Gallery: MOTLEY CRUE – Generation Swine (1997 Japanese CD)

A short while ago, Jon and I were discussing the Motley Crue “reunion” album, Generation Swine (review here).  I told him that I was still looking for the original Japanese edition, which had a bonus track called “Song To Slit Your Wrist By”.   Even though I already knew the song from Nikki’s side project, 58, and didn’t like it, I still wanted Motley Crue’s version for my collection.  I found one on eBay for just over $30 which is the best price I’d ever seen.  I bought it, it shipped.

Then Jon told me:  “The bonus track ‘A Song To Slit Your Wrist By’ wasn’t a Crüe song at all, it was taken from Nikki Sixx’ very underrated sideproject 58.”

Rats!

See, for me as a collector, that sucks for two reasons.  If the song is by 58 and not Motley (and he’s exactly right, that’s indeed what it is), then it gets pushed way out into a far orbit of my collecting priorities.  Second, I already had the damn thing a long time ago on the 58 album Diet For A New America!

I knew it wasn’t a pristine copy and the packaging had yellowed, so no big deal.  The plastic outer case has also got a bit brittle and a piece cracked off in shipping.  Again, no big deal, last time I saw this CD it was a lot more expensive, and didn’t have the obi strip.  It comes with a really cool generous booklet (in Japanese unfortunately), exclusive to this release, so that helps to make up for the lack of an exclusive bonus track.

Gallery below.  Enjoy!

19 comments

        2. Absolutely! I don’t have the new one yet, but just heard today that it’s Black Sabbath’s first number one album. About time, right? I had other priorities for my money this summer – went to see Alice Cooper a month ago in Indiana (I live in Iowa). Great show, as always!

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        3. Fantastic! I hope his covers album is good. I have faith. I believe he is working with Ezrin on it?

          You’re in for a treat. Because I’m a huge completist for Sabbath, I bought two special versions. I bought the vinyl/CD/DVD box set which is in a nice big box. Because I also wanted the Best Buy bonus track, I bought that version too, which came with a T-shirt. So we’re in for some cool pics. And of course I will be discussing all the bonus tracks.

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  2. Good to know about the Best Buy version. We don’t have one in my town, but I’m headed to Iowa City on Friday for a day trip, and will look for that. Will have to get one for a guy I work with, too. He’s a total Ozzie freak.

    Yes, I believe Bob Ezrin is in on this project (the guy is a genius). Some of the cuts are supposed to be the best of the live versions they’ll record on his current “Raise the Dead” tour, and the rest are studio cuts. He’s supposed to finish up on this while he takes a few weeks off from the tour, and it may be out by spring. From what I’ve heard of the four live songs, the album will be amazing!

    btw, Alice is scheduled to make an appearance at FanExpoCanada next week. The prices for autographs and photo ops sound like a lot, but they’re nothing compared to the nearly $500 price for the VIP Platinum package for an after-concert meet and greet. I’m hoping to do that next year, assuming Alice comes within a reasonable driving distance from here.

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  3. The foreign language copies can be an interesting novelty though – I recently picked up a cassette copy of Blur’s Parklife, I believe the booklet is translated in Korean!

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    2. This one has English and Japanese lyrics, but the quality of the translations are much better than the were two decades ago.

      I remember buying a Japanese import of Judas Priest’s Unleashed in the East. Most of the lyrics were wrong, but memorably, yhe Japanese heard the lyric “Feeling like we’re ready to kick tonight,” as “Feeling, Rock Queers, ready to kick tonight”!

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    1. Yes. Hey even Wikipedia didn’t specify that it was the exact same version. I’m sure other people were confused by this too. At least now it’ll be clear for anyone needing to know.

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  5. I guess this is the kind of thing that happens when you’re a collector? Win some, lose some. You seem pretty happy with it as a collectible though, it looks like a nice edition. How is the sound compared to the other edition(s) you own? Some of the Japanese editions sound great so maybe there’s a silver lining there?

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    1. Yes exactly. Win some lose some. It’s like when you spend a lot of money on a Japanese import, only to find out a week later that the band are releasing a deluxe tour edition.

      I’m looking at you, Mr. Osbourne.

      I have not played this one (yet).

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  6. You got ripped off by the Crüe. There’s a difference between looking after your fans and milking them – far too many stray over that line.

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    1. I don’t feel ripped off. I’m sure for Nikki it was, “Hey, let’s give the fans a preview of my solo album,” which wasn’t available for a few years after. It’s only now that all is said and done (and the edition is loooooong out of print) that it’s redundant.

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    2. It’s not really milking, Japanese versions of CDs often has bonus tracks on them and this version isn’t exactly new. It came out back in ’97 when the European and US version came out (I dunno if there are any differences between the Euro and US albums, though). Why they chose to put a 58 song on a Mötley album is anyone’s guess.

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      1. My understanding is this: The Japanese put bonus tracks on their versions, because they had a problem with stores importing cheaper American versions. So to entice the buyer to get their domestic version, they usually add things like extra packaging or songs.

        For a collector like me, it’s my heaven…and my hell!

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