While working on new material in the studio in early 1992, Sixx, Lee and Mars had a falling out with Neil that led to the singer quitting or being fired from the band, effectively leaving Mötley Crüe without a frontman.

[4] Meanwhile, John Corabi was the vocalist of the Los Angeles-based hard rock band the Scream when he read an interview that featured Sixx in an issue of Spin magazine.

With Corabi now fronting the band, the members took advantage of the fact that he brought more to the table than Neil did: Sixx had never worked with another lyricist before, and Mars had never played with another guitarist.

"[4] During the recording of the album, the band committed itself to sobriety, with a strict regimen of no drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, red meat or caffeine.

Some songs still had more familiar themes, including "Smoke the Sky," which was about marijuana use, and "Poison Apples", which was about the decadent Rock 'N Roll lifestyle that the band was famous for living.

The single "Hooligan's Holiday" drew influence from contemporary grunge bands such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden,[7] and is considered alternative metal.

Besides the aforementioned shift in popular music, the band fell out with MTV: Sixx threatened to knock the host's teeth out during an interview, as he felt the line of questioning was "stupid".

[4] With no support from their label, and no promotion from MTV following the disastrous interview, the subsequent tour was scaled back from stadiums and arenas to theaters to clubs until it was eventually cancelled.

[16] New vocalist John Corabi's vocal range and soulful performance are generally praised, as they are more suited to the new sound of the band.

[12][14][15][16][17] For Katherine Turman of The Los Angeles Times his "voice is meatier and more appealing than predecessor Vince Neil's" and may be responsible for the shift in focus towards a less flashy style.

[15] However, Arion Berger of Rolling Stone defined the music "samey",[17] while Chuck Eddy in his review for Entertainment Weekly appreciated the ballads, but called the album's heavy tracks "an overbearing plod".

[19] In November 2022, Rolling Stone marked the firing of Neil and making of the album as the 22nd worst decision in music history, stating "by the time they reemerged with a self-titled LP in 1994, grunge was already on its way out.