When veteran groups release albums long after their commercial prime, theyre routinely described as new. But this last word usually belongs in quotes a point proven by Saints of Los Angeles, the most recent platter by Mötley Crüe, joined at Fiddlers by Buckcherry, Papa Roach, SIXX:AM (Nikki Sixxs other group) and Trapt. The discs sound consciously evokes the nasty grind of the hair-metal era, and thats fine better that than playing riff rock over faux-Timbaland rhythms. Lyrically, though, the tunes tend toward tedious nostalgia for the good ol days: Whats It Gonna Take is dominated by images of girls doing powder on the Sunset Strip and label reps insisting that the Crüe will never write a hit, while Down at the Whisky turns on the treacly hook Do you remember when? In fact, a lot of us do and back in the day, such misty-eyed sentimentality would have been roundly ridiculed. Which remains a damn good idea.
Sun., July 27, 4:30 p.m., 2008