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It's the most apt of
titles. Never A Dull Moment is not only Tommy Lee's second
album; the phrase also sums up the former Motley Crue
drummer's life for the last quarter century. It's also
appropriate that his first post-Crue outing was 1999's Methods
of Mayhem, as the likable, multi-faceted musician is indeed a
well documented one-man-mayhem-maker. On the album, produced
by Lee and Scott Humphrey, Lee is essentially a one-man music
machine.
Since amicably parting ways with Methods of
Mayhem's rapper, Tilo, in 2000, Tommy Lee decided to go it
alone. The result is Never A Dull Moment's dozen stellar
tracks, which find the singer/songwriter/drummer/guitarist
reaching his creative potential. As Lee sums up the vibe of
Never a Dull Moment: "A friend told me, 'the first record
sounds like it came from your head. This one sounds like it
came from your heart.'" Lee concurs, and the first single,
"Hold Me Down," a booming, memorable mid-tempo
rocker, bears him out. "In creating Methods, I was
creatively and personally frustrated in Motley Crue and I just
needed to do something new. And since I love all kinds of
music - techno, rock, metal, hip-hop, I got my ya-yas out on
Methods of Mayhem. I was creatively dying in Crue, so Methods
was my savior. Never A Dull Moment is a lot more focused, and
I wrote all the songs on my own, in my home studio over a
year-long period, 26 of them, total."
While Lee still has Methods' bass player with
him (Marty O'Brien), Never A Dull Moment is much more a true
solo album with Lee handling all the drums and most of the
guitars in the studio. "Everybody was saying, 'you've
been in the game for 20-plus years, created a great name for
yourself, done all this hard work, just use your name!' I was
like, 'I'm not really egotistical enough to just use my own
name.' Then I thought, 'it's not ego, it just made sense 'cause
I did pretty much write, sing and play everything!' If this
had been a Methods record, I would have had other friends on
the record, a lot of guest stars like I did on the first one."
That said, a couple pals do grace the CD. Chino from Deftones
shares the second verse with Lee on "Ashamed."
"Chino just stopped by the studio one night and heard 'Ashamed,'
and said, 'Dude, I want to sing on that one.' I let them pick
what they wanted, I didn't want to force them to work on a
track they didn't like. Then Brandon and [Incubus guitarist]
Mikey Einzinger were recording right by my house, so I invited
them up. They heard 'Blue,' and said, 'that's gorgeous, let's
work on that.' That was all it took! 'Blue' is a beautiful
tune," Lee furthers. "I'd love for it to be a single.
Everybody can relate to it, because every kid and adult has
been blue at some time. Like with 'Hold Me Down,' everyone has
experienced being repressed or held back, or been made to feel
'less than'."
While most of the songs on Never A Dull
Moment were written in Lee's studio, the first single began
life on the back of a tour bus during Methods of Mayhem's
jaunt on Ozzfest 2000. "I took out the couches and
amenities and I stuck a Pro Tools studio there. That's where 'Hold
Me Down' was written. It was the first song written, and now
it's the first single. I remember going through a lot of drama
then, that was a really hard time for me." But music is
Lee's raison d'être. "My studio is my lifesaver. It
keeps me out of trouble, keeps me busy and keeps me satisfied.
If this wasn't in my life, I'd be doing something bad. It
truly is the reason, between that and my sons, I wake up in
the morning." After selling millions upon millions of
albums during his two decades with Motley Crue, then moving
into another band situation with Methods of Mayhem, what's it
like being truly solo? "I felt pressure, but really only
in the songwriting department. I felt like 'these songs really
have to be fucking amazing.' There's not that much great stuff
out right now, and if I don't make an amazing record, it'll
just fall througggggh the cracks. It's all about the melody!
Because at the end of the day, if you don't remember the song
after it was on the radio, you've BLOWN it." While songs
like "Face to Face" are aggro (and about "really
egotistical people... nobody I can mention!") Lee
frequently changes it up within the cohesive album, from the
edgy but ultra-melodic "Afterglow" to the riff on
celebrity in "People So Strange" (that's his son in
the beginning!) to soaring strings of "Ashamed."
"I was shooting for big, undeniable melodies, songs
people can sing along to. I didn't want to make it too
difficult. A good song means you can sing along, enjoy it and
remember." And one of those songs is Lee's take on David
Bowie's "Fame," now titled "Fame 02,"
because it strays from the original. "It's an homage to
him. David Bowie is one of my all-time favorites," notes
Lee. "I love his voice, the fact that every time you see
him he looks different; he's ever-changing and growing."
For Never a Dull Moment, Lee is putting
together a new band. Lee loves Methods drummer Steven Perkins,
but he's currently committed to Jane's Addiction. Methods
bassist Marty O'Brien is back, while bassist Chris Chaney
contributed to the record. Also, a new guitar player simply
named "3" joins the Lee fold.
With Tommy Lee's enthusiasm and drive, most
of his plans come to fruition. For those who thought the lanky
musician was a mere drum god, Never A Dull Moment will take
those disbelievers by surprise. "I've had a lot of
compliments, like, 'dude is that you singing?!' People are
surprised. I know I'm a drummer by trade, but no one knows
that I've been singing and playing guitar for years. I wrote
and sang a lot of Motley stuff on our demos, then Vince would
come in and re-sing the melody I wrote. As a drummer, for me
to sing with rhythm is natural, and I knew then one day I'd do
something. I knew I had a voice, but I never tapped into it
while in that band." While he's proud of his
multi-platinum past, it's the future Lee is focusing on.
"When I was writing Never A Dull Moment, I was thinking
more about how the songs were going to be live than whether my
old fans from Motley or Methods were gong to like it. There
are a lot of people who are stuck in a time warp. I don't want
to have to explain why I'm not writing songs like 'GIRLS GIRLS
GIRLS' anymore," Lee concludes. "Never A Dull Moment
is me now; I'm not going back to dysfunction junction to make
other people happy!"
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