Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Well, figured we focus on guitar playing here.  Regardless of how much we like the song, you may still love a solo or riff.  Discuss here.  We did get more long solos by Slash like most VR fans requested.

slashs guitar work on this album is raw and powerful. fucking love it. same goes for dave. loving the effects!

I agree.  Back to more blues based playing and less Michael Sheneker influenced Hardrock/Metal type playing.  Love it.  Get Out the Door has killer tone with him and Dave.  Pill, Demons, great tone as well, nice lil solo by Slash as well.  Fits well with song.  Like always, Slash plays for the song, and chooses to never over play.  I love that.

Slash's solo in ''Cant Get Out Of My Mind'' is brilliant, epic, one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard from him since Guns N' Roses.

There are a few other good moments here and there in the album, but anything at the level I think Slash is capable.

And that's all I can say about ''Libertad''.

Naturally I would love to hear more of Slash and for longer intervals like it used to be in the past, but I think they did a nice job of balancing "more Slash" with not falling into the trap of sounding like a dated 80's cock rock band with self-indulgent wanking solos.

I think Slash's guitar actually sounded very modern, yet still Slash. For someone who has been consistently accused of not wanting to evolve his sound and being stuck in the 80's, he showed a tremendous amount of freshness and diversity in his play on the album. He showed himself to be extremely versatile on the album, as many of the songs had different flavors and his guitar sounded seemless in them.

Slash will in a sense perpetually live in a no-win situation in that if he makes a straight ahead rock album like Contraband he is stuck in the 80's, wanting to be like AC/DC with every song sounding the same, not evolving and trying to remake Appetite for the 10th time. And when he plays fresh, contemporary, modern sounding guitar including some different types of guitar noises out of Slash he is accused of not being able to rock anymore, being washed up, and sounding unoriginal because he isn't doing that self-indulgent wanking which would then be flipped around to the prior argument.

At the end of the day all that truly matters is that he sounds relevant still. Few and far between are those who can go 20 years without changing their look or style for the most part and still be considered as cool today as they were then. He clearly still has that "it" factor that can't be taught or learned.

Estebanf, you are right.  That is a brilliant soulfull wah solo!  I too love it.

And if I'm not wrong, it's the longest solo in all the VR catalogue  :love:

Look, Naupis, I agree....  There is a ton of Slash on this album.  A ton, his tone is killer as ever and every track offers a Slash moment. 

I think he is finally comfortable not being the GNR guitarist anymore and is just being himself now.  That is the way I like it.  He fucking rocks.  Just Sixteen, wow, great playing there!!! Spay too.  There is not one song that Slash doesn't own.

Man oh man, that solo is stunning, the tone is fucking killer too!  That must be the longest and probably the best solo Slash has done in VR!

yeah, it easily is

The guitar work from Slash on this cd is very good, I like it!  : ok:

As much as raising myself on Gnr makes me wish for alot more and lengthier solos at certain points Slash has always been in my opinion a tremendously underrated rhythm player and that aspect of his arsenal shines on this record. Sure it's not a constant crunch on alot of songs ala contraband but it sounds great and the guitar tone on the record is fantastic.

I agree, his tone is nothing short of beautiful. 

This is Slash's most brillian't Guitar Album in a long time.  Arguably since 2000 for sure.  If you count no solo bands, since UYII.

His tone is gorgeous.  He plays with a great deal of restraint and compliments the songs not overpowers them.  He plays melodically on this record, which often is beautiful.  However, I would like to see a balance between that melodic playing that fits the song, with songs that just allow Slash to go off and crank out some mean, bluesy riffs.  Slash can kick ass with the best of them and to me it's a shame if he isn't given the opportunity to kick ass with a few really nasty riffs and asskicking solos.

Ali

On which song does he use the Vox AC30? Haven't heard the album yet.

Im just not feeling slash on this as much as on contraband. I agree that his tone is good but I think that there is a serious lack of stylistic slash soloing

The guitar mix on this record is far better than contraband

Since '87 for me, the tone is amazing.

Nothing wrong with that! You don't hear any powerful guitar playing from these new bands.

I think Slash's work is really good on Libertad.  I wish Scott would have did a better job vocally like on Contraband.  Maybe the third time will be a charm.  Where they both will be on par.

To each his own, of course, but I just dont see how one can think Scott was vocally better on Contraband than Libertad.  He was good on the first album, but stayed largely in one mode (with "Loving The Alien," "Set Me Free" and "You Got No Right" being brilliant exceptions).  Most of the tracks featured mid-range sneering and straightforward melodies.  Hes much more diverse on Libertad.

His melodies are much better on this record.  I agree with that.

Ali

Is it just me or is the guitar mix bad on this album? Slash's sound comes only through the right channel and I can barely hear the solos. :confused:

I think the tones rather than the mix is the problem. Slash's rhythm has always on the right with the solo down the centre.
Dave's guitar tones on some tracks are really fuzzy and that doesn't mix well with Slash's cleaner tone on this album.

Off the top of my head the best VR solo is on YGNR.

Slash has made a consious effort to try new things, new guitars and effects. It gives the album a whole new texture and its a real first for slash.

Whether or not I prefer it to contraband is something I wont be able to answer for a few months.

Same here.

And I really think his tone with wha was awful, it sounded a lot like the live setup (well known in the Illusions era) and nothing like his gorgeous tone in previous albums.

Just my opinion, anyways.

Sometimes I think Slash Dumbs down his guitar playin to fit in with Weiland's style.

Slash to me is a Hard Rock Guitar Legend an ICON not a modern rock/Alternative guitar player so when he tries to fit in with Weiland, its like he has to tone down his guitar ability to fit in with VR's style.

I think I understand what you're saying although I would state it as him restraining himself and dialing it back to fit in with the songs.  I will say that upon further reflection, this record's sound seems to be more influenced by Weiland, whereas the first one was more influenced by the ex-GN'R guys.

Ali

With Contraband most of the music was written before Scott joined. Libertad is more of a collaboration. While I think Slash's playing was more in your face in G N R and Snakepit there's still a lot of good Slash playing on Libertad. Listen with headphones and you'll hear Slash doing some cool riffs and fills on the right speaker during the verses and choruses.