Mötley Crüe, an American heavy metal band formed in 1981, released a three-track extended play (EP) titled “Cancelled” on Friday, Oct. 4. The EP is their first release since their soundtrack for Mötley Crüe’s biographical film, “The Dirt,” which came out in 2019 on Netflix and received generally poor ratings from critics but was widely watched and favorably reviewed by fans. The soundtrack was a massive success, reaching the No. 10 spot on the Billboard 200 in April 2019. “Cancelled” aims to bring listeners the same destructive freedom that “The Dirt” captured so well, but lacks the character to do so.
Mötley Crüe is famous for their reckless excessiveness and rebelliousness. They performed elaborate sets that included flamethrowers and roller coaster drum kits, embracing the gung ho spirit of the glam metal era of the ’80s. PR stunts such as spilling a suitcase of pornography magazines in the airport and throwing a television set out of a window further unveiled their unruliness.
Mötley Crüe’s antics echoed the chaos of their personal lives, as they faced substance abuse issues. Vince Neil, the band’s lead vocalist, was charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter for his involvement in a car accident in 1984, and Nikki Sixx, the bassist, was pronounced dead for two minutes following a heroin overdose in 1987. Despite these incidents, the band maintained their unapologetic approach to partying and debauchery — defining their rise to fame.
“Cancelled,” evokes the same sense of shameless party culture that colored much of their work in the past — but this time, with the modern twist of being canceled. There are three songs on the album: the titular song “Cancelled,” “Dogs of War” and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right” (1986). As one might expect, each song provides overwhelming bursts of heavy metal guitar, thundering drums and abrasive rasping vocals.
Thematically, Mötely Crüe plays off of their controversial reputation by condemning cancel culture, jeering “Speak your mind, you might get cancelled” in “Cancelled.” They reference the Daily Mail, TikTok and the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in a surprisingly interesting culture clash between ’80s glam rock and more modern conservative rhetoric. The EP is decidedly political, as they sing “Riot in the capital, press in a grapple” in the titular song. In “Dogs of War,” Mötley Crüe repeats, “Don’t let those bastards get you down” in a way that seemingly suggests standing up for oneself in the face of scandal or moral condemnation.
There is little beneath the surface in these songs as the lyrics are very one-dimensional and vary to almost no degree from line to line. The two words “down” and “bastards” comprise one-fourth of the total lyrics in “Dogs of War.” Their cover of “Fight For Your Right” makes no substantive changes to the original song but does couch the lyrics in heavier shreds of guitar and denser drum lines.
However, there are some compelling artistic choices. A comforting piano melody in “Cancelled” shifts the intense and unexpected to a softer and slower sound that flows smoothly as they croon, “Will you love me when I fall down?” As for the actual lyrical content here, it is at least an attempt at some thematic tension or depth that is absent from the rest of the EP, insofar as suggesting the sad state of a musician who has been “Cancelled.” There is a sort of absurd irony here. The band proudly self-labels themselves as canceled, rather than allowing the media to do so.
“Cancelled” somewhat successfully plays off of “The Dirt,” which showcased their fast-paced, drug-and-sex-fueled time in the limelight in the late ’80s. To recreate their no-holds-barred, party animal appeal, they co-opt the term “cancelled” and celebrate it as a symbol of rugged defiance. There is little original about their work here and the instrumentals come through as little more than pointless noise. Perhaps the EP will serve as an anthem for those fed up with the idea of cancel culture, or maybe it will simply fade into the motley queue of released music that never finds its audience.
