Slash – Slash
An all-star cast, but Slash has an Axl to grind
In any profession – sport, business, movies, music, whatever – there’s a great attraction to the idea of getting together the best of the best in their field and pooling their talents, creating an ideal team of unstoppable superstars.
But the reality is that things often don’t work that way. For example look at Real Madrid Football Club; they spend millions a year capturing the best players in the world, and more often than not they just don’t live up to expectations.
The reason that these superstar collectives sometimes don’t work is that, with all the different egos and styles at play, things just don’t gel the way they should. Everyone does their job well, but they don’t do it well together.
That’s the major drawback of Slash’s solo album. He’s assembled an enviable complement of guests from a variety of different musical styles, and puts in possibly his best performance since Velvet Revolver’s Contraband album, but there’s something missing. And at the risk of pointing out the painfully obvious and being lumped in with probably every rock music fan that grew up in the 90s, it’s Axl Rose.
In much the same way that Leonardo DiCaprio needs Martin Scorcese to bring out the best in his acting, listening to this album it’s more than apparent that Rose’s inimitable style brings out the best in Slash’s guitar work. While this wasn’t as noticeable on the Velvet Revolver albums due to the grungy edge provided by Scott Weiland’s vocals, the relationship between guitarist and vocalists on Slash only serves to remind how musically potent the Slash/Rose combination actually was.
It says a lot about the kind of musical magic the pair were capable of producing togther that you can be listening to legendary singers like Ozzy Osbourne on Crucify The Dead and Lemmy on Dr. Alibi and still end up speculating on how much better it would be with Axl doing the vocals.
This kind of speculation is rendered even more interesting by the fact that this is not just a Guns ‘n’ Roses-by-another-name album. Slash takes a few noticeable steps away from his usual brand of edgy Aerosmith-ery, with the chugging heavy metal of Nothing To Say and the quasi-industrial pop rock of Beautiful Dangerous (that has a hint of the likes of Shackler’s Revenge from Chinese Democracy about it) exhibiting a diversity of talent that Slash is rarely recognised for.
The most intriguing of these stylistic departures is the instrumental Watch Me. Backed by a rhythm section consisting of Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan, it segues through rock, metal and ballad with real supergroup aplomb, and is the album’s standout track in terms of production sound. There’s the feeling that if these three put together an album between them, it could be ground-breaking, and that all that’s missing is the right vocalist.
But it seems unfair to harp on about what this album needs, given that what we actually get is pretty damn awesome, if something of a mixed bag.
The major talking point of the album prior to its release was the presence of Black Eyed Peas alumnus Fergie (her of the “Lovely Lady Lumps”) on Beautiful Dangerous. In fact, there was some consternation amongst hardcore metal fans over her appearing on a rock album of any kind.
Well, her naysayers can consider themselves roundly confounded, because, forsaking the R&B style she’s known for, the Ferg does an admirable job following up the likes of The Cult’s Ian Astbury (guesting on opener Ghost) and Ozzy here. She not only puts herself over as a good rock singer, but also puts in the best vocal performance you’re likely to have ever heard from her, rubbing shoulders nicely with all the rock royalty on display here.
Other standouts include Iggy Pop on closer We’re All Gonna Die and Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale, whose performance on By The Sword meshes nicely with that song’s Zeppelin-esque stylings. Elsewhere Lemmy does his thing, while Alter Bridge frontman and touring vocalist for this album Myles Kennedy gives his all in a game, Rose-referencing performance that results in his being the only one with two spots on the 14 tracks; Starlight, and the raucous Back To Cali.
The rest of the vocalists don’t fare quite as well. Kid Rock on I Hold On and Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows on Nothing To Say are at best inconspicuous, not ruining the songs, but not doing anything to improve them either, and your appraisal of Chris Cornell’s performance on Promise will vary entirely depending on your opinion of Chris Cornell’s style in general.
But it’s Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on Gotten and Rocco Deluca on Saint Is A Sinner Too that grate the most. Saddled with the ballads, they struggle to bring any kind of soul to proceedings, and Levine in particular doesn’t have the pipes needed for the kind of song he is singing. It’s probably his performance above the others that will set you to wondering how this album would have sounded with the Appetite For Destruction line-up behind it.
So where does all that leave Slash, and indeed Slash? Ultimately it’s more about the man in the top hat with the guitar than anyone else involved, and in that respect, it’s right up there with the best things he’s ever done. It’s a good solid rock album with a nice frisson of all the influences Slash has picked up over the years that is not only enjoyable, but also leaves no question as to why he’s mentioned in the same breath as other “Guitar Gods” and why to many he is a genuine rock ‘n’ roll hero.
And as for Guns ‘n’ Roses fans? Buy this album and enjoy it. It’s as close to a reunion as you’re ever gonna get.
