The soundtrack to Nikki Sixx´s biography "The Heroin Diaries" is brought to you by Sixx: A.M. - a band featuring Nikki Sixx on bass, guitarist DJ Ashba and James Michael on vocals/guitar.

The book documents Nikki Sixx life from Christmas 1986 and a year ahead. Basically Sixx leads a miserable life. In spite of Sixx being at the top of his career he only has a few friends and just sits at his house (in his closet) doing drugs and heroin in particular. Opening song Van Nuys reflects on his struggles and dead-end life.

The soundtrack takes you on his hard journey through addiction. Nikki Sixx guides us through the album and his spoken word sets the scene for his mis-adventure. X-Mas in hell opens the album with Nikki telling us that he celebrates Christmas alone lying naked under a Christmas tree with a needle in his arm.

Apparently Sixx tries to make parallels to Alice Cooper's classic concept album "Welcome to my Nightmare". Sixx: A.M. uses piano and multiple effects to create a special emotion. One important thing separates the two albums; Alice Cooper's nightmare was fiction - This is the real deal!. Welcome to the life of Nikki Sixx "Girls Girls Girls" era.

The first half of the album is absolute amazing and contains some strong rock songs among them Life is Beautiful, which is the first single off The Heroin Diaries soundtrack". The songs sound beefed up with a modern touch to it. The rock ballad Tomorrow and my personal favorite Pray for me are top notch penned rock songs.

The mellow Accidents can happen ends the first part of the album, which should be rated a solid 9 based on RevelationZ Magazine's ratings. Accidents can Happen changes between acoustic and electric guitars. With Sixx´s drug abuse and struggles to become clean in mind, the chorus has a motivating message

You know that accidents can happen
And its ok, we all fall off the wagon sometimes
It's not your whole life
Its only one day
You haven't thrown everything away

Intermission leads the album into part 2. The music gives you the feeling that you are in a circus or on a carrousel ride. The last part of the album is a bit mellower with a rock opera feel to it. Dead Mans Ballet deals with Sixx´s childhood and his anger towards his father who left him. Sixx seeks comfort in the drugs to deal with his past. Heart Failure is a worrying rock ballad.

DJ Ashba and James Michaels deserves lots of credit for their important contribution to the album, which definitely gives the album extra layers.

Guitarist DJ Ashba style is unique - just listen to Accidents can Happen, which has all the characteristics from DJ Ashba primarily his use of effect pedals. The solo is very alike Ashba´s work on the first Beautiful Creatures album.

James Michael is no stranger to Nikki Sixx since Michael co-wrote several tunes on Mötley Crüe´s album "New Tattoo". Besides being a fantastic songwriter James Michael has a distinctive voice. Michaels uses his voice very effective. When the chorus kicks in Michael often slams his voice into higher gear, which just makes the songs more powerful.

Sixx gets clean in the song The Girl with Golden Eyes, which is a synonym for dope/heroin. He uses the sentence "fragile - doesn't even come close to describing how I feel" in his efforts to become clean after a few days on methadone.

The sound of Sixx: A.M. is pompous and I keep coming back to this album. Its contemporary Rock and because "The Heroin Diaries" book is very different from the ultimate party Rock N´Roll tale "The Dirt"- the music of Sixx AM is different from Mötley Crüe regardless of Nikki being main songwriter in both bands.

Sixx: A.M. is a very pleasant surprise and "The Heroin Diaries" sounds like a timeless record - probably with a timeless subject as well. If I was to label the album by one word "intense" would be the accurate one. This is more than a music album, it's an experience.

Written by Michael
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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Ratings

Michael: 8/10

Members: 8.5/10 - Average of 1 ratings.



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Dark Lord Rating: 8.5/10 No review was posted

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Comment by ThraX (Member) - Wednesday, November 7, 2007

View Profile Comments: 135 Ratings: 0 I have to admit this is a great album, I'm not sure if alot of Motley Crue will like this as Motley Crue's music is blunt and made for partying, this is totally opposite this is emotionally charged music that let's you into Nikki Sixx life!....Nikki is one of the smartest musicians of all-time, Think about it when he as in the band London (pre-Crue) he didn't even really know how to play bass and keep timing but he knew deep inside he was destined to be part of rock and roll history.....I grew up loving Nikki Sixx and this is a great album and like the review says it has a timeless quality to it!.......8.5/10 Posted by ThraX Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Comment by Dark Lord (Member) - Wednesday, December 12, 2007

View Profile Comments: 33 Ratings: 89 This album is much better than i expected it to be. Great performances and some modern touches in song writing, makes it one of the best recent releases of the year. I really like James Michael's voice and his professional singing, especially in "Accidents Can Happen" and "Girl With Golden Eyes". (8-8.5/10) Posted by Dark Lord Wednesday, December 12, 2007