{mosimage}The Heroin
Diaries is the soundtrack to Nikki Sixx recently published addiction memoir. In
the book Motley Crüe’s bass player shares mesmerizing diary entries from the year he spiralled out of control
in a haze of heroin and cocaine. Surprisingly enough, the soundtrack to the
book does not have much to do with the music of the band that put the bassist
into the spotlight and eventually led him into drug addiction.
According to Nikki Sixx, this album is a
collaborative effort with James Michael and DJ Ashba. The result is an
overproduced pop metal collection of songs with some spoken excerpts from the
book and some touches of circus music. Instead of edgy and dark sounds, The
Heroin Diaries is an album full of soft ballads with sweet melodies. It brings
to mind the music of The 69 Eyes, HIM and other love metal heroes.
Nevertheless, for this style the album has
some good songs, like the rocker Pray for Me, the mid tempo Tomorrow. Perhaps
the most interesting song is the closing track Life After Death, which has some
cinematic qualities and a contemporary Alice Cooper sound.
The Heroin Diaries would have been a solid
debut for a new band. However, one could have expected Nikki Sixx to deliver a
different soundtrack to his darkest memories.