By: Cameron Carpenter

Having had past dealings in a record company setting with both Slash and Nikki Sixx, it was interesting to read, back-to-back, The Heroin Diaries by Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, and the self-titled book by the infamous former Guns N’ Roses guitarist (and current Velvet Revolver guitarist), Slash. Both are famous rock stars who have survived every imaginable drug-induced downfall—they both claim to have died at one point in their respective books—and have come through on the other side virtually sober and drug-free.

When I worked with Sixx, he was clean and sober, the brains and driving force of the Crüe; he was in control of everything. Slash, on the other hand, still had some party in him, but he was always easy to work with. He was the classic Keith Richards to Axl’s Mick Jagger. Slash would walk the streets with security, pop in to clubs, sign autographs and talk to everyone. Axl, however, was surrounded by security, never approachable, and he was invariably late (a major reason why Slash quit the Gunners, according to his book).

Sixx’s book consists of a diary he created between Christmas 1986 and Christmas 1987. It includes actual journal notes, accompanied by retrospective thoughts on those notes by him and other people directly involved. It would be like watching Groundhog Day, if the premise of the movie were a horrendous car wreck.

Slash’s book is a long, rambling take on his life, and centres on his years with Guns N’ Roses, and his constant battles with addiction and with lead singer Axl Rose. The tone is guarded for most of the book, unless he is bragging about his sexual exploits. He dances around his problems with Axl but never seems to get to the root of the cause—he claims lawsuits as his reason for leaving certain things out of the book.

Although Guns N’ Roses was a far more interesting band musically, Nikki Sixx’s Heroin Diaries was a more compelling read. Both stories intersect, and it is intriguing to read their different takes on actual events in which they both participated. It’s amazing that they have both survived.