing on glass, wild side, so many of my favorite motley crue songs. So sleezy and blusey sounding, I love Mick Mars
Saw them on this tour. First concert I had ever been to. Had to look up the lyrics to All in the Name of. Wow. And people think Seventeen by Winger is bad.
I’ll call the un-unhearable Sesame Street/Girls Girls Girls connection with the chorus of Juice Newton’s Angel of the Morning and Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again
I too, was just a wee lad back then and growing up thrash/punk, meant I wasn't really "allowed" to enjoy Crüe stuff. However, as I matured and kinda took that "I dont care" attitude to it's natural conclusion, I found myself enjoying some of the carefree, Mars' driven rock. Thanks, Uncy Bang!
man, I know exactly what you mean ab being in the Thrash scene and not being "allowed" to like certain things. I used to have hide to enjoy Gangster Rap and other styles of music. It followed me into my Death Metal conversion but In my early to mid 20's I stopped giving a shit and finally was free to listen to whatever. Silly looking back, but getting caught up in a scene can do weird stuff to a person. 🤘Cheers!
For a riff retrospective i would love to see a scorpions installment. Savage Amusement, having the misfortune of following love at first sting, often gets overlooked. Animal Magnetism would also be a great choice.
Thanks a bunch for the video!, GGG is a personal favourite of mine, too. Though I always felt that a part of the, uh, title riff was done not in fifths, but in single notes - like that G-F#-E position move back to open string - but you’re the master, I’m not here to object. Great to hear these again, and with visuals, after all these years. Suggestion: how about some Gary Moore? Not a frequent guest on your channel, right? Run For Cover or After the War, perhaps?
Yet again, more great analysis and playing from Uncle Ben! Thanks, dude! 🙂 We get some tasty Crotley Moo riffs plus some Sesame Street and Eric Cartman references... you can't ask for more! :)
Mick Mars was an expert at playing for the song, and his musical maturity made him get overlooked and slandered by a lot of the shred guitar community, which is unfortunate.
Not really a fan of Motley Crue, but really enjoyed the video from your comments and riff analysis. Maybe do Aerosmith Get a Grip or Testament The Ritual next!
Gods bless Mick Mars. One of the all-time great Riff lords with a killer tone too. \m/ (Imagine making a vid like this today. LOL! and it was what kids were watching on MTV!)
Mick is the most underrated musician of the 80s. For some reason Nikki gets all the plaudits, yet there is no way in hell he would be even able to conceive of all the Motley guitar riffs.
Shit, Nikki was passed over by Quiet Riot when Randy Rhodes was still with them. They said he sucked and couldn't even play. Had a hard time following, so yeah Mick is the man.
18:19 This was my approach to drumming. All my buddies wanted to play like Neil Peart. I wanted to beat my kit into submission, stand on my kick, and just put on a show. 😂
Ok, I posted my first comment before watching the video all the way through. Turns out that I was wrong. I wasn’t playing that song. I was playing what I *thought* that I heard in that song.
Stoked you included “Something For Nothing”. I remember struggling to play that riff back in the day with just a Drop D before I learnt they were tuned down a Tone across all strings. Drop D vs D Standard… two very different worlds. System Of A Down also live in D StandardVille (well with occasional Drop C’s for fun).
Awesome stuff. I wanted tattas painted on the back of my guitar just like Mick did. Skip to 1988 and Zakk Wylde hit the scene with the boss man. No rest for the wicked retrospective would be cool.
I personally feel that Girls Girls Girls was Motley Crue's best album. Dr Feelgood is good but it feels too polished. It doesn't seem to have that raw power feel that Girls Girls Girls had.
DeMartini is cool, But Crosby was the King in Ratt. Not much of a shredder but his solos are very bluesy & melodic. He was chief songwriter as well. Word has it Mars wanted him to join Motley, But even though Robbin & Nikki were best friends & former roommates he balked. Mars & Crosby would've been hella cool.
I’ve always felt the opening, single note line/intro to DoG sounded like Slayer/Danzig. As soon as it gets bluesy its instantly back in Motley territory though.
Awesome lesson! And awesome Motley love fest. Thanks for highlighting the coolness of this album. Would love similar either the other motley albums. Of course too fast and shout although they have probably been gone through numerous times. Theatre would be awesome!!!
Not being more than a fairly casual fan, I'm wondering to what extent Nikki is responsible for these riffs. I was under the impression that Nikki wrote the songs, but certainly Mick brought his own spin on them. Do demos exist where people can compare the original vision with what things ended up sounding like after the full band got their hands on them?
Mick had the three Ts, tone taste and talent. Seriously a riff monster and definitely carried motley, no way that they would have been half as big without Mick. No way.
Curious how John 5 can fill in that role....he's a great player as well, much more technically gifted/skilled too so curious if he'd play by the numbers in their shows....it's said they'll never record another studio album but they say all sorts of shit that's contradicted by the flow of time
@@TheBfutgreg from what I read the other day they are recording stuff. As for Mr 5, he is a ridiculously good player, total beast but, in my personal opinion he doesn't have the swagger Mick has. Live videos are proof. He plays the songs perfectly, but definitely feels wrong .
Dude, Just Push Play by Aerosmith is a slept on record by guitarists. Tracks go from sweet, hippie-dippy-trippy to 10XL t-shirt heavy. That album has a weird, beautiful, & crazy vibe. Sort of like your mom.
Dude, first off I thought I was the only one that thought that melody sounded like the Sesame Street theme! I felt the same way as a kid as I was way more of a “Shout” era MC fan than I was a “Girls” fan so kudos to your wife! As the years went by I’ve grown to appreciate that record a lot more. Secondly, Mick Mars was and will always be IMO the heart & soul of Motley Crue. Personally, I even really love the “TOP” record although it’s not a band fave. All Mick’s stuff is killer and thanks Ben for featuring his greatness 🤘🏻
yikes, those lyrics 'all in the name of'.... as a 16 year old kid myself when it came out, i just thought they were singing from my 16 year old point of view....sneaky F's!!
If you can believe it, there was a time when a guy like me could play this song at a rally in high school. Yes, a me actually did that. A me was able to do things like that. What? You want a me to blow your mind even more? A me played “Hot for Teacher”. 😮
This vid was awesome and gives me a new perspective for the album. Can you do these albums for future RR: - Crue: Too Fast For Love - Crue: Shout At The Devil - White Lion: Pride - Keel: Lay Down The Law - Icon: Icon - Ratt: Invasion Of Your Privacy - Dokken: Under Lock & Key - Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet - Europe: Final Countdown
Dear god, that sesame street/ girls girls girls thing. My wife did that to me a few weeks ago with the chorus from scorpions rock n roll band and the theme from law and order.
