Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Slash Bears the Burden of Guns N' Roses' Legacy

Posted on Mar 24th 2010

After more than two decades in two superstar groups, Slash should be an expert in music-business savvy. Surprisingly, the guitarist tells Spinner that the opposite is true. "I still have a certain amount of na?vet? about things," he says. "I'm just not aware or spending a lot of time thinking what other people are thinking."

What he's referring to specifically is what fans suppose of him musically. They see him as the hard-rock guy, and despite the fact he's played with the likes of Michael Jackson -- he's even included Fergie and Maroon 5's Adam Levine on his debut solo album, 'Slash' -- fans are surprised, which has caught the axeman off-guard. "It's been very recently, since I started working on this record, the amount of expectations people have of me," he says. "And I thought, 'Since when did I become that guy that represents something?'"

Probably since he played on one of the most influential hard rock albums of all time: Guns 'n' Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction.' That brings up an interesting question -- as the most visible member of the original lineup, with Axl Rose keeping a lower profile, does Slash bear the brunt of that legacy? "I know that in some way, shape or form I am responsible for partly carrying that torch, as with any of the other guys," he says. "But I'm the one that's most active, and so I do -- as far as [fans are] concerned -- represent."

Still, Slash is aware of those fans who do question his musical collaborators. "When I f---ed with 'Paradise City', I heard about it. Trust me," he says, referring to his remake of the song with Fergie. Still, he wants everyone to know he's still the rock kid he was growing up.

"All things considered, as a rock 'n' roll fan, I think I'm more of a rock fan and more representative of what I thought was cool and uncool and all that when I was a kid," he says. "So I stand behind the fact I'm a rock guy. That's where I come from."

http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/24/slash-guns-n-roses-legacy-solo-album/

I can imagine.  :hihi:

Glad he acknowledged the fergie thing  :rofl: but really Slash bearing the burden of GN'R I'd say you know the guy still IN the band called Guns N' Roses probably still expect more "rawk" from him you know. I first hand know many people not satisfied with CD because it wasn't balls to the wall type stuff, of course the validity of how much they are a fan comes into play but in reality I think people hear the name GNR and expect something that Axl is past, so I say he probably bears a bit more a burden but I understand what Slash is getting at here. In recent years he has resurfaced as a Page/Richards of this generation.

I think in a lot of ways, Slash does bear the burden cause all of his work is compared to AFD

how many times do u hear people say "Slash hasn't done anything close to Appetite or NR or Estranged or Coma etc?

Even though Contraband is one of the most kick ass rock albums of the last 20 years, he still hasn't "lived" up to Appetite in a lot of people's eyes.

so yeah, i see where he is coming from but I think this solo album is gonna erase all the naysayers.

How many times have you heard people gripe and bitch about Axl's work and the actual GUNS N ROSES band not "sounding" or "being" as "guns n roses" as they used to hah?

Yeah but Slash gets more flack for other artists he plays with and people are always calling him a sell out etc cause he is no longer the hair over face, quiet guitar god.

Exactly, they BOTH bear the burden of GNR legacy.  How many times did we hear people expecting another Appetite when CD was in the works.  Everyone compares everything these two do to AFD because it's a timeless and almost perfect album.  They're both doing their own things now and if you'd like to, you can enjoy both.

since when has be become 'that' guy??
If I remember correctly...it was Slash that wanted to stay with the more straight forward ROCK sound in Guns N Roses.
Next thing you know is hes going to tell us hes always been into NIN and always wanted to try that sound

The sound that you want in a band and the music you listen to are drastically different. As a solo artist he is embracing the various degrees of influences he has, in a band setting it is very apparent he merely wants to create rock n roll. He's just commenting that people look(ed) at him as the leather clad, top hat, drugs sex n rock n roll guy when there is a bit more to his artistic credibility than that.

AFD is awesome, my favourite album of all time.  But it is a huge burden.
But the same can be said of any great musician that has released a classic album. 

He is referring to the collaborations with R and B and Popstars.