“This came about because of Doc McGhee, who managed Bon Jovi and who also managed Motley. When it came around to their needing to change up, they thought of me. They sent me a demo tape, and I was with my wife, Angie, when I put it on. The first song was Dr. Feelgood, and I went, ‘Whoa! This is not like the Crue... ’ [Laughs] It wasn’t like the band that I knew at all.

"The part of them I liked was the New York Dolls kind of glam vibe; the whole Shout At The Devil thing wasn’t big for me. But when I met them, especially Tommy and Nikki, they thought that their music was as good as Lep Zeppelin’s or the Stones’.

“I saw that they were sober and had been so for a few months. I never knew them before that, when they were partying. They had to be sober – or else they were done. They’d burned so many bridges, and they were in trouble. So I caught a band that knew they had to deliver big-time. It was a real make-or-break time, and this would be them at their best. Tommy Lee really pushed me sonically. He said, ‘I want this to be the biggest, most badass thing ever.’ And that’s what I tried to do.

“Once again, I was developing and building arrangements and songs. I established a very close relationship with Nikki Sixx. I’m friends with all of them, but especially with Nikki. He was the guy in the band who was like the Lars Ulrich.”