It’s been nearly 20 years since Motley Crue released their latest LP: 2008’s Saints of Los Angeles. Well, a proper follow-up may not be in the cards anytime soon (or ever), as bassist Nikki Sixx recently revealed that he doesn’t “believe in making full-length records anymore” for a very blunt and understandable reason.
Why Nikki Sixx No Longer Wants to Make Full-Length Records
Sixx’s comments came just over halfway into his latest appearance on the Joann Butler In Studio With… podcast (uploaded to YouTube on Aug. 7).
You see, the pair were talking about the band’s roughly 45-year career overall, and as he was discussing highlights from prior collections, Sixx stated: “I know fans don’t wanna hear this, but I don’t believe in making full-length records anymore at this time on the planet, for me.”
He elaborated:
The amount of work that goes into – if you’re doing 10 songs on a record, you gotta write 20, right? And you better hope five of ’em are stellar. It’s a lot of lyrics, a lot of notes, a lot of chord changes, [and] a lot of time in the studio, which is all fine. That’s what we do. We work hard. But, what I don’t like is that when people hear one song, and you recorded 10 or you recorded 20, and then 10 of ’em were demos and 10 was an album, they only hear one.
As for why that tends to happen, Sixx explained: “Radio’s changed, streaming is changing and evolving as we go. So, I’m really into the idea of lightning strikes, something comes down, [and] I call the guys.”
He continued:
I got this song [and] it’s just sitting on the tip of my tongue right now. I told Tommy [Lee, drums] about it a year ago. I just told my friend, and he goes, “You told me to write a song called that 25 years ago!” And I go, “Okay, I’m gonna finish the song and then show it to the band.”
It’s like having a song and a whole team behind a song and being able to get the fans to really understand what the song is about. It’s just not something that they just pass by, or they go to the new Motley Crue album, and they only listen to one song. So, I love the idea of like we did [2019’s] ‘The Dirt’ [soundtrack]. We did five songs from The Dirt? We did three songs on this EP we just did [2024’s ‘Cancelled’]. I mean, that’s already a full-length record. So, I think we’re just gonna keep going, like whenever something comes up, you feel something – heartbreak, joy, rebellion – let’s write a song about it and let’s go cut, you know, it in the studio.
You can see the full podcast episode below:
Nikki Sixx Discusses Motley Crue’s Full-Length Future + More (Aug. 7, 2026)
Speaking of Cancelled, it was the group’s first EP in 30 years – since 1994’s Quaternary – as well as their first release with guitarist John 5 (who replaced Mick Mars following Mars’ 2022 retirement).
READ MORE: Nikki Sixx Addresses Motley Crue’s Use of Backing Tracks Live
Other Nikki Sixx + Motley Crue News
Last week, Loudwire reported on Sixx taking to social media to address allegations about Motley Crue using pre-recorded tracks during concerts.
In particular, Sixx was answering questions from fans that were hashtagged #AskSixx, and one person tweeted: “Why do y’all use backing tracks?”
Sixx responded:
Since we saw Queen using some to help during the song bohemian Rhapsody live,we understood that we could bring in elements that we could not do live like orchestras, saxophones, etc., etc. and sync them up with what we are playing and we do play 100% live and it’s better for the fans and we enjoy being able to do what we did in the Studio live. It’s a win win for us.
Later, someone else asked: “Why don’t you guys play 100 percent live?” to which Sixx clarified, “We do. You were liked to. Sorry.”
You can read more about what led to people asking about Motley Crue’s use of backing tracks here.
At the end of July, and as Loudwire previously covered, Tommy Lee discussed more about Mick Mars’ split with Motley Crue on a recent episode of The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan.
As we wrote at the time, the pair “discussed Motley’s ‘cessation of touring’ agreement back in 2014, their eventual comeback following the success of 2019’s The Dirt and more.” Eventually, Corgan “brought up the lawsuit . . . Mars filed against the band after they parted ways in late 2022” before asking “if Lee had anything he wanted to say about the situation.”
“For me, that whole thing was awkward and really hurtful to the point where people are saying untrue things and kind of doing that. I was like, ‘God this sucks.’ I’m not into that kind of stuff,” Lee confessed [transcribed by Loudwire]. “To echo what you were saying, there is only one Mick and he’s an insane player. It saddens me, just on a personal level for him, that this insane spine disease slowly started dementing his shape.”
Lee added: “I always try to put myself in Mick’s shoes and I got nothing but love for that guy — nothing but love. I just wish it didn’t get so… and unfortunately that’s just the way things go when people are threatened or hurt. They fight back.”
Do you want Motley Crue to make another LP, or are you fine with them continuing to release EPs, singles and the like? Let us know!
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