"Dr. Feelgood": Motley Crue's Track By Track Guide to 1989 Classic

This summer Mötley Crüe will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dr. Feelgood by playing the 1989 album straight through on Crüe Fest 2. Luckily for them, the tour doesn't begin until July 19th, because when Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx took Rolling Stone track by track through the disc, they had forgotten obscure gems like "She Goes Down" and "Slice Of Your Pie." "The next time I do an interview I promise to listen to my own music," says Sixx. "When you talked to Vince he probably had no idea too. I'll probably listen to it on the way into rehearsals next month. We're going to brush off the cobwebs then." For now, here are their hazy memories of writing and recording Dr. Feelgood — listen along to the album here:

"Dr. Feelgood"
Vince Neil: "I knew it was a classic from the time I heard that very first 'bomp bomp bomp bomp' — that intro just kind of grabs you. This song has been popular for 20 years. It was funny because I was watching VH1 and they had the Greatest Hard Rock Songs and 'Feelgood' was 15 or something. I was like, 'Wow, of all time.' Then you have Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and AC/DC and 'Feelgood.' I was like, 'Wow, that's cool.' It's our signature song in some ways."
Nikki Sixx: "I remember it had a whole other set of lyrics. I had sort of forgotten that and I found them in a box recently. I was like, 'oh, wow.' It had a whole different theme to it. It was called 'Dr. Feelgood,' but a whole different thing lyrically. In the end it was inspired by drug dealers. Is there ever just one? A good drug addict always has more than one dealer."

"Slice of Your Pie"
Vince Neil: "That's one of those ... shit, I don't know. I haven't heard that song in a while. I can't really comment on it. I'm going to be playing it soon, so I better start listening to it.
Nikki Sixx: "I can't even remember. I just remember that had a good groove to it."

"Rattlesnake Shake"
Vince Neil: "I always enjoyed that one. It's got a good swing beat to it, and we added a horn section in. It's got a good vibe to it. It's almost got a little blues to it."
Nikki Sixx: "I can't really remember what the song was about. There were some really good grooves going on with the music. I think we touched more back into the feels that were having with Shout at the Devil, which had a real sexy Zeppelin backbeat to it."

"Kickstart My Heart"
Vince Neil: "What can you say about 'Kickstart'? It's full blown in your face. It's about Nikki dying."
Nikki Sixx: "That was a song I had written very quickly and had brought into rehearsal. I thought it was a throwaway, something that would belong on Too Fast For Love. It just really took on a life of its own and fit on the album a lot better than it should."