10 Music Side Projects Better Than The Main Band

10. SIXX: AM

As hair metal really started to come into its own, you knew you were never in for something too deep with Motley Crue. Although songs like Live Wire and Wild Side are classics from this era of the Sunset Strip, this is the type of debauchery that made a lot more sense back when the whips and chains looked like a decent fashion statement.

A funny thing happened when Nikki Sixx cleaned up his act, though.

While the Crue were in between different album cycles, Sixx: AM was a pretty decent modern rock outfit for Sixx to try on, originally brought together to make an album companion piece to his memoir the Heroin Diaries.

Once he knew what he had on his hands though, they have been going strong ever since, with DJ Ashba holding up as an exceptional guitar player in moments.

And let's face it...James Michael has a hell of a lot more range to his delivery than Vince Neil ever could, which makes most of these songs sound gargantuan compared to the forgettable songs from Shout at the Devil and Girls Girls Girls.

For a band that was never about being mature, it's nice to see that Sixx had the ability to grow the hell up on the musical side as well. Hell, most people his age only wish their their newer stuff sounded this good.