The new self-titled album by Slash has been available for a few weeks now. After listening all the way through a few times I have mixed feelings about the album. As a whole it is very average. It certainly doesn’t come close to any of the GNR albums, but for those who enjoy Slash’s music, it is a fun reminder that he isn’t dead yet.
For the most part, each track on the album has a different singer and a unique guitar riff. Unlike the uniformity in style that comes with standard band albums, this album is all over the place. Track order really doesn’t matter because there are just too many variations of sub-hardrock genres to pace through the album as a whole. In many ways it feels more like a rock radio station that goes commercial free for 14 songs. The upside to this approach is each song can truly be judged for its own merits and the good stands out drastically as overwhelmingly positive. The bad however is easy to hear and I find myself clicking the button to skip tracks every few songs.
Track by track here is a quick rundown of the album:
Track 1: Ghost (Feat. Ian Astbury)
Rating: 6/10
This is a decent opening tune with some upbeat energy to it. The lyrics aren’t bad, but Ian Astbury doesn’t bring anything great to the vocal portion of the song. In this case, fewer vocals would have been better. The primary guitar riff felt a bit like Joe Satriani was helping out. Behind the vocals when the rhythm came in it was pretty good and the song ends up working out well instrumentally.
Crucify The Dead (Feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
Rating: 3/10
I enjoyed some of Ozzy’s older tunes, but his recent stuff is whiny drivel. Lyrically this song is pathetic. Vocally I can’t appreciate Ozzy’s dragged on vocals, but I will say that he is very clear and understandable in direct contrast to his standard talking voice. The guitar parts are very average, but there is an accented echoing guitar slam that happens about every 15 to 30 seconds. It drives me nuts and makes me think “vampire Goth crap” each time I hear it.
Beautiful Dangerous (Feat. Fergie)
Rating: 7/10
Let me begin by highlighting the fact that I have never enjoyed Fergie’s music. When I began to listen to this song the intro was very off-putting and I almost hit the skip button. It takes about 40 seconds, but the song actually picks up, has some decent guitar riffs and Fergie actually rocks out a bit. I really hate the lyric “Well it’s a fine time looking for a wine time man”. Still, there is a decent solo, the guitar and vocals are pretty good and all in all the song left me in a decent mood. I will say that it feels like a popular rock song for the current year. It is certainly not an old school tune.
Back From Cali (Feat. Myles Kennedy)
Rating: 5/10
I feel like this song was written by Slash’s Snakepit and they simply dumped Myles Kennedy in to replace Rod Jackson. While Ain’t Life Grand was a fun album, it was certainly not rock and roll gold and the singing was always the weakest link. That holds true here. Myles Kennedy is just too whiney sounding for good rock and roll music.
Promise (Feat. Chris Cornell)
Rating: 7/10
The song opens with an Audioslave riff followed by Chris Cornell’s voice. The trend continued until 1:40 into the song. Ah… there is Slash. Don’t get me wrong, I like Audioslave. So this song works for me. Until that god awful background vocal “Why don’t you?” at around 3:40. This type of vocal brings me back once again to a Slash’s Snakepit vibe. People dig the guitar’s and good vocals, but this background crap is unnecessary and makes the difference between the song sounding professional versus a garage band. I hate to make this reference, but this is the type of crap that Axl Rose would never let fly. All in all, the song is pretty good and will probably end up on the radio.
By The Sword (Feat. Andrew Stockdale Of Wolfmother)
Rating: 9/10
This is my favorite song on the album. The lyrics are fun. The vocals are strong, though very high pitch. The guitar starts soft and works its way into a quality hard rock riff. It has the spirit of Led Zeppelin, the story of Megadeth, and attitude of the early 70’s. The solo is fitting, and overall this song just rocks.
Gotten (Feat. Adam Levine)
Rating: 8/10
This is a perfect example of a song not fitting in. Adam Levine does not belong on a hard rock album. Still, the dude has a good voice and the guitar is actually soothing. A little after 3:00 in the song it has a hard rock guitar solo, but even that is tempered to fit the song’s slower lighter vibe. If this was on a true hard rock album I would rate it poorly, but since this is a mix album I’ll consider it for what it is, a very good slow rock song that will probably be the biggest hit across a wide variety of music fans.
Doctor Alibi (Feat. Lemmy Kilmister)
Rating: 1/10
Lemmy… wtf. The lyrics are pitiful, the vocals are actually worse. This shit sounds like Motorhead being sung by an old fuck. There is an ok guitar solo, but it is killed by the vocal breakdown directly after it. God I hated this song. I get it, Slash this guy was born in the same town as you and Motorhead was a decent band. This isn’t ok though. This song is bad for the album’s health.
Watch This (Feat. Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
Rating: Grrr… 8/10
I wanted so much more out of this. It is a great musical tune that moves and has a lot of fun riffs and solos. Still, you tell me that you have Dave Grohl and Duff playing with you? I don’t believe it. Joe Satriani doesn’t sing because he can’t, but you have Dave and Duff there. No excuse for a lack of lyrics unless it was a bonus track. Musically it is a 8/10, but damn it, I wanted more!
I Hold On (Feat. Kid Rock)
Rating: 8/10
I am not a huge country fan, but a Kid Rock has as much right as Adam Levine to be on this album. Actually he isn’t half bad. The song has good rhythm and the vocals match the song. The lyrics aren’t bad and the guitar is fantastic. Yeah, rock blues with country really does sound good. I wish it was a faster pace. The twang was much stronger and the speed was definitely slower than Bad Apples and Bad Obsession, but I still enjoyed it.
Nothing To Say (Feat. M. Shadows Of Avenged Sevenfold)
Rating: 8/10
Musically this song feels like Megadeth meets Velvet Revolver. Vocally, it was ok. I guess that with energy like this tune has, vocals aren’t that important. I mean, it isn’t like Dave Mustaine is famous for his ability to sing. Just to be clear, I don’t think Mustaine had anything to do with this tune; it just really has his sound all over parts of it. All in all, it is a lot of fun and is probably my second favorite song on the album.
Starlight (Feat. Myles Kennedy)
Rating: 2/10
Once again, Myles Kennedy makes me want to cry. Unlike the country that Kid Rock brought, this twang is unwelcomed. The song is boring crap that I would expect from John Mayer if he were to try and sing a country song. Slash’s performance is also weak on this song. Slash rarely has a boring performance, but the guitar on this song did nothing for me. Even the solo sounded forced. It felt like the guitar was screaming, “I am trying so hard to push something out to make this entertaining, but even high pitched blues notes can’t save this shit.”
Saint Is A Sinner Too (Feat. Rocco DeLuca)
Rating: 4/10
I dug the intro soft guitar, but this song never picked up. It is a slow song, start to finish. It is pretty, but totally boring. It made me think about how much better
Obsession Confession was. I guess it is an ok song, but it does nothing for me.
We're All Gonna Die (Feat. Iggy Pop)
Rating: 3/10
The Bono entry sucked, but not as much as Iggy Pop’s voice or the fucking horrible lyrics that accompany that shitty voice. “We're all gonna die. So let's get high. We're all gonna die. So let's be nice. I'm in the mood. So let's intrude. Pee on the ground. And jump around.” Seriously?!? That is the chorus. FUCK YOU IGGY POP. The only reason that I give this song more than 0/10 is because the music is good. Slash actually rocks this tune and the main riff and solos are good. Honestly, Iggy Pop’s song should have done the musical while Dave Grohl should have sung. The more I think about the lyrics to this song, the worse it is. What the fuck was Slash thinking? “I wanna, I wanna, I wanna whip it out and pee on the ground!”
So that’s it. I enjoy much of this album, but the highs and lows were just too drastic for me. I’ll listen a few more times, but overall if you need a fix of recent GNRish rock to get you by I’d stick to Chinese Democracy. It is a much stronger album overall.
Final Rating:
Slash’s new album “Slash”: 5.5/10
Listen:
