You know Slash...the stove pipe hat-wearing, perpetually shirtless, formerly Black Death Vodka swilling blues rock guitar hero who helped form Guns N’ Roses and after that “quietly fizzled” ubiquitously played with everyone from Michael Jackson to Velvet Revolver to The Black Eyed Peas. Yeah, THAT Slash!
So Slash is getting ready to drop another full length LP on the hard rocking devoted of the world, which begs one question:
Why?
This isn’t a slam on Slash as a guitarist. In fact, in his realm of Big Muffed Les Paul’s blaring out of Marshall full stacks in front of throngs of adoring metal horn throwing fist pumpers, it’s hard to do better than he. In a genre not know for subtlety, Slash is a tasteful phraser, thoughtful soloist and as road dog as they come.
But as a lead-name on a project pushing product...eh, well, maybe not so much.
We love when you pop-up Super Bowl halftime show to play a 30-second snippet of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Daughtrey’s horribly over-produced debut disc is only saved, if briefly, by your heavy lean noodling on “What I Want.” Sit in and get situational with anyone from Gaga to Gershwin and you’ll still be top-of-mind when it comes to the Pantheon of rock guitarists.
But when it’s you with Fergie or or you and your Snakepit and well...that’s not awesome. When all the ever-loving metal world wants you to do is to reunite with either Gn’R or Velvet Revolver and tour and blow our minds and the response is to put out tepid works with musical middlings ala Myles Kennedy (talented, but I’m not plopping down $50+ bucks to see ya when I can YouTube you for gratis)...well, I think you see where I’m going with this.
Now, Sandra Bullock...there’s a talent. Oscar winner for her turn in “The Blind Side” her stock is probably on the rise, though this could be a coin flip. Some might say that “The Blind Side” was her “Appetite For Destruction.” The culmination of a life’s work.
Unfortunately, here’s the 6 movies Sandra Squirrel made prior to finding her nut:
1.) All About Steve
2.) The Proposal
3.) Premonition
4.) Infamous
5.) The Lake House
6.) Miss Congeniality 2
So the question I’ve been asking about Bullock since 1995’s “The Net” is WHY do they keep green-lighting Sandra Bullock-fronted movies!?! They are largely box office bombs, but yet, there is always another script, another day, another role. She was great as the female lead in “Speed” or even in “Demolition Man” or “A Time To Kill.” She’s great in an ensemble...not as the above the title lead.
Which brings me back to Mr. Saul Hudson. Fronting a project with “less-than” lead singers and support, well, this smacks of you putting on the Speed 2: Cruise Control. Plowing earthen rows with the old six-string as part of a band...a real band with vocalists your musical equal...this is what makes our hope float.
So Slash is getting ready to drop another full length LP on the hard rocking devoted of the world, which begs one question:
Why?
This isn’t a slam on Slash as a guitarist. In fact, in his realm of Big Muffed Les Paul’s blaring out of Marshall full stacks in front of throngs of adoring metal horn throwing fist pumpers, it’s hard to do better than he. In a genre not know for subtlety, Slash is a tasteful phraser, thoughtful soloist and as road dog as they come.
But as a lead-name on a project pushing product...eh, well, maybe not so much.
We love when you pop-up Super Bowl halftime show to play a 30-second snippet of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Daughtrey’s horribly over-produced debut disc is only saved, if briefly, by your heavy lean noodling on “What I Want.” Sit in and get situational with anyone from Gaga to Gershwin and you’ll still be top-of-mind when it comes to the Pantheon of rock guitarists.
But when it’s you with Fergie or or you and your Snakepit and well...that’s not awesome. When all the ever-loving metal world wants you to do is to reunite with either Gn’R or Velvet Revolver and tour and blow our minds and the response is to put out tepid works with musical middlings ala Myles Kennedy (talented, but I’m not plopping down $50+ bucks to see ya when I can YouTube you for gratis)...well, I think you see where I’m going with this.
Now, Sandra Bullock...there’s a talent. Oscar winner for her turn in “The Blind Side” her stock is probably on the rise, though this could be a coin flip. Some might say that “The Blind Side” was her “Appetite For Destruction.” The culmination of a life’s work.
Unfortunately, here’s the 6 movies Sandra Squirrel made prior to finding her nut:
1.) All About Steve
2.) The Proposal
3.) Premonition
4.) Infamous
5.) The Lake House
6.) Miss Congeniality 2
So the question I’ve been asking about Bullock since 1995’s “The Net” is WHY do they keep green-lighting Sandra Bullock-fronted movies!?! They are largely box office bombs, but yet, there is always another script, another day, another role. She was great as the female lead in “Speed” or even in “Demolition Man” or “A Time To Kill.” She’s great in an ensemble...not as the above the title lead.
Which brings me back to Mr. Saul Hudson. Fronting a project with “less-than” lead singers and support, well, this smacks of you putting on the Speed 2: Cruise Control. Plowing earthen rows with the old six-string as part of a band...a real band with vocalists your musical equal...this is what makes our hope float.
To answer your question of why should Slash put out a full length CD...exactly so that I don't have to listen to some shitty Daughtrey song to hear him! His last CD was hit or miss on the songs...pretty much coming down to if you like the singer, then you like the song. It was more of Slash building the song around the singer so it sounded more like them, then him. With this CD, it sounds like it's going to be all him. I'm not a big fan of Myles Kennedy's voice, but at least it'll be consistent and not a bunch of styles thrown onto one album. And the tour had better come through Cleveland this time. I'll gladly pay $50 to see Slash almost anytime...let's not kid ourselves, no one's going because they want to see Myles Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Slash's body of work of full albums, not his countless guest solos, I think I'm one of the few that actually likes most of it. I like both Snakepit albums. I think the first VR CD was really good...the second just so-so, but I think that was more Weiland ruining than Slash. Overall, I liked his last solo CD...biggest surprise being that I actually like the Fergie song...lol. My question for you is...what singer do you think would be the right fit and would be exciting for you to team up with Slash?
The whole Sandra Bullock comparison made absolutely no sense to me. With her, I see someone that made a bunch of movies that were ok, bad, mediocre, pretty good. Then hit it big with Blind Side (which while I liked the movie, really didn't like her in it...just couldn't get into her performance). With Slash, I see him as the opposite. He hit it big out of the gate with G'n'R and then went through performances that many see as ok, bad, mediocre, pretty good, etc. Just not seeing the connection between the two.
I think you see the connection perfectly...one just hit earlier than the other
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