Mudvayne’s Chad Gray Steals Our Whole Schtick, Says Mötley Crüe Should “Just Bow Out”
Motherfucker, that’s our line!
While appearing on The Jesea Lee Show (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray said a whole lot of stuff. He once again talked about what Vinnie Paul really felt about a potential Pantera reunion and apparently in his hour-long discussion, he also shared his feelings on the shell of a band that Mötley Crüe‘s become in recent years.
Having grown up in the 80s, Gray said that he distinctly remembers a time when Mötley Crüe were a dominant force in rock and metal, going so far to say that their first release was his first “cutting-teeth metal record.”
“My first, my cutting-teeth metal record — it’s so weird even say the band name now considering what’s going on with that band — Mötley Crüe Too Fast For Love. Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil, man. Just fucking absolute game changers.
“My mom had me when she was 17 years old. So, I would cruise the strip with my mom and her friends, and fucking Peter Frampton and The Eagles and [Led] Zeppelin, that was what was on the radio. So that’s what I grew up with. So I grew up in a very musical household, because my mom was still young and it was basically the classic rock era in real time. So I grew up on a lot of really great music, man. But I’m telling you fucking what — nothing touched me like, man, the first [time I heard Mötley Crüe’s ‘Live Wire’]. That opening riff to fucking ‘Live Wire’ was, like, ‘What?’ Like I said, I had a familiarity with music — I knew music and I knew good music — but that shit was just, like — it bit me; it fucking bit me.”
Though Gray said his eventual love of Metallica and Slayer, combined with Mötley Crüe’s transition into more hair metal stuff with Theatre of Pain led him to have a falling out in his fandom. And much like how most people look back on the Crüe with fond memories of a time gone by when that band was one of the more exciting acts tearing it up on the Sunset Strip, Gray sounds like he’s a realist about the band in 2024.
“At this point, I would just bow out. It’s not the same, dude. I’m not the guy that fucking like just wants to sit and talk shit, but I have, unfortunately… It hits me in such a pure place, and to see it just kind of turn into fucking whatever because it was such a big part of my life, and so it’s hard for me to watch.”
And that’s honestly where the majority of criticism about the band in its current state lies. Mötley Crüe is a shell of the band it once was. Now without Mick Mars and the fact that they’ve allegedly been relying on backing tracks, it’s just not the same. When asked if he means Mötley Crüe should just completely hang it up, it’s the not trying hard enough part that pushes him in a certain direction.
“Unless you wanna try harder. You know what I mean? And it’s not all of ’em. [Drummer] Tommy [Lee] can still fucking play. Tommy’s a fucking beast; I mean, he always will be. But that’s usually the way with drummers; they usually can stand the test of time. I get it with singers and shit like that. You lose some of your register and frequency, your pitch will drop. That’s just fucking nature. ‘Cause it has with me — my resonant pitch has definitely dropped. I can still get up there, but it’s weird. My register break is a little bit lower and different. So, it does happen, but it’s just, like, come on, man.”
