Based on past experience, your first thought is probably: “What new book is Nikki Sixx pushing this time?” Well, the cross-promotional pattern has been broken by Modern Vintage’s unreliable cluster of hits and misses.
Placing their best foot forward, the high-energised Stars kicks off Sixx:A.M.’s third album on a very high note, with James Michael’s imaginative rhythms and DJ Ashba’s reverbed riffs providing personality to Mötley Crüe ruffian Sixx’s clunking tonal bass.
There’s refreshing variation of sounds and styles on the album (there’s even a nicely vamped cover of The Cars’ Drive), yet the majority of it lacks drive. After a while the momentum decreases and, symptomatic of CD-era programming, returns diminish.
In vinyl terms, side two’s High On The Music and Hyperventilate are entirely eclipsed by Modern Vintage’s hasty jump-start. Modern it may be, but this album is extremely unlikely to be considered vintage any time soon./o:p
