Two-minutes-and-30-seconds in, the guitar solo kicks in and you know it’s him. There’s a blues-metal tone, feel, power and melodic economy to the playing that’s unmistakably Mick Mars.Intriguingly titled “Loyal to the Lie” and fittingly released on Halloween, the track puts Mars’ tiger-shark riffs amid horror-soundtrack production and a big, mascaraed chorus.
Bunton sang all but two lead vocals on “The Other Side of Mars,” which counts one instrumental among its 12 tracks. After rocking sold-out U.S. stadiums last summer with Mötley Crüe, coheadliners Def Leppard, and support acts Poison and Joan Jett, Mars stepped away from touring. Hard-rock/metal studio wiz Michael Wagener -- whose resume includes Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, White Lion, Skid Row, and Mötley Crüe’s 1981 debut LP “Too Fast For Love” -- produced “The Other Side of Mars.”