10 Perfect Rock Music Songs Of The 2010s

Sixx:A.M. began life as a side project and emotional outlet for Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and, after signing on ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist James Michael, he set to work putting together the band's first album, a self-declared soundtrack to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries.

Come the second album, however, the band had broken free from the 'Nikki Sixx side project' designation, and 2011's This Is Gonna Hurt marked Sixx:A.M. as a fully fledged rock outfit in their own right. While the album itself is a mixed bag of readymade hits, steady rock standards and filler, the powerhouse album opener stands apart in a league of its own.

Named for the album itself, This Is Gonna Hurt comes marching out with a Marilyn Manson-eqsue beat and aesthetics, a catchy, fist-pumping chorus, a no-frills solo from Ashba, and drums which sit on top of the guitars and up behind the vocals in the mix. In fact, it's the synchronisation between Michael's vocals and work on the skins that really drive the whole song and make it what it is.

All in all, This Is Gonna Hurt is just a really well composed and tightly produced rock track, slotting seamlessly into the canon and deserving more than the fairly modest attention it has received thus far.