Sixx:A.M. - Prayers For The Damned Vol. 1

Published April 21 2016

*=Staff's pick	Rise (Get Yourselves Together)* You've Come To The Right Place* I'm Sick Prayers For The Damned* Better Man Can't Stop When We Were Gods Belly Of The Beast Everything Went To Hell* The Last Time (My Heart Will Ever Hit The Ground) Rise Of The Melancholy Empire

Genre	Hard Rock	James Michael	Vocals
Tracks	11	DJ Ashba	Guitar
Running time	51 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Eleven Seven Music	Nikki Sixx	Bass
Release	April 29, 2016	Dustin Steinke	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	James Michael
Similar artists	---

I think that Sixx:A.M.'s last record, Modern Vintage, was way too experimental for its own good and in some way maybe deliberately excessively modern and hence losing some of the power in the caliber of the songwriting. With this new record, which is part 1 of a double album, the band delivers something definitely closer to straight hard rock, with a more stripped-down contemporary guise, and this appearance does, beyond compare, fit the band much better than what the material on the previous record did.

It's absolutely not like they've gone back through the ages to something sonically old with a dirty production, because it sounds very much up-to-date still, but with this making the music comes out fresh without unnecessary overstatements and I think that the contrived and constrained stuff has totally vanished from their performance. Instead of trying to come out innovative more than anything, they have taken their eagerness to a more modest level and set main focus on the quality of the music and thereby they manage to bring forth a whole bunch of attractive and accurate songs.

They have a clear target and excessive embellishment is rarely required to put out great rock music and the huge difference regarding the capacity between this record and its predecessor is I think solid proof of this assertion. Without coming out scattered, this effort is a comprehensive accomplishment, with a large variation in the songs. The music overall and some of the lyrics have quite an impact on me and I believe that Sixx, Ashba and Michael together with their new drummer Dustin Steinke have found the right direction and I'm already looking forward to hear what Vol. 2 has to offer.

See also review of: Prayers For The Blessed Vol. 2 , Modern Vintage

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	7	8	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tobbe