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TRACK LISTING
1) X-Mas
2) Van Nuys
3) Life Is Beautiful
4) Pray For Me
5) Tommorrow
6) Accidents Can Happen
7) Intermission
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8) Dead Man's Ballet
9) Heart Failure
10) Girl With Golden Eyes
11) Courtesy Call
12) Permission
13) Life After Death
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In case you didn't already know, this is not a Motley Crue record, nor was it supposed to be. In fact, this collection of songs sounds less like Nikki's former band and is actually more akin to modern rock bands such as Finger Eleven and Saliva. It took more than a few listens for me to really appreciate what the band Sixx A.M. was trying to accomplish with this record but, overall, I would describe The Heroine Diaries as a really solid rock record.
It's a concept album and is the telling of a very dark time in the life of Nikki Sixx when he was smack, no pun intended, in the middle of a serious heroine addiction. It begins with Christmas music and Nikki reading a passage from his book of the same name and my initial reaction was a chuckle because I couldn't help but think of the character of Patrick Bateman in the movie American Psycho and his many memorable quotes, in particular "Harold, it's Bateman, Patrick Bateman. You're my lawyer so I think you should know: I've killed a lot of people." It's the same monotone voice and style of speech that Nikki uses to narrate the spoken portions and tell his side of things. He does this at various points in the record and it makes the flow of the music somewhat awkward and uncomfortable but, hey, Nikki's life during that point in time was probably much the same.
The voice of this record is James Michael and he has some serious chops. He can belt out the heavy stuff and, at times, even pulls off a style reminiscent of Coldplay, almost a little too much, but it works for him and for this record. The guitar is manhandled by DJ Ashiba and his sound can only be described as monstrous. He bounces from soft and melodic to heavy and thick throughout the bulk of the songs and in the opening track "X-mas in Hell" and also "Intermission" he gets going so hard that he comes dangerously close to sounding like Trans-Siberian Orchestra but, again, it works for this record. Nikki? Well, Nikki plays good chunky bass throughout, heavy but no surprises.
The songs range from heavy to somber but something they have in common is slick writing and even slicker production. "Van Nuys" and "Pray for Me" are two of the stand out songs and the one that I originally hated but eventually came to love is "Accidents Can Happen." Some of the tracks are less memorable musically but do help to tell the story.
It will remain to be seen if this record will get any radio play, although any of the songs would fit comfortably mashed between Linkin Park and Chevelle or who ever else is big on modern rock stations. In the end this is a really good record that modern hard rock fans will love, some Crue fans will hate, but should please most anyone who gives it a chance.
Reviewed by P Nurple
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