One of the rising names in modern rock over the last few
years has been the creation of Motley Crüe bassist/songwriter, Nikki Sixx,
whose formation with vocalist/producer James Michael and Guns n Roses guitarist
DJ Ashba began with the intention to record a soundtrack to Sixx’s confronting
and brilliant book, The Heroin Diaries.
That’s how it started – but the real question here is where
will it end? Potentially not until the trio are selling out arenas around the
world. Now that Sixx has more free time following the Motley Crüe farewell
tour, 2016 was always going to be a big year for the outfit, who have gone from
being a side project for all three members to a major project.
Prayers for the Damned
(Volume 1) is as good an album of modern rock as you’re going to hear this
year, and deserves all the plaudits it is currently getting. It’s heavy,
melodic, emotional and intense music, eleven tracks’ worth, and after a
departure of sorts from the band on their previous release 2014’s Modern Vintage – which a large portion
of the Sixx:A.M. fan base apparently didn’t much like, but I thoroughly enjoyed
it; in fact, it was the album that really got me hooked on the band – the very
heavy sound, thumping bass, soaring guitar and alternately heavenly and guttural
vocals that characterised their first two releases, The Heroin Diaries and the excellent This is Gonna Hurt, which, coincidentally contains my favourite
Sixx:A.M. song, the haunting ‘Oh My God’.
I listened to the entire album three times on Friday, and
have come to the conclusion that there isn’t a bad track to be found. The lead
single ‘Rise’ is a call to arms, an anthem aimed at inspiring the rank and file
to stand up, be heard and affect change in many different social and political
arenas. It’s a powerful song, and the perfect choice for lead single.
Sixx:A.M. have never been shy when it comes to writing
anthems, and that goes double on Prayers,
where songs like ‘When We Were Gods’ and the epic album closer ‘Rise of the
Melancholy Empire’, which clocks in over the six-minute mark, and contains some
of the best drum and guitar work you’re going to hear anywhere in rock music
this year. It’s my favourite song off the new album. ‘You Have Come To The Right
Place’ and ‘Better Man’ are a close second and third respectively. The title
track is good, too.
The finished product is a showcase for a band who are
clearly in a good place as far as chemistry goes. We’ve always known that Sixx
is a great songwriter – look at some of the classics he wrote for Motley Crüe –
and no one in their right mind as ever doubted the vocal ability of Michael nor
the guitar chops of Ashba. On this release, the first of two scheduled for
2016, the combination is better than it’s ever been before. I couldn’t love
this album more if I tried. I challenge you to find a track that doesn’t have
you enthralled from the first note to the last.
It’s fair to say that Sixx:A.M. has been something of a
niche act, not well-known in the mainstream up to this point, but all of that
is going to change with Prayers,
which is dominating iTunes charts the world over, doing big business both on
the ‘Rock’ charts, but also on the all-genre bestsellers. People are starting
to sit up and take notice.
The only drama for Sixx:A.M, who begin an extensive touring
schedule next week, is somehow bettering this release with Prayers for the Damned (Volume 2). That won’t be easy!
No comments:
Post a Comment