Tommy Lee Revamps 'Tommyland' with Dolby Atmos and a Dose of Pandemic Reflection
Tommy Lee revisits his 2005 solo album, Tommyland: The Ride, with a fresh Dolby Atmos mix and a new track reflecting on the state of the world.
A new Dolby Atmos setup in his Los Angeles home studio has inspired Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe to revisit some of his older musical projects.
On Friday, May 22, Lee is set to release Tommyland Rides Again, a revamped and expanded version of his 2005 album, Tommyland: The Ride. This was his second solo venture after Methods of Mayhem. The original album featured a star-studded guest list, including Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction, Andrew McMahon (Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin), and Carl Bell of Fuel. The 12-song album peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard 200, with the Butch Walker collaboration “Good Times” reaching the Hot 100, serving as the theme for the NBC/VH1 reality series Tommy Lee Goes to College.
"A couple years ago, my kids were tripping out and like, ‘Dad, you gotta re-release this,’ ’cause it was 20 years since it came out,” Lee told Billboard via Zoom. “I didn’t really think much of it, but then the studio got done being built and I was like, ‘I wanna remix some of my stuff’ — one being Tommyland: The Ride, for its anniversary.
“So I learned the process, and once you hear Dolby Atmos, it’s insane. I’ll never listen to regular stereo again. And now we’re going down the rabbit hole and I’m remixing anything.”
At its release, Tommyland: The Ride captured a snapshot of rock music around 2005. More akin to Lee’s 2002 solo debut, Never a Dull Moment, than Mötley Crüe’s glam rock or Methods of Mayhem’s industrial sound, Tommyland leaned towards melody and songcraft. “Whenever I do something solo, without Motley Crue, I’m like a little kid in a sandbox,” Lee explained. “It’s just you, and you sort of have the freedom to do whatever it is that’s blowing your skirt up.
“The cover art kind of says it all; it’s basically a, like, roller coaster (track) going into my ear, into my f***in’ crazy, eclectic musical styles mind, and that’s what it’s always been.”
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In addition to the remix, Tommyland Rides Again features a new track, “Stupid World” with Chad Tepper, a song Lee wrote during the Covid pandemic. “I found a bunch of stuff,” Lee said, “and the second I heard it I was, ‘I gotta do this. The timing couldn’t be better,’ just because of the content. It’s really about how ridiculously stupid the world we live in has become. Things have gotten even crazier since (he wrote it), and I was like, ‘I’m rolling with this. This is meant to be, ’cause shit’s pretty stupid right now.
“I mean, nobody knows what’s real anymore, whether it’s a photograph or a video, a political statement or…just everything. Nobody knows if anything is real, and that’s a really f***in’ stupid place for us all to be in.”
Lee is excited to share the newly mixed Tommyland, recommending “Hello Again” and the helicopter effect on “Trying To Be Me.” He acknowledges that the music industry has changed since the album's initial release.
“Back then there was space for things, for music and videos to come out and be heard and seen and paid attention to,” he says. “Now…Spotify releases, what, a half a million songs a day? More? Who the f*** is listening to that? We’re f***ing inundated with content, not only music but all the arts. So how does someone cut through all the static to actually find something that they love?” Despite these challenges, Lee remains inspired.
“It does inspire me to make things really special so that they do stick out from the static,” he explains. “There’s so much noise out there that it inspires me to be better. But it also bums me out because we are where we are. You can’t really undo it. So it’s definitely more for me, 100 percent.”
Revisiting Tommyland was a pleasant trip down memory lane for Lee. He says the collaborations happened organically. The inclusion of Nick Carter raised eyebrows at the time, but Lee insists it was a natural fit.
“It wasn’t like I sat around saying, ‘Who do I want to collaborate with?’ It just kind of happened track by track,” he recalls. He met the Backstreet Boy on MTV’s Punk’d, “and we became really, really cool friends. I was working on this tune (‘Say Goodbye’) around that time and we were at my house and I played it for Nick, and he just started singing and I was like, ‘Oh, shit, what are you doing for the next couple days, bud?’ He’s such a cool guy, such an incredible voice. I was like, ‘Let’s do it. I’m probably gonna hear a bunch of flak from some metal heads, but f*** them!'”
As Tommyland Rides Again is released, Lee is remixing his catalog, including solo albums and Methods of Mayhem releases. He plans new material for 2027 and may remix Mötley Crüe in Dolby Atmos.
Before that, he'll tour with the Crüe for The Return of the Carnival of Sins!, celebrating its 20th anniversary and the band’s 45th. The 33-date tour with Tesla and Extreme starts July 17 near Pittsburgh and ends Sept. 25 in Ridgefield, Wash.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Lee predicts. “The last run we did was all stadiums, which was f***ing phenomenal. But I really do love a good outdoor amphitheater, shed vibe. That’s always fun in the summer.” Mötley Crüe asked fans for setlist suggestions, leading them to revisit songs they haven't played in years. He declined to name what they are, however.
The band has also released new songs recently — “Dogs of War,” “Cancelled,” and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party)” — but fans will have to wait for more. “We’re always writing, and we do have some stuff kicking around,” he notes, “but right now the only thing in front of us is going out to do these summer dates. But after that I think it’s safe to say you’ll probably be hearing some new stuff in ’27.”
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