In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Nikki Sixx was asked who the best musician in MÖTLEY CRÜE is.
He responded:
“They’re all really f*cking good. Tommy [Lee] is a monster on drums. Mick [Mars] is one of my favorite guitar players. And Vince [Neil] has something that nobody else has. Isn’t that what you’re looking for — guys that don’t sound like anybody else? I’m not a great player. Like, if I really woodshed for six months, I’m okay. But if I was a different kind of bass player, it would offset the sound of the band.
He added:
“MÖTLEY CRÜE is an interesting band, because if you remove any one member, it completely changes the sound.”
“We all played against each other. A lot of times, Vince would tell me he struggled with the fact I put so many lyrics in a song. ‘Shout At The Devil’ is a good example. But it was because I grew up with beat generation writers as a teenager, and I would get into this kind of rhythmic frenzy. And because of the way that Vince sang, that was what made his voice excel. His voice was kind of like a Gatling gun. Like, bap-bap-bap. I remember the first time the four of us ever played together, we ran ‘Live Wire’. I turned around to adjust my bass amp, and Tommy and I just gave each other a look: ‘Something’s happening here.'”