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zahri-melitor · 10 months

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Batman Reborn: let's break it down.

So I read eight ongoing Reborn titles: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, Red Robin, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Streets of Gotham and Azrael.

Detective Comics: this was the unexpected standout of the set. 'Tec quite often does good family stories, but it got a massive boost by most of its Reborn run being made up of two things: Rucka's Batwoman run and Snyder's The Black Mirror. These are both very, very worthwhile longform stories. It also supported an excellent backup with the Question & Huntress teamup.

Streets of Gotham: aka Dini does his thing. Streets was exactly what I expected from a Bat anthology book written by Dini. Dini's very good at balancing big casts, and the first half of this run was Dini at his best - lots of walk on characters, complex plots, the only really good Damian Wayne characterisation going prior to Bruce's resurrection, and a lot of fun. Andreyko's Manhunter backup was also fantastic. The second half then devolved into interminable Hush storytelling, which I ALSO expect from Dini at this point, and the Two-Face backup simply wasn't as good. It was still enjoyable! But the non-Hush stories were better.

Batman: now here was a title all over the place. It just rotated through SO MANY hands. Personally my favourite stories were: #703, where for one shining moment we got an issue that managed to have Dick, Tim and Damian on page together, in costume, working together (Thank you, Fabian Nicieza); and the Judgment on Gotham crossover that finished out the plot of Azrael. Both were exactly what I enjoy seeing - stories using their supporting cast well. Other than that, you had the Jeremiah Arkham plot, the Kitrina Falcone plots (oh Kitrina), Riddler going back off the rails (I somehow missed where he decided to flip back to being a bad guy instead of a detective), and Two-Face being betrayed by Gilda. There was just so much going on here, and unfortunately it wasn't focused enough on what was going on for Dick.

Azrael: because sometimes you need a tragedy! Azrael was fun. Overtly religious and leaning into Christian theology in places (and Dan Brown plotlines in others), the entire premise of the book was "Watch Michael Lane have a breakdown as he is corrupted by the Suit of Sorrows" and that is exactly what we got. I liked FabNic's plots better than Jim Hine's, but they both pulled off some fun storytelling (I burst out laughing at times. Like when Crusader revealed The Bees). I'm glad it got the crossover to finish out the storyline. The Order of Purity are very bad news, even for a breakaway sect of the Order of St Dumas.

Batman & Robin: oh. Where do I start. This run is, above all, a lot of lost potential. I found Morrison's writing in this particularly painful and a struggle to get through due to their refusal to keep track of what was going on in any other title, and just everything about the way Damian and Alfred in particular were written. I was also particularly aggravated by the timeline inconsistency that B&R #10-16 by any realistic read come AFTER RR #12 (given the resurrection timeline running ahead of all the other titles), but there was no acknowledgment of this fact in the text, and parts of it contradicted that read...this is what an editor should be keeping smoothed out for such a big event (the Return of Bruce Wayne).

Once Morrison left things improved, but realistically it just turned into three separate writers writing three separate stories that didn't really mesh at all. Cornell's story was just more demonisation of Vicky Vale, Winick's story was just Winick writing a Jason story rather than anything about the two title characters, and Tomasi's story was the only one where I actually enjoyed Batman & Robin as a title... only to be let down by the artist clearly never having seen a reference picture of Rebecca or Aaron Langstrom before. You had a villain construct angel wings. On Aaron Langstrom. AARON. LANGSTROM. He's a toddler who is permanently a Man-Bat. He can already fly. The opening movie night though in Tomasi's story was extremely Tomasi and everything my heart wanted.

Birds of Prey: I enjoyed the storytelling in this, though parts of it were very clearly Gail Simone on board. Since I enjoy Simone, I didn't mind that, but for instance the entire plot revolving around rescuing Sin was very much a 'take that' for Sin being written out. I also quite enjoyed the Death of Oracle plot even if I have certain objections to Cass being left off the list (and boggling at the logistics of Wendy and Damian also being left off). Oracle got herself a new Tower!

I have to say though, I cannot imagine how this run would read if you were not already deeply familiar with Simone's first run on Birds of Prey, because she spent so much time picking up dropped plot threads and playing them out.

Andreyko's double issue to finish the book off was actually more of a tie off to his Manhunter backup plot than a Birds of Prey finishing-up plot, which makes sense as it's Andreyko, but it was a little unexpected in that the proper finale of the series was actually #13, not #15.

Batgirl: hmmmm. Yeah, this was probably the weakest written of all 8 and also the book that's aged the fastest. What I think it was successful in doing: look, I loved the Barbara and Wendy plot. That worked really well and was unfortunately the only points in the story that felt like Barbara was fully in character. I also think it was successful in being Stephanie's story. In fact, it felt like Steph was telling it to me. And in the process, eliding over her own mistakes and boosting up how much she was getting praised for her actions. It reminded me a LOT of Cassie Sandsmark's origin story telling in Young Justice Secret Files and Origins - where the main character is telling me her version of events. I actually kind of wish we hadn't got any of Barbara's thought bubbles around Steph, because when they were, they were pretty un-Barbaraish.

Look, there was some fun storytelling here. It was a light and fluffy title. But I don't think it ever fully succeeded in rehabilitating Steph as a usable character for the wider community, because the book so blatantly refused to grapple with Steph's previous actions. Things that other characters had done to Steph and things Editorial had done to Steph? Yes. Things Steph herself did? No.

Red Robin: I loved that this was one of the few titles explicitly committed to trying to keep on top of everything was happening in all of the other books. I enjoyed Yost's run more than Nicieza's, but FabNic also had some great stuff (the Ünternet issue is understandably popular for a reason). Tam, Pru and Lonnie all played off Tim in interesting ways. I actually enjoyed Tim having his little, deserved, breakdown. He spends most of the title at the outer limits of his smugness, using it to conceal his gaps in self-confidence, and while I enjoy Tim being a brat in that manner, this is another title that is just so very informed by pre-existing history that you need to know that Tim is both not quite himself right now, and WHY that is. He was settling back into himself by the end of the book.

I am extremely sad this got cut off where it did, because it was so, so obviously working its way into trying to find a new identity for Tim and move him into adulthood... and then got cut off at the knees, sending Tim into a tailspin holding pattern for a decade that they've only JUST been able to extract him from.

#z canon read throughs #batman reborn

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afterglow-tommylee · 1 year

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Chapter 24. A Test To See How Much You Can Take

Malibu California, July 20 2002

Sitting at my desk in my home office, I flip through some documents and random papers organizing as much as I can before Tommy and I head into the San Fernando Valley just outside Los Angeles for an interview and photo shoot with Guitar One magazine.

As I grab the last few papers off my desk, I notice there was a large postal envelope that I have yet to open. I couldn't remember what it was but it was addressed to me so I set the other papers aside, and opened it to see what was inside.

I pulled out a magazine, Harper's Bazzar, which I don't remember ever subscribing to but none-the-less I see Angelina Jolie on the cover, looking as beautiful as ever and as I look over the cover, there is a feature about Chris.

"Chris Cornell, making his way, new band, new life, but how does he keep it all together?...what?" I read it to myself.

Flipping my curls out of my face, I open the magazine and flip to the section with the article. I find the article which is about 4 pages with photos of him, and I would be lying if I said that he didn't look great, but as I continue to turn each page, there are more photos of him and I suddenly feel like my heart dropped out onto the floor with someone stomping on it to make sure that it was actually dead.

It was Chris with Vicky Karayiannis, the woman he left me for, who he is now apparently engaged to according to this article, the two of them on a white covered bed, looking so in love with sporadic photos around the main full page photo of them playing around in a pillow fight.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to punch something, or really more like someone.

"Babe, have you uh, seen my um, studded belt? I can only find this plain leather one..."Tommy says as he appears behind me, and I couldn't take my eyes off the page, feeling the pain and anger bubbling inside me.

"Babe?" I hear his voice again.

"Is it not in the closet hanging up?" I ask and I quickly close the magazine, tossing it down on my desk.

"No,"

"Well did you look?"

"No babe, not at all," He says sarcastically with a chuckle.

"Fuck," I sigh with frustration and turn in my chair, rising from it and step around him to go into our bedroom to find it and he catches my hand.

"Baby hey, what's wrong?" He says his brow furrowing at me.

"Nothing, I'll just go find it for you like I always do," I say, my voice now showing my frustration as I try to pull away from him.

"Hey, what did I do? I'm just asking you a question, and you're giving me attitude," Tommy says defensively, his brow furrowing as he still holds onto my hand.

"Nothing, just let me go and find it ok?" I say looking up at him, trying not to let it show that it still hurts. That even after all this fucking time, the pain still hits me like a mack truck as if it was the first day Chris told me he was leaving me.

Tommy then turns his attention to the magazine that I threw on my desk noticing the title of the article on the front page. He lets go of my hand and picks up the magazine.

"Tommy," I say as he flips through and sees the 4 page article and those photos.

"Did you buy this or something?" He asks while reading over the article.

"No,"

"Who sent this to you?" He asks, glancing at me.

"I have no idea, it was addressed to me but like, no return address or anything,"

"He totally sent it to you," He says, glancing back at the photos.

"Who Chris? You think Chris sent it to me?" I ask.

"Well, fuck babe, why would this suddenly show up now? This issue is dated May 2002. He totally saw our tabloid magazine bullshit and sent this to you," Tommy says and glances at me.

"I mean... I don't know, like, why would he do that?" I say confused crossing my arms over my chest second guessing everything I thought I knew about Chris.

"To fuckin' hurt you. I know if I was him I would, cause I've been that guy and I can be that guy,"

"Tommy, he's not like that though. He's never been one to throw shit in people's faces like.... He's never been the type to do that," I explain.

"That you know of. Why would he try to convince you that I'm such a bad guy? I'm telling you he's not the same guy that you were married to,"

"Tommy, he was the one who left me. He was the one who didn't want me anymore so why would he still try to hurt me if he didn't want me," I say my voice shaking. I could feel the tears coming and I refused to let them fall.

"Because he doesn't want me to have you. He doesn't want you with anyone else. He's a fuckin' piece of shit and I wish you would see that, especially since he is quoted 'The only reason I was able to end up happy for the first time in my life was because I was awake for it' " Tommy says reading a piece from the article where Chris was asked about his life before he met Vicky and referring to his marriage to me though I am not named in the article, he does mention 'his former manager and ex wife'.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. A lot more than I care to admit.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore ok?" I say grabbing the magazine from his hands and tossing back down on my desk then turning but he catches my hand again.

"Babe -?"

"Just let me go find your stupid belt," I pull away from him.

"What the fuck are you mad at me for?" He says angrily in which I don't exactly blame him for, but I couldn't stop myself and I walk out of my office.

"Andi?"

I make my way through the hallway passed his gold and platinum records that hung on the wall, out into the foyer and up the stairs. I head into our bedroom and straight into the walk in closet.

"Baby, will you just fuckin' talk to me?" I hear him as he comes into the bedroom. I search through his side of the closet, in the section where he has all of his belts hanging up on an organizer and find the silver studded one that he was looking for just as he appears in the closet doorway.

"Here," I say angrily as I take it off the hanger then walk to him, and I hand it to him by pressing it to his chest and just as I try to pass him, he catches my hand again.

"Andrea - "

"I told you I don't wanna talk about it,"

"Well fuckin' taking it out on me isn't fuckin' fair either!"

"What the fuck do you want me to say Tommy?!" It was like I couldn't stop myself. I was so hurt and angry and I know it's not his fault but I couldn't help it. He stands there looking at me, his brow furrowed and I feel like a fucking asshole that I was even yelling at him.

"Look, I was just trying to make you fuckin' realize that he's doing that for this exact reaction. To get a rise out of you," He says and I cross my arms over my chest and look down at myself

"I don't want it to hurt. I shouldn't care what the fuck he says about me, and I'm angry at myself that I let him hurt me still," I say still looking down at myself. I couldn't look at him. There is no way I can bear to see that look on his face. Tommy does not deserve to be yelled at by me in this situation. He then reaches out for me, pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me.

"I'm sorry," I exhale, the warmth of him instantly making me melt.

"Baby, it's ok... you've seen it with me. Pam can really fuck with my head sometimes and it's like we're fighting like animals and at each other's throats. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt, cause it fuckin' does,"

I sigh and try to wrap my head around the fact that, if it was Chris that sent that to me, that is such a fuckin' low blow if I ever saw one. To say that he was only able to end up happy for the first time because he was finally awake for it was so uncalled for. It makes a total mockery of our entire marriage, insinuating that he was never happy with me to begin with.

"If he was never happy with me, then why the fuck did he ask me to marry him? What the fuck was the point then?"

"I don't know. All I know is that I love you and you make me so fuckin' happy and that I never wanna spend one second of my life without you in it," He says after a few moments, his voice deep and husky, with his lips gently brushing that spot under my earlobe as he speaks.

"Really?" I say, my voice small and even though I do believe him, my insane self doubt just always makes itself known.

He moves his lips from my skin, taking my face in his palms, looking into my eyes for just a moment with that pure intense look of nothing but love for me, then leans down pressing his lips to mine and I couldn't help but instantly suck that bottom lip of his, feeling instant sparks between us like the very first time his lips touched mine. He breaks his lips from me for just a second, crouches down and picks me up which makes me giggle.

"Tommy, what are you doing?"

"Well it sounds like you need me to convince you so..." He says with that charming smile he always gives me and I laugh as he carries me to the bed.

*****

San Fernando Valley California, July 20 2002

We arrived at the Third Encore Studio, settled in the heart of the Valley and I met with the photographer, David Studarus, first as he wanted to discuss with me exactly what the vision is for the photo shoot. It was pretty simple. He wanted to capture Tommy as just himself, since the overall tone of his album is basically just him as he is with no overly flashy glam effects of how he was with Motley Crue and stripped from the over the top Nu Metal like Methods of Mayhem.

As the photographer prepares for the shoot, the interviewer, Lindsay from Guitar One magazine, introduces herself to me and Tommy making some small talk and pleasantries to make it more comfortable. Just before I take my usual stance and sit on the sidelines, out of the way of everyone and everything, She asks me "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions as well, on the record?"

"Um..." I hesitate for a moment looking at Tommy as he takes a drag of his cigarette sitting in an old beaten up chair across from Lindsay. "Really? Me?"

"Fuck yea, why not babe?" Tommy says, exhaling a cloud of smoke and smiles at me.

"Uh ok sure, no I don't mind," I say sweetly and one of the assistants from the magazine runs and grabs me a chair, and I thank them for it as I sit down next to Tommy.

***

*Taken from the point of view of Lyndsey Parker for Guitar One Magazine*

"...Dude, by the time we get to rehearse, it's like, 5 o'clock!" exclaims Tommy Lee. To say he's excited about his new solo project is like saying his infamous former band occasionally got into a bit of harmless mischief. And his little kid enthusiasm is definitely contagious.

Despite all the scandals that continue to plague him (ex-wives, sex videos, umpteen lawsuits and arrests, jail sentences and all well publicized tabloid fodder that needs no further elaboration here), there's no denying that the ex-Mötley Crüe drummer is just plain likable. He has that elusive, indefinable X-factor called charisma, and he's got it by the bucketload, which is probably why he's one of the only surviving 80s-metal icons that the public still cares about in 2002. Not even Bon Jovi's most recent VHI friendly singles got added to the playlists of an impressive 50 plus radio stations straight out of the box, which is the case with Lee's new angst anthem, "Hold Me Down."

While there's no doubt that Tommy's a superstar, with (ahem!) looks that kill and a massive presence that sucks all the air out of the room the minute he enters it, he's still such a dude. A dude's dude. Every other syllable out of his perennially grinning mouth is "dude," unless it's "bro," "man," or the ever-popular F-bomb. And yet, somehow he's always interesting, never coming across as the stereotypical brain-dead Bill or Ted that those who watch too many "E! True Hollywood Story" specials might expect. Put simply, when Tommy talks, people can't help but listen. Which is good, because Tommy talks a lot.

Considering his irrefutable star power, Tommy Lee's Dave Grohl-like evolution from skin basher to guitar slinging, centerstage frontman makes perfect sense. After all, the average drummer may be content to hang anonymously in the background, but it was obvious from the Crüe's earliest incarnation that the spotlight hogging Tommy didn't want to be that guy!

"I always wanted to be up front. Like, I'd be in the back playing the drums, thinking, 'I wanna be up there!' And that's what sorta inspired my crazy drum solo antics. I'd take on the persona of a frontman, a ringleader, and I'd just eat it up!"

He became an official ringleader in 1999 when he left Mötley to front his own group, Methods of Mayhem. "At some point I thought, Man, I gotta do something else, because creatively I am dying. Even if I fall flat on my face, I don't care, because I don't wanna be miserable anymore," he recalls.

Despite his gonzo attitude (and the little-known fact that he's actually been playing guitar for more than 20 years), it still wasn't an entirely painless transition.

"I didn't really realize how difficult it would be until I took this on and did the Methods thing," he admits. Luckily, Dave Grohl himself helped boost Tommy's confidence.

"I remember the Foo Fighters were rehearsing in the studio next to the one I was in, which was so weird considering my wife has known Dave for years but I didn't know it then - anyways I was like, 'Dave, dude, I'm freaking out! This is so much harder than I thought it was going to be. On drums you can get away with hitting the wrong beat somewhere and nobody notices it, but this is a note! If this shit comes out sour, this is not good!' And Dave said, 'Dude, I felt the same way. I freaked out; I had a panic attack several times. But it'll all be fine.' So it was good to hear it from another drummer who was playing guitar and singing that it's really hard. It makes me have a whole lot of respect for the people that do this thing. This shit's hard!"

But remember, Tommy's a guy who used to make spinning in midair while banging on a habitual drum kit seem like the easiest thing in the world, so on his new, completely self penned solo effort, Never a Dull Moment, he sounds like a born bandleader. It's an album that Tommy's rightfully proud of, enough so to ditch the MOM moniker and release it under his own name.

"I thought I might still call it Methods of Mayhem at first," he says, "but then my producer was like 'Tommy, why don't you just call it what it is? Bro, you've been in this business making a name for yourself, everybody knows who you are, whether they like you or not. They know who Tommy Lee is! And now you're gonna go under some other name - Methods of Mayhem - What the hell is Methods of Mayhem?' So I thought about it and you know what? It made a lot of sense. So cool, fine whatever. I don't care what we call it as long as it's good."

Of course, Tommy's well aware that he can never escape his name and all the baggage that comes with it.

"We went to Bora Bora back in the beginning of May, and I'm sitting there, I'm chillin; gettin' some sun - my wife, who was my fiance at the time had gone to get another drink -and I'm havin' my little fruity drink with an umbrella in it and out of the corner of my eye, I see this dude walking toward me. And he's carrying The Dirt. He's all, Dude, bro, I had no idea you would be here! I'm on my honeymoon, and I'm reading The Dirt!' And I'm like 'you brought this book on your honeymoon? Are you out of your mind?' He's like, Dude, I can't put it down!' So here we are on the other side of the world, in the middle of nowhere, and here comes a cat with this book about my life! I almost died,"

*** "Wait... when did that happen?" I cut in looking at Tommy with a confused look on my face.

"You went back to that pavillion thing or somethin' to get another drink, and yea... he was cool but just so weird to be reading that on his honeymoon. Like dude where's your wife? Why are not not playing with her instead of reading a book - especially a book - my book - like what the fuck?" Tommy laughs.

"Apparently I was gone for a while, you never told me that," I giggle.

"Yes babe you were, I had to go find you remember?" He says then turns to Lindsay "She was so fuckin' cute, she was talking to this couple who like recognized her and somehow tequila shots got involved - "

"Oh yea, ok... yea they were like insane Soundgarden fans and I don't really remember much after that... but uh, we don't need to get into that though," I say and Tommy and Lindsay laugh.***

Speaking of his wife, the adorably sweet Andrea O'Riden Lee - Andi as everyone calls her - was signed on as Tommy's management back in January after a fallout with his manager over certain financial discrepancies. Andi, in integral part of the Seattle grunge scene and former manager of such bands as Alice In Chains, Nirvana early on in their career well before they changed the musical landscape with 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' but mostly well known for managing Soundgarden and taking them to their success (which was catapulted after their extremely successful tour with Guns N' Roses in '91/'92) has also worked with such bands as Type O Negative and Pantera and just signed to work with Darrell 'Dimebag' Abbott and his brother Vinny Paul formerly of Pantera with their new project Damageplan.

"Oh she got me dude. I fell hard," Tommy beams "I knew she was the one the second I laid eyes on her. I had no idea she was so well known among the Seattle scene, like, when we started talking, I was like 'dude there's no way like how did we never cross paths before?' it just so happened that we always ended up missing each other by like, this much. Like, when she toured with Type O and Pantera, that was right after they toured with us (Motley Crue) Dude, there's been so many instances where she and I should've met before but it just never happened,"

When asked how she met Tommy, her eyes lit up instantly "Oh my god I was nervous, it was the first time in a long while that I was called to take on a new client and I wasn't told who it was at first, it was just a PR guy that said there was a last minute change and they needed someone to take over right away. So when I met him face to face, I was a nervous wreck. But, he was so sweet and so charming and like, so pursuant of me which I never experienced before. Like just dead set on me, and wouldn't give up. I fell so hard for him too, like right away,"

When gathering what she thinks of the entire situation and scandals surrounding him 24/7 she says "He is so sweet though, like not how everyone says he is. He's the love of my life. He's not perfect, I know I'm definitely not. But I mean, they really do paint him as this like, bad boy that has all these lawsuits, scandals and how many times he's been arrested, blah blah blah. I can tell you right now, whatever you think he is, he's like the opposite,"

The pair married early in July, a spontaneous destination wedding that the tabloids obviously had a field day with. As the former wife of Chris Cornell - of who was the frontman of Soundgarden and has now gone on to his own solo adventures - it certainly made for a spotlight she doesn't necessarily wish for. "It's definitely a culture shock I'll say that," She chuckles. "I mean, I come from a part of the music scene where that stuff didn't happen. You didn't see yourself plastered across the page of the National Inquirer because of where you went to eat, or who you were meeting up with, who you were getting married to. Like, that just wasn't a thing. We were all such a tight knit family that looked out for each other and supported each other. Now here I am thrusted into the spotlight which is not all bad but it's definitely not something I'm used to"

There's no denying just how much she and Tommy have impeccable chemistry. Their love for each other just radiates between them. Seemingly the total opposite in terms of just how quiet and shy she is, and Tommy - the obviously outgoing, life of the party, hyper with impulsive tendencies - but that is quickly overshadowed by her sensual, witty yet humble personality, it's no wonder Tommy fell for her. She is definitely his perfect match.

Now, as he carries on with the next phase of his career, he's hoping his new disc will refocus the public's attention away from his albeit media struggles "That'd be nice, because all that other shit is just so 2000!" he gripes. "It's just old, man. Turn the page already, kids."

Never a Dull Moment definitely represents a new page-actually, a whole new chapter in the never-ending Tommy Lee saga. Free of the hip-hop gimmickry (including rapping sidekickTiLo) that made Methods' self-titled album a (re) mixed bag, Never a Dull Moment boasts plenty of fist pumpers that'll sound quite bitchin cranked up to 11 at a frat party or WWE

Composing the 11 original tunes on the album along with, as Lee puts it, "lots of therapy and anger-management classes!" constituted a healing process of sorts for the notoriously troubled musician. "I started writing as soon as I got home from Ozzfest with Methods. I took my recording studio off the bus, stuck it back in my home, and locked the doors! I didn't come out for, like, months!" he recalls. "I sat in there and wrote and wrote and wrote. just wanted to be truthful to myself and write lyrics about real experiences that I, and others, might have had. It's not necessarily all personal, it was just me saying 'Someone's really gotta write about this, because this happens to everybody'"

Tommy's experience penning one love lost lament on the album, "Blue" (which features guest vocals from Incubus' Brandon Boyd) Illustrates just how inspired he was during this prolific period. "I wrote 'Blue' on a Gibson Chet Atkins guitar," he begins. "They sent one to me and I didn't really have any sort of an electric/acoustic-sounding guitar that I could play with and I pulled it out of the box, and it sounded gorgeous! I swear to God, I was playing that guitar and within five minutes I was like, 'Omigod, omigod, what's that? I gotta record this really quick!' I plugged it in, and that was 'Blue.' Like that. I wrote it in five minutes, just inspired by the sound of this guitar."

However, Tommy says his drumming background still rubs off in his percussive style of rhythm guitar playing on the new record. "There's a song called Body Architects,' and it's done with a momentary switching box that the guys from Methods of Mayhem and the Crystal Method turned me on to. It's a switch put on the guitar that you slap and it turns the guitar on and off. It's basically like I'm playing drums on the guitar, like, 'Ch-ch-bwurn-buh-bwurn-buh. bwurn-buh-buh-buh," he enthuses, mimicking the tune's rumbling, raunchy riff, "It's really percussive!"

The resulting album is the kind of sensitive-but-strong fare that can more than hold its own alongside your Nickelbacks, your Linkin Parks, and your Stainds. If anything, it's more credible. After living through two decades of decadence, Lee's one tortured artist who's earned the right to publicly sing about his suffering. And it's sure to throw more than a few naysayers for a loop.

"I am still trying to figure everything out though," Tommy sighs as he discusses his current touring plans. "It gets a little hairy. I'm such a little bitch about sounds. I'm a Libra, so I'm a perfectionist which my wife can definitely attest to. I sit there going over every little detail. I do know that every guitar part, every effect, every drumbeat, every vocal line and bass line, is gonna sound dope. We've locked this room down for two months, so by the time this thing is ready to roll out, it'll sound awesome! But it takes a lot of work. I'm pullin' my hair out!' But there's just the four of us now, instead of another rapper and a DJ and-whoa, it was getting crazy there for a while..." And it'll be a far cry from Mötley's million-dollar arena extravaganzas. "Sorry guys, no airborne drum risers this time."

And while Tommy humbly insists that "when the place is full of people, it doesn't really matter where you're playing. When you look out into the crowd, it could be the House of Blues, or it could be some arena, it's all the same, he admits that he sometimes misses those heady, hedonistic stadium days of yore. "The only thing that's frustrating is, I've been a part of putting on the biggest spectacles in the world, and that's hard to do when you need to sell out an arena to put on that kind of show," he explains. "So I'm working my ass off to get back there, 'cause I got a few more ideas that I've always wanted to do, and they're killing me inside! I've just got to do them! And I will do them. A couple years from now, we'll be sittin' here and I'll say, 'See? I told you I'd do it!'"

As if anyone ever doubted him in the first place.

*************************************************

A/N: *Excerpts taken from the July 2002 issue of Guitar One magazine*

#tommy lee #tommy lee fanfic #motley crue fanfiction #motley crue

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