Methods Of Mayhem – A Public Disservice Announcement (2010)

Methods Of Mayhem – A Public Disservice Announcement (2010, Roadrunner/Loud & Proud)

1. Drunk Uncle Pete
2. Time Bomb
3. Louder
4. Fight Song
5. Blame
6. Two Ways
7. Take Me Off The Ledge
8. Only One
9. All I Wanna Do
10. Back To Before
11. Party Instructions

Band Lineup:
Tommy Lee – vocals, guitar, drums
John “J3” Allen III – guitar, vocals
Will Hunt – drums, percussion
Kai Marcus – guitar, backing vocals
Marty O’Brien – bass
DJ Aero – turntables

Additional Musicians:
Scott Humphrey – synthesizer, piano, backing vocals
Phil X – guitar
Chris Chaney – bass
Deryck Whibley – guitar
Chad Kroeger – backing vocals
Sonny Moore – synthesizer
Chino Moreno – vocals
James Kottak – vocals
Deadmau5 – electronics
Sofi Toufa – vocals
Marcus Davis – vocals
Steven McSwain – backing vocals

Producers: Scott Humphrey & Tommy Lee

Country: USA

Total Time = 43:06

Tommy Lee
Loud & Proud Records

Methods Of Mayhem is Tommy Lee’s side band outside of Motley Crue. Way back in 1999, Tommy quit the Crue and, shortly after his stint in jail for spousal abuse, formed Methods Of Mayhem to give himself a new creative outlet. The band got some serious publicity and a platinum debut from Tommy’s name, his celebrity status, the racy video for the first single ‘Get Naked’ and a touring slot on Ozzfest 2000. I had read all the press releases and reviews and, as a card-carrying Metalhead, I couldn’t get behind Tommy’s Nu-Metal and Rap Metal style with Methods and I especially despised his collaborator, rapper TiLo. I was in attendance at Ozzfest 2000 in Mansfield, MA and I heard all the boos and laughter as Tommy strapped on a guitar and rapped along with TiLo. Requests for Motley Crue songs and the generic “You suck!” comments (a lot of those came from me) were responded to by Tommy by throwing the middle finger. I will never forget the overwhelming boos that the band received at the conclusion of their set and I wondered just how far the mighty Crue drummer had fallen. Fast forward to 2010 and Tommy has since rejoined Motley Crue, starred in various reality TV shows and managed to release two solo albums under his own name…..now we get a new Methods Of Mayhem album, A PUBLIC DISSERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Before I get into the review, let me explain why I was interested in this album. I’m sitting in my seat at Ozzfest 2010 (10 years after Methods got booed off the stage) and the screens keep running commercials hyping this new Methods record to the point of absurdity. There were street team members from the label or PR firm handing out postcard ads to the concert goers and it just seemed like this new album was everywhere a full month before it’s release…..the hype machine in full force! So I’m sitting there at Ozzfest and I’m thinking to myself, “Maybe this album won’t be as bad as the first one.” and “Maybe it’s worth a shot.”. Now I hadn’t heard a piece of music from the album but I did check out the press releases and it seemed that Tommy decided to open the creative door to anyone with an Internet connection and a desire to make music. Producer Scott Humphrey and Tommy offered fans and musicians from around the world to submit material to a specific website and, after listening to over 10,000 submissions, parts of selected submissions were added to Tommy’s writing to create the songs for the album. It sounded like an interesting concept but also threw a red flag in my head because it screamed “laziness” to me. How about just writing your own songs? Why collaborate with fans? Then again, I’m not a musician so how do I know about the creative process? I gave Tommy the benefit of the doubt. So the album comes out mid-September and I’m in the record store debating dropping the $12 for the CD and I decide to wait. Lucky for me, a friend of mine didn’t wait and I was able to borrow his copy.

What we basically have here is a continuation of the first Methods Of Mayhem album. A PUBLIC DISSERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT is an album full of Nu-Metal, Rap Metal, Alternative Rock and various beats and sound effects that are completely unlistenable. Tommy Lee has simply repeated the same formula as he did 10 years ago with the exception of outside contributions via the Internet. Of course there are also guest musicians, some good and some overrated. I can give credit to having Scorpions drummer James Kottak make a vocal appearance, same with the Chino Moreno from the Deftones, but Chad Kroeger from Nickelback? Deryck Whibley from Sum 41? Kroeger and Nickelback are successful but completely overrated and Whibley is more famous for his failed marriage to fellow Canadian alt-rocker Avril Lavigne than his own band! It just points to the fact that this kind of music and hype is at least 7 or 8 years out of date. At least Tommy listened to the overwhelming boos 10 years ago and got rid of TiLo!

Bottom Line:
Without a doubt the worst album I have heard all year and most likely the hands down favorite for my Worst Album of 2010. I seriously sat in my music room at least 6 or 7 times to give this a serious listen and it was a serious chore. There is nothing on this album even close to Tommy’s music with Motley Crue or even Hard Rock for that matter. Hell, I would even take basic Rock! All there is here is Nu-Metal, etc. and it’s 10 years past the sell by date. I can understand a musician’s right to explore new territory, to expand their musical base, but when you market the album heavily at a Heavy Metal festival like Ozzfest, then you are deceiving the fans. Thank god I didn’t waste my money.

Favorite Songs:
none