Together with Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx founded in 1981 the American Rock 'n' Roll band MOTLEY CRUE in L.A., still existing today. Getting involved in the life of a real rock star, Nikki also encountered heavy drugs, such as heroin. MOTLEY CRUE was always about music and girls... music and drugs... music and violence... We wanted to be the biggest, dirtiest, loudest rock band on the planet. He fell into such a deep hole that he looked death directly in the eye twice overdosing him but finally Nikki's clean since 6 years.
With Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock star - Nikki Sixx's real diaries, written during the Girls, Girls, Girls sessions of MOTLEY CRUE - he publishes the thrilling story of an episode in his life, including his long and uphill struggle against drugs, alcohol, psychosis and depressions. Accompanying the book is this album acting as a soundtrack for a non-existing movie recorded by Nikki Sixx's band SIXX A.M.. Close your eyes, shut down your brain, forget everything you've ever heard about gorgeous Rock 'n' Roll life...and push play...
The first song, X-Mas In hell sounds like it was dripping directly out of the veins of someone being on a bad heroin trip. Very dramatically and almost psychotic Nikki reads out the first sentences of his diary, introducing you to his cruel world. The next song's lyrics, Van Nuys, are very expressive, treating with the city where almost everything he once wrote in his diaries happened. The heavy rhythm in this song makes it even more dramatically. Van Nuys is musically a genius strike of Nikki.
Life Is Beautiful, the single set from this record is rather a Metal song with amazing guitar parts. Pray For Me is pretty similar to the last song but no worse in any way. With the fifth song called Tomorrow he puts himself and his whole life as a junkie into question while musically he affects a very positive feeling.
Dead Man's Ballet, beginning with a calm melody, evolves into something like a ballad, blaming God, drugs and finally death. A very depressive and sad song. Heart Failure begins with a beautiful composed piano part and Sixx reading some more sentences out of his book alongside, finishing his small speech with the words after all we were the drunk scouts of America. These words just say what this song is about. It is such a strong song that tears filled up my eyes...
Very calm and beautiful Girl With Golden Eyes, the only real ballad on this record, telling about an experience with methadone shows Nikki's ability to sing at best. Courtesy Call - the best song in this album, in my opinion - treats of a horrible situation in the life of a drug addict. A deep and dark moment considered in heavy rock tones and thrilling guitar riffs. Permission and Life After Death complete this amazing composition.
The whole album sounds like a bad trip of a heroin addict who drowned completely in a useless life. But this is just what Nikki was. Alcohol, acid, cocaine they were just affairs... When I met heroin... it was true love..., he tells us in his diary. These songs show those ones like me and you, who are standing in front of the stages on which bands like MOTLEY CRUE pretend a perfect world the whole horror of this rock star life. This album is less to be considered in a musical way, rather in a personal story of life that has to be challenged by its listeners. With his album, The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx introduces all those ingenuous Rock 'n' Rollers out there into the haunting life of a shattered rock star in an absolutely insane but fascinating way.