So Motley is over, DJ has left Guns ‘N’ Roses and the band has finally had the time to really get their teeth into writing not just one but two new albums, sounds like the perfect storm right? And the result? This is Sixx A.M.’s best album without a doubt…
If you love your Motley and have heard what DJ Ashba did with Beautiful Creatures not that long ago take that, add to a blender and sear toil you see a modern Hard Rock edge and you have the essence of Sixx A.M. That of course is not to say it’s as simple as that as ‘Songs for the Damned’ does cast its sonic net wider than you might expect.
It is however also the sort of album where the tracks do sound rather similar, now depending on how much you like the band and the style of modern Metal that’s being played you’ll either love or hate this – like being given an AC/DC album, there’s a rather distinct sound that might leave a casual listener singling out single ‘Rise’ as all you really need. It is after all the first single and the best track here.
Those that don’t dig too deep though will miss the real interesting bits that promise a rather great future for the trio. For us it’s all lurking in the shadows: the dark and slightly mournful title track blends darkness and melody with an artist’s eye and tracks like ‘When We Were Gods’ merges Alice Cooper-like atmospherics with a brash modern Metal chorus and a frenetic bridge. It’s all pretty damned cool.
This is an album with some depth though; it’s not all just modern Sleaze by numbers by any stretch. Whilst tracks like the slick, melodic ‘I’m Sick’ may play to the straightforward modern rock sensibilities eschewing the band’s Sleazy roots, almost everything seems to have a twist of some kind like the ballad ‘Better Man’ or the atmospheric build of ‘Belly of the Beast’ – very cool, very gothic but so melodic.
That’s not to say there aren’t instant hits like the pacey riff-driven ‘Everything Went to Hell’ or the Shinedown-like chorus of ‘You Have Come to the Right Place’.
This is real good. This is Rock for the future.
