The instrumental portion of Mötley Crüe – in this instance guitarist John 5, bassist Nikki Sixx, and drummer Tommy Lee – are in the studio with producer Bob Rock. Rock produced Mötley Crüe's 1989 record Dr. Feelgood and 1994 self-titled effort, as well as mixed their 2005 compilation Red, White & Crue and Carnival of Sins live album.
The obvious elephant in the room given the below pictures is the absence of Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. And who knows – maybe Mars is off to the side in every single photo and Mötley Crüe is just really feeling John 5 at the moment. Though Mars also wasn't in recent photos of the band writing, and wasn't mentioned by Sixx when posting about writing new material.
Considering the animosity between the two parties, with Mars suing his former bandmates over financials and accusations of faked live performances and Mötley Crüe saying Mars agreed to lower pay and that he's the one that actually sucks live, it's not surprising. Though neither Mötley Crüe nor Mars have issued a definitive statement saying Mars is out of the band completely. As far as the public is concerned, Mars is only off touring duties and is still a part of Mötley Crüe.
It'll be interesting to see how fans react if Mötley Crüe really does record and release new material without Mars. Do casual fans of the band care as much about the ongoing drama? Or will people truly be pissed if Mötley Crüe released their first Mars-less material? Assuming that Mars isn't in the studio somewhere, that is.
