Review: Mick Mars delivers 'The Other Side of Mars'

The Mötley Crüe guitarist presents a solid solo effort

Of the 10 tracks on Mick Mars’ solo record, it’s the final track, “LA Noir,” that sounds like what people anticipated. The instrumental track has a heavy dose of blues guitar, reminiscent of “Bittersuite,” Mick’s contribution to the 1994 EP “Quaternary.”  

“Quaternary” featured one track from each member of Mötley Crüe, and that Mick’s was blues-influenced led many to assume his eventual solo work would be similar.

The former Mötley Crüe guitarist discussed his solo plans– what ultimately released as “The Other Side of Mars” – for years.

Back in 2012, Mick told “Classic Rock Magazine” about a solo record, "There is word out about it, and everybody is saying that I’m doing a blues record. It will be a blues record per se, but it will be more like how Edgar Winter interprets the blues. It will have a 70s kind of feeling, but I will be writing a more current style of music. I want to mix those two styles together.”

By 2019, his plans solidified.

"My playing has a blues element to it, of course, but it isn't like what you would call a blues record,” he told Talking Metal podcast. “It's more of a heavier rock thing, but I don't want to even try to out-heavy the heavies. It's just something that's hopefully just a little different than what's going on now.”

It took four more years until he finally released music. The highly anticipated lead singles “Loyal to the Lie” and “Right Side of Wrong,” released in late 2023, had more of a modern rock sound, which was slightly disappointing after he teased creating something “a little different.” The songs could have been recorded by any number of recent rock bands.

But while both didn’t blow me away on first listen, they’ve grown on me, especially after hearing them in the context of the full album, which came out on Feb. 23.

Still, I think Mick would have done himself a favor by releasing “Broken on the Inside” as the second pre-release single over “Right Side of Wrong.” It’s the heaviest song on the record and has some interesting elements to it. The contrast to "Loyal to the Lie" may have better signaled the album's approach.

But after digesting the full album, “The Other Side of Mars” is a little more diverse than it first seemed and is solid overall. There’s more going on that, while not groundbreaking, is satisfying. While some of the album sounds modern, as you listen closely, you can feel hints of that 70s vibe Mick promised in 2012. Very faint hints but hints nonetheless.

But at the heart of the album, there’s an undercurrent uniquely Mick Mars. His guitar style is present throughout, even if subtly at times.

“Alone” includes piano and vocal sections that are reminiscent of Queensryche. Jacob Bunton’s vocals are impressive, and Mick’s guitars are woven throughout.  

“Memories” is a simple song with restrained piano and string embellishments. I was surprised that the song lacked guitars, but it shows Mick’s writing range.  

Winger’s Paul Taylor plays keyboards on the album and also helped in the writing. That’s interesting because a few moments on the album remind me of Winger’s “Pull” album.

“I don't want to be living in '85,” Mick told Billboard in 2019. “It's hard to reinvent yourself, but that's what I'm doing now. I'm trying to reinvent the way that I approach music writing. I've got a lot of crap, and I've got a lot of good stuff too."

Songs may not sound like the Crüe, but there are echoes of it.

“Ready to Roll” includes a bombastic chorus reminiscent of 80s rock, with heavy doses of guitar. The mid-tempo “Killing Breed” features a trademark Mick solo with a tone that could have fit on the right Mötley Crüe song.

The song also includes soaring vocals by Brion Gamboa with subtle string elements. While Gamboa does a fine job, I do wonder how Bunton would have sounded on the track. It’s a little odd that he used two singers, with Bunton singing the majority of the record.

Gamboa also sings on “Undone,” which is one of the album’s strongest tracks. While it sounds modern in some ways, it also gives me strong early 90s hard rock vibes.

The album sonically sounds superb. Producer Michael Wagener is well known in the 80s rock scene, working with Dokken, Extreme, Great White, King’s X and Skid Row, to name a few. He mixed the Crüe’s first album, “Too Fast for Love,” so I find it interesting that as Mick went to reinvent himself, he brought in someone tied to the earliest part of his career.

While I don’t think anyone paying attention thought Mick would record a Mötley Crüe-sounding album, “The Other Side of Mars” does point to the 1994 self-titled Mötley album with John Corabi on vocals.

According to Blabbermouth.com, Corabi recorded two tracks with Mick called "Gimme Blood" and "Shake The Cage,” which were released as teaser snippets in 2016.

Corabi told the “Do You Know Jack?” radio show in 2015, “Mick and I have had some discussions about possibly going in and doing some writing together and doing a record, and maybe going out and doing some shows."

Mick decided to go in another direction.

“I really wanted him to sing on it, but I know he was busy with Dead Daisies and doing these other things,” Mick told Marcelo Vieira of the Igor Miranda YouTube channel. “I don't know… He was kind of, like, not adamant, but kind of unsure.”

When discussing Corabi to Talking Metal podcast in 2019, Mick said, “I'm looking for a singer that's gonna be with me in the recording studio, and if it blows up by any chance, which I hope it does, to be on tour. Because, how many times have you gone to a concert and it's like, not the same singer?"

But since then, Mick stepped down from touring with Mötley Crüe because of his battle with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis. If he now has no interest in touring, what did it matter?

"John is a good friend of mine, and we both kind of decided that [we should] not repeat the '94 album, that kind of thing,” he told Vieira. “I think we made the right choice to have him not to sing, even though he's got an incredible voice."

Here’s the thing about Corabi: The guy can sing just about anything. While his voice is similar in all of his projects, the music styles are diverse. Would his voice on the album really have been another ’94 album? I’m not seeing it.

 I can imagine Corabi’s voice on these songs, and I think they’d have sounded killer. “Ain’t Going Back” has a ’94 MC vibe to it, and with its distorted vocals, seems perfect for Corabi. I think not having John might be the biggest missed opportunity of the album. But even without John, the music is better than anything the Crüe has put out since the ’94 album. And I do like Bunton.

At the end of the day, this is the album Mick wanted to record. After a messy break-up from the Crüe, I’m glad to see the 72-year-old making new music. I was convinced the much-talked-about solo record would never see the light of day. I’m glad I was wrong.

Might it be a little safe in places, leaning a little too much into modern rock? Yeah, probably. Might it have been better with Corabi? I’m biased toward John, but yes.

But is it a solid, enjoyable rock album?

I’ve gone back to it more times than I thought I would over the first week. The more I listen, the more I enjoy it.

So, yes.

Overall, a win for Mick Mars. And for rock fans.