Album Review: Slash – Slash

Slash recently released his first solo album named “Slash”. This album has received mixed reviews, especially from those typical music reviewers in popular newspapers and magazines. In my personal opinion many of those so-called critics simply doesn’t understand a wide variety of music. It’s very clear that the have their preferences and judge by it.

I guess everyone knows who Slash is – but here’s a short introduction:

Slash is currently considered being one of the greatest soloists, if not one of the greatest guitarists of all time. The heritage he left behind from the era of Guns N’ Roses will forever be remembered. His success with Velvet Revolver has also become big – though maybe not that big here in Norway (compared to GnR at least).

Slash has received the following awards and accolades:

Best Guitarist prize in the 2005 Esky Music Awards in Esquire magazine
Honored with a star on the Rock Walk of Fame; his name being placed alongside Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix
Awarded the coveted title of “Riff Lord” during the fourth annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards
Honored by Time Magazine by being named #2 on its list of the 10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time

Enough about Slash, let’s move on to his new album!

The album was released the 6th of April in the United States and contains fourteen songs. This is not a solo album with guitar play only – Slash has invited some of the most talented rock and pop artists in the world to contribute to his solo project. You probably know a lot of them, and here’s the list:

Ian Astbury (The Cult and Sonic Temple)
Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)
Fergie (Black Eyed Peas)
Myles Kennedy (The Mayfield Four, Alter Bridge)
Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave)
Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother)
Adam Levine (Maroon 5)
Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead)
Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age)
Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Jane’s Addiction)
Kid Rock
M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
Rocco DeLuca (Rocco DeLuca and the Burden)
Iggy Pop (The Stooges)
And Slash himself of course (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash’s Snakepit)

Not a bad list of  musicians as you can see. This project smells good just by the list of the artists involved in it. And it delivers! One of the best things about this album is that every song is very unique and different. Different vocals in every song, and many different song styles.

Let’s take a look at the songs…

1 – Ghost (feat. Ian Astbury)
The intro here is awesome, and the guitar riff reminds me a lot of GnR’s “Appetite for Destruction” style of guitar play. The song is very catchy and i just love it. Ian Astbury performs well here, but i wish he would put more pressure on his voice than he does.

2 – Crucify the Dead (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
Well, it’s Slash and Ozzy. What do you expect? This song absolutely rocks! The instruments delivers and Ozzy delivers. I love it!

3 – Beautiful Dangerous (feat. Fergie)
I was expecting this song to be tragic to be honest. Fergie in a hard rock song? This is the Black Eyed Peas Pop/Hip-Hop chick that sometimes sings in latino and jumps around and shakes her ass all over the place. She doesn’t fit in! Well… To be honest this is one of the best songs on the album! Fergie delivers amazingly well. It’s incredible. She’s got a really good voice! I’ve never heard her sing as good before – ever. She should seriously start with rock music permanently and drop out of the Pop/Hip-Hop scene. In this song (and this type of music style) her voice really shines and she performs flawlessly! The instrumentals compliment her voice perfectly. I love it!

4 – Back from Cali (feat. Myles Kennedy)
This song is kinda mixed. It sounds like something from Slash’s Snakepit. It’s a little biker-ish if you know what i mean. But not completely. Myles Kennedy performs very nicely and the guitar play is very nice. All in all a very nice song indeed.

5 – Promise (feat. Chris Cornell)
This song is ok, but nothing special in my ears. I like the chorus but otherwise it’s kind of boring. I end up just waiting for the chorus during the entire song. And the chorus isn’t that good either. Neither is the style of the song. It’s not a bad song, but i guess it’s just not my style.

6 – By the Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale)
This song also reminds me of a typical Slash’s Snakepit song. Kind of classic rock’ish/biker’ish. I love the instrumentals in it but I’m not sure if i totally dig the vocals in it. All in all a nice song but it doesn’t measure up to the best on the album in my opinion. It’s kind of slow and speeds up in between.

7 – Gotten (feat. Adam Levine)
This song sounds like Maroon 5 straight through! It’s a very nice, beautiful and calm song that’s easily enjoyable. Levine’s voice is very comfortable and so are the instrumentals. The guitar riff that kicks in at approx. 3:10 is amazing! I love it!

8 – Doctor Alibi (feat. Lemmy Kilmister)
Now this is rock! The vocals are very unique and matches the instrumentals perfectly. The chorus isn’t perfect though, it should have had more “punch” in my opinion, other than that this is a kickass song. And when Lemmy sings without any instrumentals in the end you can really notice that gritty voice. I love it!

9 – Watch This (feat. Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
This is an instrumental song. And it ROCKS! I love the guitar play and the variation in this song. It’s full of punch. I love it!

10 – I Hold On (feat. Kid Rock)
Kid Rock? What? A country artist? Oh no, what’s this gonna be like? Well, it’s a lovely rock tune and there’s no country in the mix here. Kid Rock’s vocals flows very nicely with the instrumentals and everything just plays out very nice. As usual, the guitar play is top-notch! I love it!

11 – Nothing to Say (feat. M. Shadows)
Woaaah yeah, finally we’re back to a speedier and harder song. This song has very nice guitar riffs and the vocals are very nice. The song is aggressive and full of punch. I love it!

12 – Starlight (feat. Myles Kennedy)
I love the intro riff in this song. And i absolutely love this entire song. And the vocals in it. This is also one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. Even though it is one of the calmer songs on the album. The song just flows… And I looove the chorus and the voice of Myles Kennedy in the chorus. Very nice. I love it! (duh)

13 – Saint is a Sinner Too (feat. Rocco DeLuca)
Ok, this is a very calm and special song. It’s kinda too special for my taste. Too calm, too little instrumentals, and I don’t like the vocals at all. In my opinion this track doesn’t fit in on the album at all. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

14 – We’re All Gonna Die (feat. Iggy Pop)
My god the intro riff on this tune is simply awesome. This entire song totally rocks. Iggy’s vocals are wicked, the instrumentals are just as wicked. Everything is perfect. The tune has a “bad-boy” feel to it, and I love it! One of the best songs on the album.

Well that covers all the songs on the album. So what’s the final verdict? Well.. Totally awesome! If you like rock, Slash and nice instrumentals you should definitely get this album as fast as possible. The biggest strengths of this album is that every song is unique in its own way, and the vocals are different from song to song. This album does not get boring even after repeated listening over a longer period of time.

Thumbs Up! Go buy it now! It’s available in mostly all stores that sells music – also on the iTunes Store.

Check out this album preview to get a taste of some of the music, and some fun comments from the artists.