[UPDATE] Mötley Crüe's Self-Titled Album Has Disappeared

Photo of Mick MARS and John CORABI and Nikki SIXX and Tommy LEE and MOTLEY CRUE

Source: L-R: Tommy Lee, John Corabi, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, posed, studio (Mick Hutson/Redferns via Getty Images) / Getty

Update on the story from Feb 10, 2025 at the bottom:

Mötley Crüe is indisputably one of the greatest rock acts of all-time, defining an era of harder, heavier and edgier rock and hair metal music synonymous with the 1980s. From staple records like 1983’s Shout at the Devil, 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls and 1989’s Dr. Feelgood, “the Crüe” has given us a let of memorable music, however there may be one record they want you to forget.

Over the weekend, Mötley Crüe’s self-titled album, 1994’s Mötley Crüe, has disappeared from almost every streaming platform that it was available on. The only remaining piece from the album on most music streaming services is Hooligan’s Holiday, available on their 1999 compilation album Supersonic and Demonic Relics. The rest of the album is available on YouTube, aside from Power to the Music and Uncle Jack, the first two tracks on the record.

Otherwise, the album in its entirety has been scrubbed from Apple Music, iTunes Store, Pandora and Spotify. It is however still available on Amazon Music – at least for now. Mötley Crüe’s discography seems to be otherwise untouched, as all other studio albums remain.

Mötley Crüe was a reinvention of the Los Angeles-based hair metal band’s typical sound, as singer Vince Neil had been fired from the group in early 1992. They replaced him with John Corabi, who brought with him a vocal style much more suitable for grunge music, which by 1994 was on its way out. Corabi collaborated with bassist Nikki Sixx on the writing of most of the album. Their label, Elektra Records, wasn’t thrilled with the loss of Neil or the band’s new sound. By the time Mötley Crüe had hit the road to tour in support of the record, not many people cared enough to show up to venues to hear them play.

“They’re burying that time, that five years. That five years did not happen in their lives.” – John Corabi

What could have led to Mötley Crüe‘s removal?

There’s a few potential explanations for the album’s removal from most of the major streaming services. The easiest explanation is there is some sort of dispute on the streaming rights to the album in question haven’t been renewed by the other services, depending on how that contract is handled.

It’s also possible that there may be a dispute between the band and their former frontman. Corabi has had little to no relationship with the band and his former bandmates, aside from former guitarist Mick Mars, since his firing in 1997 simply because he wasn’t Neil. He’s gone as far to say the band is trying to erase their time with him, according to his appearance on The Vinyl Guide podcast in 2023:

“They’re burying that time, that five years,” Corabi said. “That five years did not happen in their lives.”

This would be in line with what appears to have happened to Mötley Crüe, as the album appears to be regarded by the band as the “black sheep” of their studio album discography. While all other studio albums have been rereleased on vinyl in the wake of the medium’s return to popularity, Mötley Crüe has noticeably been absent from a similar treatment. It appears records of the self-titled project are only available from their original release, leading to the vinyls reselling for hundreds of dollars.

A potentially terrifying possibility is Mötley Crüe is slowly removing their discography from all digital platforms. Music streaming rights and compensation for the artists has been a constant controversial topic of conversation, and it’s possible the band may be making Mötley Crüe the first casualty of their discography’s removal.

While rare, it’s not unheard of for major artists to limit the availability of their music on streaming services. Garth Brooks has an exclusive streaming deal with Amazon Music, making his studio records hard to come by digitally without the platform. Mötley Crüe is still available on Amazon Music, so that may be something to monitor.

Whatever the reason may be, it’s a shame for fans of music and other forms of digital entertainment when the content they like to consume becomes unavailable. It’s the risk anyone takes by consuming media digitally on subscription-based platforms, instead of owning the media physically or even digitally (remember your iTunes library?). Here’s to hoping Mötley Crüe’s current digital availability becomes widely released once again.

UPDATE:

After about a week of being nowhere to found open most major streaming services in the U.S., Mötley Crüe has reappeared on several streaming services as of Monday afternoon. The deluxe addition of the album is currently available for streaming on Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube.

Unfortunately for fans of Apple’s music platforms, the album is not currently available for streaming on Apple Music or for purchase on the iTunes Store. There seems to be no official word on why the album was removed from several of the streaming services, and when or if Mötley Crüe will return to Apple’s platforms.

Breathe easy “Crüe” fans, it appears as if Mötley Crüe’s music will be here to stay, digitally, for the foreseeable future.