'Slash' The Album - Your Reviews

[Genesis]

Well, we've heard the whole album now.  I thought I'd post my thoughts on the album and each track. Overall, I think it's a good album. Blows away Libertad and as good as Contraband (if not better). I am a little disappointed, mostly by the choice of singers, although I can understand the appeal of having Fergie, Levine, Nicole etc. on the album. Eric Valentine has done an awesome job producing the album. Nothing is too loud, the guitars, drums and vocals are all clear. No complaints. I guess analogue is the way to go.  Here are my thoughts on each track, in order of my best to least:

1) Ghost - My favourite of the album. I love the background riff, chord changes and Ian's voice on the track. The lyrics are pretty abstract, but they suit the song. Love the solo as well, esp the intro and solo outro. Did take a few listens to get into though. (9 / 10)

2) By The Sword - I liked this track ever since the live version started floating around and I still like it a lot. A very nice rock core riff, awesome solo and the ending is head banging central. I like Andrew's vocals as well - very Plant - 70's like. Not many complaints about this song except that the lyrics might have been a bit better. (9 / 10)

3) Doctor Alibi - Awesome song. A badass rocker. The riff is the same as The Ramones 'Main Man', but suits the song very well. Very nice lyrics and a good solo. I love the lead guitar intro as well. (9 / 10)

4) I Hold On - Nice chorus and an awesome solo, especially the ending where it keeps going on and on. I really didn't notice the solo initially  and thought the track was average. The chorus is a bit repetitive. (9 / 10)

5) Mother Maria - I guess it's better that it's a bonus track, but Beth's vocals are superb. Guitars are clean and simple and the song has a great solo and  the fills are nice as well. (9 / 10)

6) Saint Is A Sinner Too - The song is a bit weird in structure, but the Spanish guitar parts are very cool and I actually like the vocals, even though I wasn't expecting to. I like it a lot. (8 / 10)

7) Nothing To Say - I don't listen to A7X or any band of that genre - Distorted guitars, rapid strum power chords, vocals sung in the same tune with lyrics about the same things. The recipe for every song, I think, in this category. However, I really like this song and the Slash guitar fill at about the beginning and the solo is just awesome. M Shadows doesn't do too bad of a job either. (8 / 10)

8] Beautiful Dangerous - It's a good song, I'm not a fan of the staccato style verses and the ending of the chorus, but Fergie can certainly sing. I heard it's the next single and I'm guessing it'll do quite well in today's market. Nice pleasant guitar outro as well. (8 / 10)

9) Baby Can't Drive - Not bad actually. Nicole does well on the chorus. I like Adler's drumming as well. The bass wasn't clear, so need to listen to a better quality rip. Overall a nice catchy song, good guitars and solo too. (8 / 10)

10) Sahara (English) - A good track. Nice riffs and solo. I like the breakdown portion before the solo as well, although it desperately needs a fill between the bars. On the fence as far as vocals are concerned, although the chorus is good. (8 / 10)

11) Back From Cali - I like it. The solo is nice but a bit short (last minute job?). I don't find myself listening to it a lot though. (7 / 10)

12) Watch This Dave - Good. I like Grohl's drumming, the riff is awesome and portions of the solo as well. I don't like the groaning guitar portions, it comes off as though he has nothing to play. (7 / 10)

13) We're All Gonna Die - Like Iggy said it's a fun rock song. I like the guitar outro, lyrics and vocals. Perhaps it should have been bumped down to be a bonus track and one of the other songs should have been on the album? (7 / 10)

14) Starlight - Hmmm. Again, It's an okay song. Melodies and guitars are good, vocals not so much. I just don't like Myles's voice on this track, although the chorus falsetto portions are kind of okay. (6 / 10)

15) Crucify The Dead - Just above average and really 'just'. I don't like the Ozzy mourning vocals, the guitars and solos are nothing special. All together a very forgettable track. (6 / 10)

16) Gotten - I like this song. I really do. I should have rated it higher, but the vocals. Oh, the vocals. By the by, why does he say 'Gotten' like that? What's the guy's problem? I like the melodies and guitars and that's probably the only reason this has a good rating at all. (6 / 10)

17) Promise - It's just 'some' song. Cornell is stuck in Audioslave mode and can't get out. If he had put a bit more effort into it, he could have made a great Soundgardenesque track, but well, no. It's just 'some' length of sound, neither here nor there. (5 / 10)

18) Chains and Shackles - Terrible. Melodies and guitars are the same as 'Nothing To Say' so it's okay. But the vocals I can't stand. It's good thing this is a bonus track and only in Australia, so hopefully I won't have to hear it again. (4 / 10)

19) Paradise City - Ughh. Changed the awesome guitars from the original song to something mediocre. Cypress Hill is utter dog turd. The only surprisingly pleasant thing is Fergie's vocals. I have listened to this song exactly once. (3 / 10)

Overall Rating: 7 / 10

That's not too shabby these days. How it sells will depend on the single choice and promotion, although I think Slash is doing a good job in that area so far. The drumming needs special mention as I thought Josh Freese did a very good job overall. I guess this is listening fodder for the next few months at least. Hopefully, Slash will do a 'Slash 2' with maybe Tyler, Jagger, Mogg, Plant, Elliot etc. ... and Axl Rose .

[faldor]

I haven't heard ALL the songs yet and the ones I have heard I've only listened to a handful of times.  But my initial thoughts is it's a good album that I think is on par with Libertad and below Contraband, if you want to compare it to Slash's latest work.  I thought Libertad was a good album, so saying it's on par with it isn't a bad thing for me.  BUT, I thought it was far below Contraband and I'm definitely not as excited about this album as I was for that first VR release.

I really like about 4 songs on the album and the rest are just okay.  A lot of the songs sound repetitive to me and about halfway through I'm like, "okay, I get it, NEXT!"  It should be a fun listen though and it has the potential to grow into something more.  So we'll see.

For the record, my fave 4 are "By The Sword", "Starlight", "I Hold On", and "Beautiful Dangerous".  And while I don't think any of the songs are BAD, I still can't get into "Promise".

[audjon]

Excellent album, overall rating 8/10

1. Ghost Feat. Ian Astbury & Izzy Stradlin - Awesome guitar work, my favorite 'guitar track', the riff is sick and it's so nice to hear Izzy play with him again.  The first impression was that it was only an OK song, but it grew fast on me. Love it. 9/10
2. Crucify the Dead Feat. Ozzy Osbourne & Taylor Hawkins - Didn't know that Taylor played on that track! But anyways, a great track, strong melody and the lyrics are great. Very classical Slash track. 9/10
3. Beautiful Dangerous Feat. Fergie - Reminds me of Guano Apes. Fergie can sing for sure. The bridge is 'so cool' and the chorus is instantly catchy and memorable. 9/10
4. Back From Cali Feat. Myles Kennedy - The chorus is very week and it's a very forgettable track. 5/10
5. Promise Feat. Chris Cornell - The biggest surprise, very commercial, however it got a great chorus and sticks to your brain. I've never been a fan of Chris, but he is great on that track, one of my favorites. 9/10
6. By the Sword Feat. Andrew Stockdale - Just breathtaking 10/10
7. Gotten Feat. Adam Levine - I don't understand how that track did stayed on the final tracklist. It's not bad; nevertheless it should just have been a bonus track. 6/10
8. Doctor Alibi Feat. Lemmy - Great 'mood' track, very simple and funny. 8/10
9. Watch This Feat. Dave Grohl & Duff McKagan - No fan of instrumentals, but this is better than most, the main riff is awesome. Should've been a bonus track. 7/10
10. I Hold On Feat. Kid Rock - Ok, Promise is the second biggest surprise, this is the biggest surprise. I loath Kiddie Rock, however, this is a wonderful song, can't get it out of my head. The best part is the bridge, which is so 70's. 9/10
11. Nothing to Say Feat. M. Shadows ? Holy, Slash the metal god. Great riff and it's insane to hear Slash play this way. 10/10
12. Starlight Feat. Myles Kennedy ? Throwback to the late 80's, Steelheart, Slaughter, Winger? shall I say more. 2/10
13. Saint Is a Sinner Too Feat. Rocco DeLuca ? Slash showing yet another side of him. I don't know Rocco DeLuca, the name sounds like he's a porno star waiting for his singing career takes of. Never mind, he delivers and that's all that counts. 9/10
14. We're All Gonna Die Feat. Iggy Pop ? A perfect ending to this album. Iggy is the mood and it's just the perfect party track. I wouldn't be surprised if we would see it in a movie/TV-show soon. The riff is incredible, the bridge is so cool, and I love the chorus. I just wanna get high. 10/10

The bonus tracks:
Baby Can't Drive ? Should've been on the album 9/10
Sahara (English) ? Fine bonus track 7/10
Mother Maria ? Very good and Beth's vocal is splendid 8/10
Chains and Shackles ? Love it, not as great as NTS, but fantastic 8/10
Paradise City ? Better than the original. No, just kidding  , still it is a nice remake 8/10

[estebanf]

already listened to the album, and made a review in my mother language. I think i'll post it in english tomorrow.

[svdv22]

I must admit it's not as bad as I thought, for some reason I've always been sceptic about this album.
It's ok but gets weaker after a while and it's not anything special (let's be honest, Slash has never been a progressive person). Still there are some great songs on it.
And I never thought I'd say this: Fergie's song is not that bad neither. She definitely has more balls than that maroon 5 dude lol
One thing he shouldn't have done is the paradise city cover. I don't think I've ever heard a cover that bad :p

If I had to rate it I'd give it a 6.5/7

[Naupis]

8] Beautiful Dangerous - It's a good song, I'm not a fan of the staccato style verses and the ending of the chorus, but Fergie can certainly sing. I heard it's the next single and I'm guessing it'll do quite well in today's market. Nice pleasant guitar outro as well.

If that's true it could be an epic video because the song is written with the back drop of a strip club, and Fergie's lyrics even mention dancing on the pole. A video with a scantily clad Fergie in a strip club themed video could easily be a viral hit which would ultimately help the song get some attention. Couple that with a catchy song and it could be a hit.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

The Classic Rock Special Edition pack came today!

I shall be listening to it later on.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

I've listened to it and am listening back to some of the songs just now. Really, from the 15 tracks on the Classic Rock version, only Gotten and Saint Is A Sinner Too didn't do much for me on the first listen. The only thing I'd heard from the album before I listened to it proper was that first bootleg of By The Sword, so I went into it, not really knowing anything about how it sounded.

Beautiful Dangerous was a nice surprise, very catchy. Fergie can do rock 'n' roll. Another surprise was the Chris Cornell song Promise. I've never been a Soundgarden fan, but I liked this one. Cornell sounded different to the few times that I have heard him. Crucify The Dead and Doctor Alibi may not be up there with the greatest Ozzy/Motorhead songs, but in the context of this album, with all the different styles and singers, they sound pretty good. Myles Kennedy, Kid Rock and M. Shadows, who are singers I haven't really heard that much from (only a few of songs between the three of them), all sound great on their respective songs. The Kid Rock song I Hold On I especially like. I may check out some more of their stuff now. Cool to hear Slash do a more 'metal' type of song on Nothing To Say.

Baby Can't Drive is a pretty good song too. I would've put it on the main tracklist, and made Gotten or SIAST a bonus track. Good to hear some humour on the album (as with the Iggy song).

I'm not as taken with By The Sword as others seem to be. It's OK, but far from the best song on the album IMO. I'm sure it'll grow on me though.

I can't go into many more details as I've only listened to it all the way through once, but first impressions are good. Bring on Slash II!

I'd give it 8/10 just now.



Oh yeah, the Classic Rock version comes in this hardback-book style case. I don't know what the regular version comes in but this one is pretty cool.

[Malcolm]

Will post better review later but im absolutely loving this album from start to finish

[Mr. Dick Purple]

already listened to the album, and made a review in my mother language. I think i'll post it in english tomorrow.

No problem any link could help to see your review.

I've heard the album and I think it has that nostalgic of the 90 era.

[Bridge]

MY REVIEW

It's a good album, not fantastic, but good.

GHOST -- Great song all around, love the soloing, and the dueling guitars of Slash and Izzy.  It's good to hear those two on record together again!

CRUCIFY THE DEAD -- One of my favorites.  Great song, lyrics, and some of Slash's very best solos since GNR.

BEAUTIFUL DANGEROUS -- This is the most catchy and my favorite song on the record.  I don't care who agrees/disagrees.

BACK FROM CALI, PROMISE, BY THE SWORD, and GOTTEN -- mediocre on all counts, none of these stood out to me much.

DOCTOR ALIBI -- I can't stand Lemmy's voice, so I didn't expect to like this one, but it was a kickass rocking song.

WATCH THIS DAVE -- Good instrumental.

I HOLD ON -- Pretty good.  Again, I was hoping this one would rock harder, but it's good for what it is.

NOTHING TO SAY -- Didn't know what to expect since I'd never heard this singer, but this turned out to be a damn good song.

STARLIGHT -- Liked this one too.

SAINT IS A SINNER TOO -- Crap.  Why this was on here and not the song with Alice Cooper/Steven Adler,  I don't know.

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE -- Twas okay, but I'm no Iggy Pop fan, and this song didn't make me one.


Overall, it's a good album, slightly lacking in the heavier material but I like it well enough that I won't complain too much.


BONUS TRACKS: Managed to find "She Can't Drive" on Limewire, and this is a fucking good song.  Why Slash didn't release this one on the American release, I don't know.  Slash and Steven on record together again!

Also found "Chains and Shackles" finally.  Good song, though the vocalist growls a bit too much for my tastes.  Good rocker though.  "Mother Maria" is decent if slow.

[Dayle1066]

Not much of a review but I liked the album on first listening. With every listen it has got better and better and now I think its just truly amazing.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

I don't know if it's because I'm not a guiat player or what, but I've been mostly paying attention to the singers. It's Slash's album, I'm gonna have to listen closer to what he's actually doing too....

[Mama Kin]

I don't know if it's because I'm not a guiat player or what, but I've been mostly paying attention to the singers. It's Slash's album, I'm gonna have to listen closer to what he's actually doing too....

I'm neither a singer nor a guitar player, but I have to say, if it weren't Slash I wouldn't have bought the CD. Slash does an amazing job and there's some cool tracks.

[metallex78]

GHOST Great opener with a killer groove. Izzy and Slash play together so well, and it really is a pleasure to hear Izzy's riffing coming out of the left speaker, and Slash from the right. The guitar tone is straight from AFD, and Ian's cool understated vocal delivery is great too. A tasty Slash solo tops it off.

CRUCIFY THE DEAD I expected a bit more, and it sounds kinda bland like most modern Ozzy songs. Interesting lyrics, an obvious dig at you know who... Disappointing Slash solo as well.

BEAUTIFUL DANGEROUS A good track, that I really liked when I first heard it, but find myself liking it less and less with repeated listens. Some good riffing, a nice solo, and Fergie sings quite well, but not really my favourite.

BACK FROM CALI I really like the main riff, it sounds very AC/DC-ish as Slash originally described it. Myles sounds like he's trying to impersonate Axl in parts, which sounds really bad, but overall, it's a catchy straight-ahead rocker. The solo is ok, nothing great.

PROMISE This really grew on me with repeated listens, and it's one of my favourites now. Much closer to Chris' work with Audioslave, than his work with Soundgarden. Nice Slash solo in this one too.

BY THE SWORD Sounds like something Led Zeppelin would've come up with back in the 70's, and that's a good thing. Seeing this performed live gave me a greater appreciation of the song too. Great emotive solo by Slash and some cool lyrics/vocals by Andrew.

GOTTEN I absolutely hate Maroon 5, but that said, this is a really haunting ballad, with some great lyrics. The solo is a bit of a let down, but this may do well on top 40 radio when all the teenage girls hear it.

DOCTOR ALIBI Great match up with Slash and Lemmy. This song rocks, but it's a shame Slash couldn't come up with an actual riff, rather than just power chords. Cool funny lyrics, and a great solo, which if I'm not mistaken, has bits from VR's Dirty Little Thing solo.

WATCH THIS Awesome. Comparisons to the song My Own Summer by Deftones aside (the main riff is identical), the combination of Duff, Slash, and Dave Grohl on the drums sounds just as good as it looks on paper. Great riffing, great soloing, great drumming. Possibly the best song here.

I HOLD ON Sounds kinda like a modern Aerosmith track. Not too bad. Could possibly do well on rock radio. Cool solo too.

NOTHING TO SAY Yes, Slash plays metal! Another contender for my favourite song on the album. A great song to get the blood pumping. Great riff, vocals, and possibly the best solo on the album, and there's quite a bit of lead work throughout too. The soloing reminds me a bit of Don't Damn Me as far as structure and delivery.

STARLIGHT Good music, Slash is channeling The Rolling Stones on this. But Myles' Mickey Mouse high-pitched vocals kill it for me. A really nice Slash solo on there too.

SAINT IS A SINNER TOO Didn't get this song, and I still don't really get it. Rocco is channeling Freddie Mercury, which sounds kinda cool. Slash's playing is good, but it just sounds left-field and completely out of place with the rest of the album. Doesn't really take off, just kinda builds and builds, but doesn't go anywhere.

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE Bland rocker, but Iggy's lyrics are funny, and delivered in typical Iggy fashion. Some great Slash soloing, but an otherwise throwaway track.


A pretty good listen overall, and it does grow with repeated listens.
I'd love to Slash delve deeper into the heavier playing, as that's where he seems to shine the most on this album.
I rate this well above Libertad, and probably on par with Contraband.

I should also note, it's great to hear Slash's guitar mixed properly, the production on this album is stellar.

[gcluskey]

I love this whole album, been listening to it constantly. I love Myles Kennedy's songs, his vocals are amazing. Very impressed with Fergie's track and Lemmy too. Saint is a Sinner would be my least favourite song but that's not saying it isn't still good. Weakest track would be Paradise City and that's only because we can't help comparing it to the original but had GNR not had this song out previously I'd be saying its great. I still love Slash's guitar on it though. Nice to hear a different take on it

[jacdaniel]

GOTTEN I absolutely hate Maroon 5, but that said, this is a really haunting ballad, with some great lyrics. The solo is a bit of a let down, but this may do well on top 40 radio when all the teenage girls hear it.

i really like that solo 

[metallex78]

GOTTEN I absolutely hate Maroon 5, but that said, this is a really haunting ballad, with some great lyrics. The solo is a bit of a let down, but this may do well on top 40 radio when all the teenage girls hear it.

i really like that solo 

Really? It just doesn't go anywhere, it's just Slash plucking the same few strings for most of it.

The main riff of the song is nice though, and the strings really add to the track too.

[jacdaniel]

GOTTEN I absolutely hate Maroon 5, but that said, this is a really haunting ballad, with some great lyrics. The solo is a bit of a let down, but this may do well on top 40 radio when all the teenage girls hear it.

i really like that solo 

Really? It just doesn't go anywhere, it's just Slash plucking the same few strings for most of it.

The main riff of the song is nice though, and the strings really add to the track too.

yeah i love the strings. its a really nice track in general. 

And i agree that Nothing To Say is one of the best on it.  The performance of that at the Roxy looked awesome!