Nikki Six Responds to Criticism of “Dogs of War”

How do you respond when a song is received as poorly as the recent Mötley Crüe single “Dogs of War”? If you’re Nikki Sixx, the best option is to lash out at your critics. Going on the defensive always works, right? In a recent interview with Swedish radio station Rockklassiker that was transcribed by Blabbermouth, Sixx had some choice words for his critics, starting with people who reacted negatively to the claim that the new Crüe music would sound like “a powerful cross between country and hip hop” that Sixx made in a tweet back in April. Here’s what he had to say about that:

“When we were doing some interviews, when we were getting ready to drop the [‘Dogs Of War’] single, I said to Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer], I said, ‘You know…’ ‘Cause we kept getting asked that question [about the sound of the new CRÜE music]. And I said, ‘Man,’ I go… I’m the most sarcastic human being I know. And that sometimes doesn’t always come across in a tweet or something. And I said we got so much media because it was such a lark, such a weird thing that was a joke. And I’m, like, God, that’s really kind of fucked up where we’re at today. No media checked, nobody called the office and said, ‘What’s going on? I hear they got new music. It sounds like country and hip-hop.’ I mean, everybody at the label and management company would have just started laughing. They would have gone, ‘You fell for one of Nikki’s jokes.’ But the irony is, isn’t that how people get pressed now? People just love negativity. And I find it interesting. I don’t wanna play in to it, to be honest with you, but that was a fun one… People run with whatever they think they can get some juice out of, and it’s okay. Hey, if you’re talking about our band, that’s a good thing, negative or positive.”

For future reference, Nikki, if you would like to send me the phone number I’m supposed to call every time you say something to make sure you’re not talking out your ass, feel free to contact MetalSucks directly. Just be warned that I’m going to call you at 4 AM and ask things like “Is ‘Treat Me Like the Dog I Am’ about furry stuff?”

But when addressing the negative reaction that came in response to the new single “Dogs of War,” Sixx dismissed everyone who was a critic, which is a great way to get people to stop criticizing you. Here’s what he had to say:

“We like the fact that there was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, because at least people were listening. It’s a very strange time now where, whether it’s a news cycle or socials, everybody has turned into a critic. And I always say, they’ve never erected a statue of a critic. It’s never happened, right? It’s always the artist. But now everybody’s a critic. So within a short amount of time, we get, ‘We love it.’ ‘We hate it.’ ‘You’re over.’ ‘You’ve reinvented yourself.’ ‘It sounds like ‘Shout At The Devil’. ‘It sucks.’ And we just kind of sit there and go, ‘That’s cool, guys, but we didn’t really ask for any input from you.’ We’re just artists writing music, and we’re pretty cool. I’m happy with it. I like it.”

The phrase “they’ve never erected a statue of a critic” is an old expression that means that, as an artist, you shouldn’t listen to what critics have to say because it’s the artists that are remembered in the end. To anyone who uses that phrase, though, I would like to direct you to the live-size bronze statue of Roger Ebert erected in front of the Virginia Theater in Champaign, Illinois in 2013.

And while I don’t believe Ebert was a metalhead, I think even he would give “Dogs of War” a thumbs down.