A conversation with tattoo-covered bad boy Tommy Lee [ tickets ] tour dates, tickets and news" style="color:#630000;">Tommy Lee [ tickets ] apparently first requires a publicist's warning: "No personal questions and no questions about Motley Crue. He just wants to talk about his music."

That's a lot to ask, considering that Lee's personal life has been splashed all over the tabloids, television and the news--his and Pamela Anderson's home videos, his conviction on a felony spousal-abuse charge after an assault on Anderson, his reunion with Anderson and the recent split.

But his band's debut album, ''Methods of Mayhem [ tickets ]'' (MCA), says everything Lee wants to share about his personal life. He refers to his and Anderson's bootlegged porno tape in the lyrics to the celeb-fueled track ''Get Naked,'' on which Lil' Kim, George Clinton, Mix Master Mike and Fred Durst appear; he addresses his notorious temper and arrest for felony spousal abuse in ''Anger Management'': ''They watched me in court/testifying to a f----d-up charge/I was drowning myself in my tears/of my boys/growin' up in their early years/without their father near.''

Lee shows off his surprisingly strong, once-hidden vocal abilities on the revealing second single, ''New Skin,'' which features Kid Rock [ tickets ] tour dates, tickets and news" style="color:#630000;">Kid Rock [ tickets ]. ''Like a snake/shed by skin/leave my past where I've been/Can you feel what I feel?''

One person from his past, rapper TiLo, formerly known as Tim Bone in (hed) p.e., is accompanying Lee on the road. Lee, who plays guitars and drums on tour, shares vocal duties with TiLo, whom he met when Motley Crue hit the road with (hed) p.e. The rest of his band is just as notable--Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros on drums, when Lee isn't sitting behind the kit; bassist Chris Chaney, who performed with Alanis Morissette; guitarist Kai Markus of the Canadian band Noise Therapy; and a ''revolving DJ door'' which includes Mix Master Mike.

Lee talked with detroit.citysearch.com's Christina Fuoco about the new record, Motley Crue and the method to his mayhem.

Christina Fuoco: Had you thought about leaving Motley Crue for awhile to start your own band?

Tommy Lee: I thought about leaving Motley Crue when Vince [Neil, singer] returned. It [the reunion] was very forced [by the] record company and managers trying to get us back together for all the wrong greedy reasons. It wasn't really a sort of welcome reunion. None of the guys in the band really wanted to do it. Here I was doing something that I said I would never do--that was play in a band for financial reasons. I was like, I gotta get out of here. This is making me unhappy. So I had to cut.

A lot of the lyrics on the album are personal. Was it a difficult process to let all of that out?

No, it was actually easy. I would touch on some of the personal stuff in the verses, and when I got to the choruses, I made it sort of general so that everyone could relate to it, because not everyone can relate to your personal life. Like on ''New Skin'' and ''Anger Management,'' you can relate to being followed. Everyone can relate to shedding their old skin and moving on and changing. I tried to make it as general as possible so everyone could relate.

How did you meet TiLo?

I met TiLo while he was in (hed) p.e. They did some Motley shows. We became friends right away. I started playing him some music that I had been writing. He was like, ''Wow, this is incredible, dude.'' We started hanging out. Then I didn't see him for awhile. Then I got this ironic phone call from him, like, the day after I quit Motley. He called me and said, ''Bro, I quit my band.'' I was like, ''Dude you need to come over here. Let's f--- around. Let's see what happens.'' We ended up working on a track. The first track we did together was track two on the CD, ''Hypocritical.'' It turned out so good we were like little kids jumping up and down in the room, like, ''Oh my God, dude. This is insane.'' He moved into my guest room for, like, four and a half months after that. We just continued to just do what we were doing and work--make music. When you meet him, you'll love him. He's a freak.

Methods of Mayhem's music is based in straight-ahead rock and a generous helping of samples. Was the sound difficult to reproduce for the tour?

Well, you know what? It did take some time because in order to reproduce the record, we had to take all the drum sounds, break those down and stick them into the drum samplers. It was a lot of work. We had a team of guys helping us and, without them, it couldn't have been done. When we play live, it sounds like, to me, even better than the record. It's live. It hits harder. You've got to come and check it out. Hopefully, we can get that homosexual Kid Rock down there to come jam with us [in Detroit]. [laughs]

Speaking of Kid Rock, he's one of two Detroiters who appear on the record, the other being George Clinton.

I know. [laughs] Yeah, that is one of my favorite places that there is to play.

Why is that?

Well, it's Detroit in general. I love it. I've loved it there every time I've played there. I don't know whether they drink too much beer or what the deal is there. They just go f-----' crazy.

I think you've pegged it there.

I think so. [laughs]

How did all the collaborations come about? Did you call Lil Kim, Kid Rock, George Clinton, etc. or did they come to you?

You know what? I think that's why the record's so genuine. All the collaborations were so organic. People, like Kid Rock and [Limp Bizkit's] Fred Durst, those guys were out partying one night and they called me up. I had never met Kid Rock but I had met Fred a couple times. They're like, ''Hey dude, what are you doing?'' [Lee responded] ''I'm just working on music.'' [Durst:] ''OK, cool. I got Kid Rock with me. We're comin' by, dude.'' [Lee:] ''OK. Later.'' They showed up around two in the morning. They heard what I was working on and they were like, ''God damn, dude. This s--- is f-----' off the hook.'' And so I was like, ''F---, let's do something together.'' Boom, there we were recording.

That happened with just about all the collaborations. It was very organic. I never sat down and said, ''OK, I want to get this guy, that girl, this guy.'' The guys in the Crystal Method, I just bumped into them at a party at the Playboy Mansion. Like, I'm a big fan of electronic music and, of course, the Crystal Method. [I saw them and said] ''Damn. I love you guys.'' [Crystal Method:] ''Dude, we got the 'Shout at the Devil' album. It's one of our favorite albums.'' I was like, ''What? Are you f------- kidding me?'' I would never even think that they would listen to that. With a lot of the people that collaborated, there was a mutual love and respect. We just did it. We had fun with it.

OK. I have to ask about two other musicians on your record--Lil Kim and Ken Andrews formerly of Failure and currently of the band On. I loved Failure.

Oh, you know what? I love that band, too. That's why I called him. The guitar sounds on that Failure record are insane. Ken's a really nice guy, too? Have you heard his new s---? There's some cool stuff on there. It's very different but it's very cool. It's very different.

Lil' Kim, she is awesome. The song was written before she came in, really, except obviously for her rap and her parts. I just sat with her and said, ''OK, Kim, here's the deal. We got a bunch of guys on this track and it sucks. You can't be singing about getting naked with a bunch of f-----' guys. This track needs you. You gotta freak this.'' She's like, ''Baby. I can freak this s---, baby. Watch this.'' She just f-----' let the track have it. I was like, ''It's f-----' insane. It's perfect now.''

On tour, you are singing, playing the drums and the guitar. Is that correct?

Yeah. It's crazy, isn't it? I tell ya, I am having more fun than a human is allowed to have. I think that's possible.