Slash Album Review - pretty positive

[madison]

Here's a review of Slash's solo album that's pretty positive.  It even suggests it could be album of the year!

It appeared in today's Sunday Mercury:

Apr 4 2010 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

SLASH Slash

HE’S long been the guv’nor of rock’n’roll guitar but Slash’s post Guns N’ Roses outings have lacked a really good frontman, especially given the dynamic of his glory days with Axl Rose.

Accordingly, the new album boasts no fewer than a dozen new singers, a stellar line-up including Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, Ian Astbury, Lemmy, Chris Cornell, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Kid Rock.

And although each song inevitably plays to its singer’s personality, there’s a gratifying consistency running throughout, with Slash playing at his fiery best.

Despite the old stagers on the guestlist (listen for Dave Grohl on drums, too!) the highlights are as unexpected as they are blisteringly good.

Who could have dreamed that Black Eyed Peas songbird Fergie would turn rock chick on Beautiful Dangerous, a title that sums up her new face perfectly?

Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale gives Robert Plant a run for his money in By The Sword, its huge riff and subtle solo surely the best Led Zeppelin never wrote.

And then Slash goes manic metal for Nothing To Say, his speed riffing backing Avenge Sevenfold’s M Shadows.

Rock album of the year, anyone?
[/i]

http://www.sundaymercury.net/entertainment-news/2010/04/04/slash-slash-66331-26165279/

[JACKSPARROW]

http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/15

Here you can listen to the whole album.
Its nothing special if you ask me..

[RKD]

Just downloaded it off iTunes. Sounds Phenomenal. No messing around bullshit. Straight to it, awesome album. I'm afraid i rate this over Chinese Democracy. Its a much more fun album. Doesn't take itself too seriously and its just a joy to listen to.

[L_Haynes]

After listening to the whole thing and apart from Beautiful Dangerous it just deosn't fire on all cylinders like I was expecting it to.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its crap or bad or anything...just, idk, something is off for me.

It's just not what I imagined an album featuring the man behind some of music's greatest riffmongery to be...perhaps he needs that...um how to put it...needs that dark, dangerous and elusive "frontmen" type guy (Rose, Weiland for those playing at home) to conflict with and clash and fight and be like "well then what the fuck should it sound like?" and ultimately come up with something that just rocks (even though the Velvet Revolver stuff wasn't all that great but hey I still think Slither is one of the best songs of the past decade)

Just me $0.02

[Robbie]

lol @ people comparing this to cd

[2NaFish]

lol @ people comparing this to cd

i cant imagine people listening to this in a year time, nevermind ten. Everytime i listen to CD i hear something diifferent; slash's album is great but its not even been released properly and i've heard enough.

but, i know. opinions yadda yadda....

[Iconic Shawn]

Trust me 2na.. a lot of us will be listening to it for a good while.

The comparison is fair. This is Slash's first release where he's in total control of things as Chinese Democracy was Axl's first release with total control of the music.

CD had all the hype and anticipation any album could ever want but didn't make it past 2 weeks before being either forgotten about or chuckled at.

I'm betting Slash's release will fair better because its genuine and the people who buy it will be getting exactly what they're looking for.  Unlike with CD where they went to buy a good meaty steak but instead got that very well dressed, very exoticly flavored slice of tofu. (Like I've said before!!!)

I don't care how much anyone wants to bury the legacy of this band and simply ignore what made it great or how bad Axl wishes Slash would just disappear from existence (poor baby can't handle reality), people will always compare anything these two guys do now.

Personally, I give Slash the nod in terms of releases.

I'm looking forward to what the rest of the world thinks.

~S~

[2NaFish]

Trust me 2na.. a lot of us will be listening to it for a good while.

as far as i can throw you.

[dman1991]

pretty solid. Suprisingly I love his compilation with fergie.

[mooney]

There's a couple songs i think are really cool, the rest is good/decent. For me, there isn't anything overly new or exciting about this album - it's solid, but that's about it. I much prefered Contraband as an overall body of work to this. Maybe even Libertad, which did have it's moments, just not enough of them. Combine the best from Contra with the best from Libertad and that would be interesting!

I'm gonna resist the CD comparison. I got sucked into that one in the old Guns section!

[Robbie]

i really like this album, there i'll admit it
That's the best song i've heard ozzy sing in forever...
Love the rythem to ghost, Promise hasn't left my head all day.
The fergie song to me seems very similar to that lady gaga song (in the chorus) but did anyone start listening to it and go.. i never knew shirley manson was on this album??
That lemmy song is typical lemmy the song title alone is cliche.. doctor alibi or wating for an alibi by thin lizzy and i don't need no doctor by free/stevie w anyone..
Gotten sounds like a maroon 5 song with slash playing guitar and that's it
Nothing to say is refreshing, nice to hear slash playing metal for a change

Ok im a little wrecked so i won't continue

Cd is a different animal it's one man investing everything to put what he hears in his head on a record, this is slash coming up with some great riffs and having random famous musicians put lyrics and vocal melody to it.

[Faxl]

Has anyone found the Classic Rock Slashpack? Can't find it m'self.

[RKD]

Has anyone found the Classic Rock Slashpack? Can't find it m'self.

Preordered it. i should be getting it in the next couple of days. according to Classic Rock it is a limited edition and so i preordered it. Might not be in stores. The Classic Rock in stores is the KISS covered one.

[sunnyp]

Bought it. Better than most other music out there.

8/10

[mooney]

Bought it. Better than most other music out there.

8/10

by that yard stick i guess i can agree with you're rating sunnyp, but in all honesty i'm pretty bored of this music aside from the M. Shadows track.

People might say, "what were you expecting.... experimental stuff??" but for me, Slash has done grade A hard rock in AFD, UYI and VR stuff, and the simple fact of the matter is nothing he has done since UYI has been "great". To much averge, uninspired stuff on this record.

[Beautiful Disease]

Great to hear Steven popcorn adler on 'Baby can't drive' with Alice Cooper, on the limited edition.
When I heard the typical AFD cowbell right at the start of the song, it sent a shiver down my spine. The song is very good, and Alice is great as always. Could easily be on AFD.

All in all I think it's a solid album with loads of guitars, nice riffs and licks everywhere. I also like the use of some unusual instruments for a Slash album, like the rhodes organ on the Kid Rock song.

I'd kill for the instrumental versions of all songs though, there are nice guitar parts to hear, especially with good headphones.


Whoever mixed this album did a great job aswell. The sound is excellent, the record sounds just great on hifi and the overall mix is much better than on ChiDem, IMHO.

I'm glad Slash is still around here to do what he does best.


A song with Slash, Steven, Izzy and Duff together would have been great though. Strange that they all play on different songs.

[Iconic Shawn]

Ah.. I wish there was an instrumental version too. I'm wondering if enough fans request would the dude have a problem sharing them. It might actually work with a cool dude like Slash.

~S~

[LostInTheGarden]

I can't imagine listening to this album straight through again and not getting bored, but it does sound pretty good. Nothing to Say is badass, shadows sounds like a fucking beast as always, though a few screams would have made it perfect (wishful thinking i know). and I love the guitar playing on this one. chris cornell's song is sweet as hell too, it's definitely gonna be stuck in my head for a while. ozzy sounds pretty good, not a bad song there either, with a nice chorus from slash. Nevr got into altar bridge much, but myles kennedy has a very nice voice and it really shines through on starlight, which is another catchy song. the maroon 5 guy's song is pretty good too. aside from that mostly filler imo. kid rock is a douche, and lemmy.... enough already dude.

ps. nice intro anf riffing on ghost, but ian astbury's voice bothers me 

[Chase the Ace]

LOL people shitting on the album. This is fucking Rock at it's best no pussy CD shit.

[UcudBmine]

it's a great album for sure, i wouldn't pick it over chinese democracy (personal opinion) but i can't say i dislike any of the songs.
i'll put them in order of liking them:

1. Starlight
2. Gotten
3. Crucify The Dead
4. I Hold On
5. Back From Cali
6. Beautiful Dangerous
7. By The Sword
8. Ghost
9. Nothing To Say
10. Watch This
11. Saint Is A Sinner Too
12. We're All Gonna Die
13. Doctor Alibi
14. Promise

[Chase the Ace]

I admit I worded that really bad. My point is that while CD is good it's also depressing. This one is rock n roll.

[Lies They Tell]

Here's my review. Dunno if this is the right place to post it?

1. Ghost
My first reaction was: "Damn I've missed Slash's guitaring. This is pure rock n' roll!" Especially the first half of the song is awesome. The second half doesn't really offer anything special. Anyway it's a great opening song. 7/10

2. Crucify The Dead
I had big expectations for this song! Not sure why...I don't even like Ozzys solo stuff. I liked Ozzys voice in Black Sabbath, mostly in the first couple of albums. These days his voice is a little annoying and that applies here too. Well I was curious to see what happens when Ozzy and Slash join forces. The result is a basic semi-good rock song. 5/10

3. Beautiful Dangerous
I just love the start of this song. It's sexy and it's dangerous. One of the best parts of the entire album. Could this actually be a Fergie song that I like? Nope! It's the chorus that ruins it for me. It's too poppy in a bad way. The rest of the song is like Avril Lavigne on steroids or something. I don't like it.! 3/10

4. Back From Cali
This is a raw and cool track from start to finish. With just a little extra twist this could have been a GNR caliber song. I really like the chorus on this one! 7/10

5. Promise
I had expectations for this song too. Chris Cornell sounds great as always. Slash does a good job too, but in the end it's a very generic song. The chorus (although it's good) is just played over and over again. I'm getting a little tired of these kind of songs. Nevertheless it's better than most shit out there. 6/10

6. By The Sword
For me this is the highlight of the album. Very Led Zeppelinish! I love the main riff and the guitar solo too is one of the best on the album. And Andrew Stockdale is absolutely brilliant on this track. He manages to keep the song interesting till the end. 8/10

7. Gotten
I'd say songwriting-wise this is one of the better tracks on the album. It's not really my type of music though. Adam Levine's voice is just too...I don't know...soft. 5/10

8. Doctor Alibi
Lemmy's voice is like the opposite extremity of Adam's. It's even worse! This is humor music, that's what it is! Only it's not very funny. 2/10

9. Watch This
I think many of the songs on this album would be better without vocals. This instrumental piece is outstanding! 6/10

10.  I Hold On
A boring chorus. Nothing special Slash-wise either. A very generic song. 2/10

11. Nothing To Say
At least this song has energy! It's very different from what Slash has done ever before, as far as I know. And that's a good thing! But just cause Slash hasn't done this before doesn't mean that there isn't already hundreds of songs that sound exactly like this one. 4/10

12. Starlight
Another highlight of the album! I'm very impressed by Myles Kennedy's passionate vocals on this album. He would be a good choice as the VR frontman. Good job by Slash too. 8/10

13. Saint Is A Sinner Too
Cool track! This is one of the only songs on this album that you just can't call generic. I kinda hoped that the song would have grown and reached massive epic heights in the end. It had so much potential. Oh well! It's a good song this way too. 6/10

14. We're all gonna die
Ok song. The lyrics are a kinda cheesy. Well it didn't leave a bad taste in the mouth. That's the most important thing! 5/10

I understand the whole thing that Chinese Democracy is too ballady and depressing and this is pure rock n' roll and so on. But there's no way in hell this album is even remotely as good as CD is in my opinion.
This album has some good songs, but nothing REALLY amazing. I'd say that the best songs on this album are better than If The World, which is the worst song on CD. That's actually a pretty good achievement!
So what's wrong with this album? Many people have already said it before me. It's too generic and boring! Yes, I don't like music that doesn't offer anything new, that's why I don't like AC/DC much either. The main reason why I loved old Guns N' Roses and why I still love GNR is cause they don't do generic rock.
In my opinion this album proves that Slash is still a great guitarist. But he needs someone like Axl to get the full potential out of him.