Mick Mars – The Other Side of Mars (2024)
Oof.
Mick Mars, former guitarist and co-founder of Motley Crue, is the last of the band’s original members to release a solo album. If the previous solo projects from vocalist Vince Neil, drummer Tommy Lee, and bassist/songwriter Nikki Sixx taught us anything, it’s that the Motley Crue always has and always will be greater than the sum of its parts. Nothing the band’s members have done on their own comes close to matching the Crue when they’re firing on all four cylinders, and sadly, the same goes for Mars’ debut solo album, The Other Side of Mars.
Mars’ debut effort comes on the heels of his ugly slit from the band he played guitar with for more than 40 years. Public sentiments have been on Mars’ side, and legions of rock fans have been eagerly awaiting this long-teased album which seems to have been recorded at a pace befitting any 72-year-old man.
After writing “I don’t know what I was expecting from [i[The Other Side of Mars,” I quickly realized I did. I was expecting more of what put Mick Mars on the cover of all those guitar magazines over the years. I was looking for ripping riffs and blazing solos. Every second of this album should should have been two middle fingers pointed at his former bandmates. This album should have opened with a guitar-soaked instrumental letting fans, critics, and the remaining members of Motley Crue know who the Hell they had let go.
But… it doesn’t. The album opens with “Loyal to the Lie,” which it built around some heavyish chords that drop out almost as quickly as they appear. By the time the verses roll around, the guitars are completely gone — recruited vocalist Jacob Bunton is left to screamo vocals over bass and drums only. In the liner notes, Bunton is also credited for “violins,” something literally nobody asked for on a Mick Mars album.
After two mid-tempo and mostly generic rockers we get “Alone,” a power ballad destined to blow up proms everywhere. Two songs later we get “Memories,” a piano-based ballad. This is not the other side of Mick Mars I wanted. I wanted the other, other side. The side that played “Red Hot,” and “Too Fast for Love,” and “Kickstart My Heart.” “Kickstart My Heart” isn’t even one of my favorite Motley songs and it blows the pipes off of anything here.
Some of the album’s songs like “Killing Breed” and “Ain’t Going Back” are harder than others, but the majority of the songs feel like background music at a Monster Energy Drink Fest. They’re every generic metal song you’ve ever heard. The band throws out every trick in the book (three of the songs end with them being digitally slowed down and altered) and still, nothing sticks. Every song sounds like something you might hear in the background of a UFC pay-per-view.
And then there’s “LA Noir.” The album’s tenth and final track is an instrumental straight from the brains of Mick Mars. It’s a nearly four-minute bluesy rocker with Mars’ guitar giving Bunton a break from vocals. Save for a few boring solos, it’s the first time we really get to “hear” Mick. Why it’s buried at the end of the album, I have no idea. It should have been the first track. Maybe it should have been the only track. This is the other side of Mick we deserved to hear more of.
The Other Side of Mars isn’t a bad album, but it definitely isn’t great and even saying it’s good is pushing it. For the most part, it passes for aggressive background music. Mick Mars spent four decades standing in the shadows and it’s a shame he didn’t feel comfortable stepping out of them for his own solo record.