Saints of Los Angeles

Bassist Nikki Sixx stated in his blog that he believed the band were "on to some of the better songs we've had in years".[4] A tentative working title – The Dirt – was eventually scrapped.[5] "The album is loosely based on The Dirt," said Sixx. "Each song is like a mini-story, and you can plug it into the book. Some of its funny, some of its serious and in-your-face. It's like a typical, successful Mötley Crüe record."[6]

The album features production and songwriting from members of Sixx's other band Sixx:A.M., as singer James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba are involved in almost every song. Frequent Aerosmith collaborator Marti Frederiksen also was heavily involved with the songwriting process.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Consequence of Sound	D[9]
Los Angeles Times	[10]
Now	[11]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Record Collector	[14]
The Skinny	[15]
Sputnikmusic	[16]
Uncut	[17]

Saints of Los Angeles was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 11 reviews.[7]

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer James Christopher Monger wrote: "Mötley Crüe have been trumpeting their hedonism for so long and so loudly that it's become more of a caricature than a way of life, and while Saints of Los Angeles is the best thing they've laid to tape since their codpiece heydays, it's more of a walk down memory lane/Sunset Strip than a legitimate call to arms."[8] Bram Teitelman of Billboard said: "While not every song is a winner, the title track and sleaze anthem "This Ain't a Love Song" are standouts.[18]

Two tours, Crüe Fest and the Saints of Los Angeles Tour, supported the album. Crüe Fest ran during the summer of 2008, with supporting bands were Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M., and Trapt.[19] The Saints of Los Angeles Tour ran during early 2009 and supporting bands were Hinder, Theory of a Deadman, and The Last Vegas.[20]

The first single, "Saints of Los Angeles", was released on April 11[21] and started airing on radio stations on April 15, 2008.[5] The song was given further promotion through the music video game Rock Band, being released as downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store on the same day.[22] A video for the single was premiered at a press conference by the band on April 15. The song was performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Late Show with David Letterman. Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach, Josh Todd from Buckcherry, Chris Brown from Trapt, and James Michael from Sixx:A.M. all make cameos at the end of the video. This act had also been done as the band performed the song on their previous Crüe Fest tour. The song was featured in commercials and in promos for X-Games 14. The single version of "Saints of Los Angeles" does not include the backing vocals and the introduction from the gang vocal version. The title track was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance but lost; it was Mötley Crüe's third nomination. Their previous nominations for "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart" in the same category saw losses to Living Colour. The January 2009 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine lists Mötley Crüe's "Saints of Los Angeles" as fifth on its list of "Rock Band’s Five Most Unexpectedly Rockin' Downloadable Songs".[23]

"Mutherfucker of the Year" was the second single to be taken from "Saints of Los Angeles".

• Saints of Los Angeles at Metacritic