When Mötley Crüe completed their Saints of Los Angeles tour and Crüe Fest 2 this summer, they turned their attention to their past, revamping their best-of collection for a fresh Greatest Hits, which hits stores today. On the road, the band paid tribute to one of their milestones — the 20th anniversary of 1989’s Dr. Feelgood — by playing the LP in its entirety. Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx were kind enough to take Rolling Stone through that album track by track earlier this year, and now Tommy Lee and Mick Mars weigh in on what made the record hit so hard.

Check out photos of the band kick-starting Crüe Fest 2.

Having guests like Steven Tyler, Skid Row and Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander in the studio made it a “classic album,” Mars says, and Lee discusses how the band, under pressure, made a pact to get sober and take the LP to the “next level.” “I can’t believe the four of us, in the state we were in, pulled it together like we were going to battle,” he says, recalling how the band left everything behind but motorcycles and equipment and moved to Vancouver to do the record with Bob Rock. “We built tunnels to send the sound out into these big loading bays, and miked that,” Lee recalls. Mars notes the ballad “Without You” features 79 tracks of guitar alone. (more…)

In what can only be dubbed the loudest press conference on Earth, the four original members of Mötley Crüe unveiled plans for their first ever Crüe Fest national rock tour and their first studio album together in ten years, Saints of Los Angeles, to a packed Avalon in Hollywood Tuesday afternoon. The forty-one-city North American Crüe Fest kicks off July 1st in West Palm Beach, Florida, with some of the band’s favorite younger rock bands along for the ride: Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx’s other band Sixx: A.M., and Trapt. Taking a page out of the Warped Tour’s book, Crue Fest will also offer up low price ticket packages starting at $30.

• Click here for photos from the Mötley Crüe press conference

“Hopefully this thing transpires into somewhat of an Ozzfest and carries on for years and years and years,” drummer Tommy Lee said to a roaring crowd of fans, friends (including Sixx’s new girlfriend, L.A. Ink star Kat Von D.), and media, “which would be badass. And I could tell you one thing for sure, we are gonna have more fun than humans are allowed to fucking have!” (more…)

Mötley Crüe announced the details about their new album and tour today. We’ll have more coverage from their press conference tomorrow, but we caught up with Nikki Sixx for a sneak peak at the recording of the new album, band relations and whether or not the Crüe can be considered a classic band. For the full interview, click here.

• Nikki Sixx: “This Album Comes From Our Demented Souls”

[Photo: Getty]