Without You (Mötley Crüe song)

"Without You"
Single by Mötley Crüe
from the album Dr. Feelgood
B-side"Slice Of Your Pie"
ReleasedFebruary 1990[1]
Recorded1988–89
GenreGlam metal[2]
Length4:29
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars
Producer(s)Bob Rock
Mötley Crüe singles chronology
"Kickstart My Heart"
(1989) 		"Without You"
(1990) 		"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
(1990)

"Without You" is a power ballad[3][4] by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was originally released on their 1989 album, Dr. Feelgood.

Background

The song features Mick Mars playing a steel guitar during the intro and the solo, a clean electric guitar arpeggio on the verses and bridge, and various licks on a distorted electric guitar throughout. In the Dr. Feelgood album's liner notes, the composition is said to be about Tommy Lee's relationship with Heather Locklear.

Music video

The music video was shot at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas on January 15, 1990, following Mötley Crüe's Houston concert.[5] Produced by Sharon Oreck through O Pictures and photographed by Bill Pope, "Without You" is the first of two Crüe videos to be directed by Mary Lambert under the alias "Blanche White"[6] ("blanche" meaning "white" in French). Lambert's original idea for the video was "to do a motorcycle movie" but Mötley Crüe objected, as they had done that before (in the music video for "Girls, Girls, Girls").[7] The final clip, which was described by Nikki Sixx as having a very "surreal" touch to it, includes various abstract images, a live jaguar (Czar from the Exotic Cat Refuge and Wildlife Orphanage in Kirbyville), a violin ensemble playing during the slide solo, and the band playing in an Ancient Egypt-fashioned scenario. Traces of Persian cultural tradition are present in the last few seconds of the studio release.

Personnel

Chart positions

Released as the album's third single in 1990, "Without You" reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States, #11 on the Mainstream Rock Chart,[8] and #39 on the UK Singles Chart.

References

  1. ^ "Motley Crue singles".
  2. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Best 20 Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s". LiveAbout. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  3. ^ "The 10 worst power ballads ever written". Louder.
  4. ^ Masley, Ed. "Best Motley Crue songs of all time". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  5. ^ "Chronological Crue - 1990". Members.ozemail.com.au. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. ^ Greatest Video Hits, DVD, 2003
  7. ^ Headbangers Ball, MTV, early 1990
  8. ^ a b "Mötley Crüe - Mainstream rock". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  9. ^ "Motley Crue: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  10. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  11. ^ "Motley Crue – Without You". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 22, 1990). "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 102 (51): YE-14. {{cite journal}}: |last1= has generic name (help)