Geekscape Music Reviews Sixx: A.M. – This is Gonna Hurt

Sixx:A.M. – “This Is Gonna Hurt”

Release date – May 3, 2011

This week’s review is for  “This Is Gonna Hurt”, the sophomore release from Sixx:A.M., side band for Nikki Sixx (of Mötley Crüe fame). Like their first album, “The Heroin Diaries”, this album was released to accompany a book of the same title, written by Sixx. Both books are documentations of Sixx’s life as a veteran rockstar.

Now I haven’t read said book, but given the fact that the tracks are basic summaries of specific chapters and excerpts, I really don’t think I want to. The latter half of the album was, well, a bit boring, and at times very dull. There were times where lead vocalist James Michael had highlights, such as the entire span of the first 4 songs, and there were times where he expressed a boring, monotone type sound similar to that of Muse vocalist Matthew Bellamy. And those spots were simply awful. The difference maker though? Sixx:A.M. is a better band.

However, what the album lacks in vocal skill is made up for in instrumental skill, which comes as no surprise, seeing as all 3 members have had extensive careers in their respective styles. Sixx is a current and founding member of Mötley Crüe, Michael has worked with rock bands Papa Roach, HammerFall, and Meat Loaf, as well as with Mötley Crüe on their 2000 album, “New Tattoo”. Guitarist DJ Ashba has worked with Drowning Pool, Guns ‘N Roses, and like the others, Mötley Crüe.

The main thing that makes this album different than the first is the lack of spoken word sections, which were all performed by Nikki Sixx himself. This allowed the first album to have a more personal feel, and made it seem more like something that was accompanying a biography. Not doing that on this one made it feel more like a studio album, which is both good and bad at the same time (at least in this listener’s opinion). Using a little bit of narration would’ve helped out the album, but dropping it all together made it feel lackluster.

Highlights of the album definitely came in the form of the title track, which used it’s lyrics to inform listeners that it was indeed going to hurt, and the next 3 or 4 songs, that are all great examples of what modern rock should be.

The slower, ballad type songs, on the other hand, were too long and too ballad-y, and felt as they were drawn out, like they were intentionally trying to be painful, as if to express even more hurt.

Overall, not a terrific album, but it still had some highlights snuck in at the beginning. A shame it couldn’t keep it up though.

Rating: 2/5

Key tracks:

“This Is Gonna Hurt”

“Are You With Me”

“Live Forever”

Still recovering from the “hurt”,

-JC