I'm not going to deny that part of my early, formative years included heavy doses of heavy metal. (6th grade, 1986, small-town Ohio. Need I say more?) I was — and deep down, still am — a huge fan of all the hair bands, from Poison and Ratt to Cinderella, Tesla, Dokken and, of course, Motley Crue.
The genre has not exactly been taken seriously or held up to critical acclaim over the years, so I was a bit surprised when I recently came across one of the rocker's memoirs at No. 7 on the New York Times best-seller list.
Nikki Sixx, longtime bassist and songwriter for Motley Crue, has compiled a year of his personal diary entries from 1986-87 into an incredibly engaging and fascinating new book called The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. Interspersed with present-day commentary from people like Slash, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee and others who were involved with Sixx at the time, the book is a frank, graphic, sometimes funny and thoroughly engrossing look at the life of a drug-addled musician at the height of success.
I know, it sounds cliche, but the way this book is laid out, with its truncated diary entries and biting ex post facto critiques, its lost lyrics and its bloody, bizarre illustrations, its revelations about a bottomless heroin addiction and its glimpse into the world of superstardom, The Heroin Diaries completely works. It ain't easy at all to put it down.
Though its messages of addiction and recovery and childhood neglect seem like pretty universal themes, the book is probably not for everyone. It's blunt and pulls no punches about the world of sex, drugs, drugs, drugs — oh, and rock and roll — that Nikki Sixx was a part of in 1986. But if you're looking for a unique and captivating read — and especially if you've ever sung the first lines of "Home Sweet Home" or know just who Dr. Feelgood is — then score yourself a copy of The Heroin Diaries.
