636. Sixx:A.M. / This Is Gonna Hurt. 2011. 2/5.

Another Nikki Sixx side project that shows potential without really ever getting into gear. I was intrigued with his previous effort, Brides of Destruction, and got well and truly burned by it. I wasn't sure what to expect on this occasion.

I honestly cannot put my finger on what it is that stops me from completely liking this release. Is it the fact that it is almost in the vein of commercial hard rock such as the abhorred Nickelback? Is it that James Michael's vocals are just a little too much like they are honey coated, and perhaps closing in to be similar to the vocals in the abhorred Nickelback and also to Myles Kennedy? Is it just that the style of music is not to my preferred heavy metal taste? Is it that this is yet another release that has prgrammed drum tracks rather than the real thing being played? You can take all of those answers and you still wouldn't be quite correct, but you'd be closer to the outcome.

The opener "This Is Gonna Hurt" is catchy, and it is the song that encouraged me to give the album a chance. The follow up songs "Lies of the Beautiful People" and "Are You With Me" also have their moments. "Live Forever" is where things start to head in the wrong direction. It has a very commercialised rock feel to the song both vocally and musically, and it does not sit right with me. Worse is to follow on "Sure Feels Right", the rock ballad that is directed at people who have musical taste a full 180 degrees apart from me. Cliched rubbish. "Deadlihood" is in much the same fashion as "Live Forever" as a very average type of hard rock song. "Smile" is the next ballad on the album (not even a power ballad or a rock ballad. It's just a ballad). Woeful.

Well, I guess you are starting to get the idea. It's not as if I thought i was going to get a superstar album, something that was going to blow me away with raw power and aggression. What we have is actually a fairly slickly written, recorded and produced hard rock album that is competently played and sung. And no doubt there is an audience out there that will lap it up. But the combination of standardised rock and ballad compositions really does little for me in the long run. It is missing a couple of vital ingredients that could make it someting worth talking about. In the end, apart from a couple of entries, it is rather run of the mill.