Motley Crue ends a five-year wait for new material when it releases “Dogs of War” on Friday, April 26th, via all streaming services. It’s accompanied by an animated, all-CGI video directed by Nick DenBoer that depicts the band in various levels of an apocalyptic, video game-like battle. The clip also includes a clever nod to the pig masks the group wore on the cover of 1997’s Generation Swine album. The song — produced by longtime Motley Crue collaborator Bob Rock — and video are the first releases under Motley Crue’s new deal with Nashville’s Big Machine Records, which released “Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Motley Crue” in 2014. More new music is expected from the band later this year, though no concrete details have been disclosed.
Motley Crue’s last new music was three new songs for the soundtrack to the 2019 Netflix biopic “The Dirt,” which was roundly panned but was a ratings success. The soundtrack was Top 10 on several Billboard charts and spawned the hit “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” with Machine Gun Kelly.
“Dogs of War” is also the Crue’s first release since John5 — who also co-wrote the new songs for “The Dirt” — joined the band in place of founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mars and Motley are currently engaged in legalities regarding his departure.
Following a farewell tour in 2014-2015, Motley Crue reunited for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard during 2022. The group has continued since and will play handful of concerts this year, starting May 3rd and 4th at Hard Rock Live in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The full itinerary can be found at motley.com.
Frontman Vince Neil tells us that “Dogs of War” was presented to him last year by bassist and primary songwriter Nikki Sixx: