It's really easy to fall prey to the tabloids and the hype, conjuring up an image of some dumb rocker whose thoughts pertain more towards hairstyle than to music.

Two minutes into the conversation, it was readily apparent that Mr. Sixx is articulate, insightful and truly an aficionado of music, regardless of style. Instead of putting down other artists, Sixx is more likely to seek out something positive in everybody. Perhaps more surprising, he demonstrated the same amount of respect for a struggling garage band musician as he would for an arena rocker, assuming that the person, as Sixx put it, "has their own trip" and believes in what they were doing.

Sixx, the primary songwriting force behind Motley Crue, attributes his band's continued success to that very tendency to ignore labels and boundaries, finding influence in seemingly strange places.

"It could be house or hip hop or whatever, if it's got a great melody and a great hook, it's an influence. Motley Crue's roots is songwriting," Sixx said, noting that the songs themselves are the most crucial element in any band. "I have a hard time listening to any music that's not melody-driven."

One would assume that Sixx and crew would be bitter about the whole "Seattle" thing for wiping the LA metal bands off the map for a few years. Guess again.

"I have a hard time not liking alternative," Sixx said. "Alternative was necessary, everyone needed something fresh."

But now alternative isn't "fresh" anymore.

"That's the hip thing about music, now people are looking for something fresh again and bands like the Crue are coming back," Sixx said. "It's like we're the alternative to alternative, not to sound too cliché."

Actually, clichés are something Sixx has little tolerance for.

"Music can be like fast food," Sixx said, arguing that it's a better strategy to be true to yourself than to attempt to follow trends. "Follow your heart. A band who does what it does has a better shot."

Motley Crue has certainly followed their heart with Generation Swine, their first album since the return of Vince Neil after a five-year breakup. It's hard-hitting Crue like you would expect, but not the same old stuff recycled.

"Motley Crue has it's own sound, but there's also an evolutionary process," Sixx said. "It's important for the band to progress."

Regardless of how the band progresses, Sixx will be doing the progressing while playing his Thunderbird bass.

"Back in the days when the band was getting started, all I had was a pair of leather pants, whatever shirt I stole from the girl I was f***ing that week, and my Thunderbird bass."

Sixx's penchant for lighting things on fire spelled the death for his first Thunderbird, but when Gibson reissued the Thunderbird IV in '87, Sixx picked another one up and it has been his main ax ever since (including three albums and three world tours).

"The shape of it and the whole vibe of the bass, there's something magical about it," Sixx said.