Sixx: A.M. The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack CD Review

The rock band Motley Crue has always been touted as the greatest party bad boy band of all time. After reading their autobiography "The Dirt," that label reads like a badge of honor. Of course I have seen interviews with Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx discussing just that and many other subjects. After all the tag line to live by is "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'N' Roll." These four guys have surpassed that analogy. Their VH-1 "Behind The Music," is legendary in the sense of 'This is what not to do when you make it big kids." Admittedly it is one of my favorite shows of the series. These guys do posses charm, honesty and charisma in a tattoo covered battle scar kind of way. It's amazing with all their excesses and vices that all four of them are still alive to tell the tale.

When I heard about the release of Nikki's book "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star," and it's subsequent CD Soundtrack, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the musical standpoint. Nikki formed the group Sixx: A.M. in 2006 as a musical companion to his autobiography. What I got was a hard rocking, intelligent, distinctive release like no other. The CD kicks the tone off with a resounding bang with a diary entry narration from Nikki titled "Christmas In Hell." The following is just a little taste of the piece. "December 25th, 1986 Van Nuys: Merry Christmas. Well that's what people say at Christmas right? / Except for normally they have somebody to say it to / They have friends and family / They haven't been crouched naked under a Christmas tree / With a needle in their arm like an insane person / And they're definitely not watching their holiday spirit / Coagulate in a spoon / I didn't speak to a single person today / I thought...why should I ruin they're ****ing Christmas?" You get the drift. Nikki's continues with diary entries thrown in scattered between songs, which continues to make it even more potent. Sixx on bass, along with rock veteran James Michael (written with and for Sammy Hagar and Meat Loaf - his solo CD titled "Inhale" was released in 2000) on vocals and guitars, and DJ Ashba on guitars have really put together an interesting cohesive piece of work. There are no rock anthems here, no poppy sing-along songs. It is instead a tight release of 13 songs that truly mirror Sixx life and experience as a heroine addict and all the horror it encompasses. It's a heavy subject for a rock album but Sixx has a way of putting things into perspective without glamorizing his life and indulgence. It is an honest in-your-face account of one year of his life. It just so happens that year was the height of his addiction to heroin and when his diary was his only confidant and friend. I found myself playing it a couple of times back to back just so I didn't miss anything. All the songs were collectively written and produced by all three members of the band; four tunes were written my Michael himself.

James Michael voice is perfectly suited for this cd and material. He's got the grit when he needs it and the desperation to grab on to when that's all there is. A few of the standout tracks are: "Van Nuys," "Life Is Beautiful," "Pray For Me," and "Permission." You will also be privy to Nikki's relationship or lack thereof with his father. He discussed the topic to great extent also in "The Dirt." However the experience of listening to the words put to music and sung is a totally different thing than reading them on a page. Sixx has always seemed to have a 'take no prisoners' approach to his music. The same is very evident here. To say that I was very surprised by the CD would be an understatement. If you're expecting a 'poor pity me,' group of songs, you've got the wrong CD. "The Heroin Diaries," is a true account of this deadly addiction by a guy who survived it (barely, he did actually overdose and die on one occasion) and is still standing.