Sixx: A.M.
Sixx: A.M. was founded by Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. on 12/11/58 in San Jose, CA). A pair of guitarists rounded out the core line-up: DJ Ashba and James Michael, who also handled lead vocals.
In '06 Sixx began working on his book The Heroin Diaries, based on a collection of his journal entries from '86-'87, when his addiction was arguably at its worst. Sixx was hardly alone. Motley Crue was roaring through the '80s. During the "Theatre Of Pain - Girls Girls Girls" era (as the band ventured from Metal to Glam) the Crue's lead singer, Vince Neil was involved in a DWI car crash that killed Razzle (the drummer for Hanoi Rocks). Neil was later charged with vehicular manslaughter. Though he spent 30 days in jail and was fined $2.5 million, Neil later claimed he should have been more severely punished. "I should have gone to prison. I definitely deserved to go to prison." In that context, Nikki's misadventures are almost comical. Almost…
Just as the dust settled around Neil's debacle, Sixx was pronounced dead in '87 from a heroin overdose. He was DOA in an ambulance before two adrenaline shots in the chest revived him. Later, he checked himself out of the hospital (ignoring medical advice) and went home to record an answering machine message. "Hey, it's Nikki. I'm not home because I'm dead." He then took more heroin and passed out again. Good times. It's a wonder any of them made it out alive.
Fast forward twenty years. Sixx announced a line of high-end menswear. He teamed with Kelly Gray, a former executive of luxury women's apparel company St. John Knits, for the Royal Underground brand. "Too many of today's fashions have skulls or look tattered and worn out," said Sixx. "You can step it up a notch and have something a little bit on the classier edge." The '06 Royal Underground line featured $100 T-shirts and $900 cashmere sweaters. Hard to believe it was the same guy.
Prior to the August,'07, release of "The Heroin Diaries" album Sixx: A.M. made their debut at New York City's Crash Mansion club playing five songs from the set.
The 12 tracks each match an individual a chapter in the book. "It's given me some closure on a lot of different issues, to be able to discover, through the book, what was driving me," explained Sixx. "Life Is Beautiful" was the first single.
The Heroin Diaries was published in September, '07, a month after the accompanying soundtrack came out.
The cruel reality of heroin addiction, aside from it often being lethal, is that it does permanent damage. Any recollection of what happened is clouded, if not lost, and the addict, as Sixx admits, can not see beyond himself. Parts of "The Heroin Diaries" reek of self-indulgence and blinding flashes of the obvious. Just the sort of thing you'd expect from a recovering junkie. But most of the album is a hard, cold, unblinking view of a life in ruin.
The spoken word open, "X-Mas In Hell" and the close "Life After Death" ring true. With no friends left, the dairies are used to recall obliterated days or to serve as a nice little suicide note. Gothic swirls that show up here and there are meant to convey confusion and desperation, which they do, but the theatrical touches aren't really necessary. The subject matter compelling enough.
"Life Is Beautiful" is great but the stellar track is the hard-charging and unsentimental, "Pray For Me." "Tomorrow" with the line "can't hide the scars" has visceral and emotional punch. The well-written power-ballad "Accidents Can Happen" and acoustic ballad "Girl With Golden Eye" let Michael demonstrate his vocal chops. Still, what makes these songs work, aside from being well-written, is the underlying excess that turned success into a living hell.