As Mötley Crüe celebrates 45 years of excess and volume, the band is giving collectors a reason to line up early this spring. In conjunction with Record Store Day on April 18, the group has announced the release of the Live Wire EP, a rarity that has been out of print for nearly half a century.
Originally distributed solely as a radio-only promotional item, this special edition marks the first time the collection has been made available to the public with newly commissioned cover art. It will be pressed on 12-inch color vinyl, offering fans a tangible piece of the band’s earliest era.
Track Listing:
Side A
- “Live Wire“
- “Take Me To The Top“
Side B
- “Merry-Go-Round“
The title track, which served as the opening salvo on the band’s 1981 debut Too Fast For Love, was originally released as a single on August 16, 1982. While the song is often celebrated as a high-octane heavy metal anthem, bassist and songwriter Nikki Sixx has previously revealed that its lyrical content was born from personal trauma.
“The song is actually about domestic violence,” Sixx explained in 2019, noting that the track came from “relationship with my mother and these stepdads that used to beat me.”
The track was a centerpiece of Too Fast For Love, which saw a limited initial release via Leathür Records before being remixed and reissued to a wider audience by Elektra the following year.
The vinyl release serves as a prelude to a busy year for the quartet. This summer, Mötley Crüe will embark on “The Return Of Carnival Of Sins” tour, a trek designed to commemorate both the band’s 45th anniversary and the 20-year milestone of their theatrical 2005-2006 “Carnival Of Sins” run.
Produced by Live Nation, the 33-city tour is scheduled to launch on July 17, 2026, at the Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Joining them for the amphitheater run are special guests Extreme and Tesla.
Earlier in January, Mötley Crüe claimed a “decisive victory” in its legal dispute with former guitarist Mick Mars, stating that the outcome has resulted in “a final arbitration award that rejects every claim Mars made against the band and orders him to pay damages back to the group.”
