What a noisy mess!!! Vince is back in the fold after the serious rock 'n' roll blitz of the self-titled rocker, but 'Generation...' should maybe have also been created without him. Once again the Crue are very serious here, churcning out an industrial-tinged soundpit of fuzzy percussion, blurred choruses and heavyweight riffs. It's a fine rock 'n' roll album, just like 'Motley Crue', but is it really Crue ? Is it so wrong to crave that sleazy edge the band made oh so sickly on the first two records ? Sure, bands progress, but again, 'Generation...' is neither here nor there, 'Afraid' is a superb rock song, the production is a cacophany, Vince's vocals lost in the almost grunge-like forest of booming bass, and Mick Mars' vibrant riffs, but is it really Crue ? I wish I could just sit back and spin the record and take it for what it is, an arty, self-indulgent rock stomp that remains bloated, fuzzed, cluttered and punky, but Neil seems so out of place here, his voice always being suited to a late '80s glam show,so to hear them plod through the rifferama of 'Flush', we're still wondering what's going on, scratching our heads knowing that amid the sirens and cavernous musicianship there really is a good rock record simmering, and yeah, the band look great, but there's just no track standing out like a 'Kickstart My Heart' or even a 'Wild Side', instead the mess of the smeared canvas is at times indecipherable, and maybe, just maybe 1997 was too late a time for Crue to take themselves seriously, and I'm pretty sure that many, if not most of these tracks, were lost on the audiences in the amphitheatres, the booming sound a bizarre hybrid of bloated Oasis, Soundgarden and over-produced punk, the title track thumps along, a myriad of layers, it's all over the place, 'Beauty' throbs, 'Glitter' sparkles but again is inconsistent, but 'Let Us Prey' and 'A Rat Like Me' will tear down walls. On another day ten of the thirteen tracks would be worthy of least an '8' rating, but there's three cuts on this record that make it all the more confusing and messy. 'Rocketship' sees Nikki Sixx on the vocals. Sure, it may be a personal message to his then wife, but it's a strange one, and Tommy's atrocious Beatles-cum-Oasis 'Brandon' with its cello's and awful lyrics will have you reaching for the sick bucket, and then there's the bemusing re-work of 'Shout At The Devil', cybered up but with no place to go. It's frustrating stuff indeed, Crue at times spewing out a new, modern leadweight style that would crush a majority of recent metal acts, but it's Crue we want, we don't want to freeze them in time, but time after time I've listened to this cauldron of pounding, grinding, throbbing mayhem but every time I feel like it's not Crue. So, is it Crue ? Not really, but it rocks far more than the wimpy 'Theatre Of Pain' or glitzy 'Girls Girls Girls', but then again, despite the over use of powder on those '80s albums, they sold millions, whilst I'm sure that 'Generation...' will remain as an overlooked record that tries so hard to be cool and different, and succeeds in most cases but will always leave you asking, is it Crue though ? Buy Beautiful Creatures instead.
7.5/10
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