The Other Side of Mars is the solo debut album by former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. It was released on February 23, 2024, by Mars‘ label 1313, LLC, and MRI. It was recorded in Nashville by producer Michael Wagener with a band including Jacob Bunton, Paul Taylor and Ray Luzier.
The album came on the back of Mars‘ exit from Crüe in 2022, after retiring from touring in the band due to his ongoing battle with ankylosing spondylitis, and amidst a lawsuit he filed against the band in 2023.
The album was mostly written by Mars, Jacob Bunton, and Winger keyboardist Paul Taylor, who also plays on the album. It was produced by Michael Wagener, who was the mixing engineer on Mötley Crüe‘s debut album Too Fast for Love, and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, where both Mars and Wagener live. The album’s lineup consists of Mars on guitar; Korn drummer Ray Luzier; bassist Chris Collier, who also mixed and mastered the album; and lead vocalist Bunton, though Brion Gamboa sings lead on “Undone” and “Killing Breed”.
Two songs which do not appear on the album, “Gimme Blood” and “Shake the Cage”, were sung by John Corabi, recorded circa 2016. However, Mars shelved both songs, explaining that due to an unnamed third party,
“The songs were wrong, parts in there that shouldn’t be there, and blah, blah, blah. It isn’t a long story, but it was kind of like, ‘That ain’t gonna fly.'”
The album has been called grunge and hard rock. Though Mars stated ahead of the album that his intention was to show a different aspect of himself musically, Mars‘ guitar playing is mostly in the same riff-heavy style as Mötley Crüe. The album distinguishes itself from Crüe through the addition of violas, violins, and keyboards to the mix.
Tracklist:
- Loyal To The Lie
- Broken On The Inside
- Alone
- Killing Breed
- Memories
- Right Side Of Wrong
- Ready To Roll
- Undone
- Ain’t Going Back Again
- L.A. Noir (Instrumental)
Credits
Mick Mars: guitar
Jacob Bunton: lead vocals, violin
Chris Collier: bass, mixing and mastering engineer
Ray Luzier: drums
Brion Gamboa: lead vocals (4, 8)
Paul Taylor: keyboards
Michael Wagener: producer
