SLASH - "SLASH"

(voila ma review en anglais, car je me suis fait reprendre sur certain forums, et les mecs -se basant sur de mauvaises/approximatives trad- se déchaînent sur moi...)

I updated my review a little bit, and tried to translate it in english.
So, sorry for my poor English !


With this record Slash shows us his vision of Rock ’n Roll: a mixtureof hard rock, pop rock, progressive, 70’s, 80’s, Punk, and even newmetal! The production well-done. The sound is maybe a little bit too"perfect" (read: overproduced) but the “Appetite” era is definitivelyover; Slash wrote in his autobiography that he lost the specialamplifier a long time ago… This album is good. Very, very Eclectic. Not as homogeneous as aclassical Gn’r or VR record. It’s best listened to as a “special”album, track by track. In fact, the charisma of the record is howvaried it is. This album will likely not fare well with time, butmaybe some songs will last.

MARK : 14/20 (I’ll put Appetite : 19/20, UYI/UYII : 17/20, VR I : 15/20, VR II :11/20, CHINESES DEM : 16/20)

Track-by-track :
1/Ghost (Ian Astbury)
This is a radio-rock-US-80’s kind of song … a little bit like TheCult, Billy Idol…but with a strong Velvet Vevolver twist, especiallythe “guitar effect chord.” It’s a perfect introduction. As a European,I have the impression I’m watching a old TV show like “New York PoliceBlues.” While listening to this track, you feel as though you’reinside a strip club… it’s three A.M., the music is very loud, andeverything is dark and sexy.

2/Crucify the dead (Ozzy)
Introduction with very melodic arpeggio, it has a very thin old-schoolsolo. The ambiance of this song is very gothic, melodramatic, almostepic. It’s very cold. But also a cool ballad. This mid-tempo song isvery produced and arranged (electronic synth? sample? Pro-toolsassumed). In fact its a ‘timeless’ song…the production is very modern,but the tune/chord is very 70’s. The bass is ever-present, veryorganic and leads the melody. The ghost of Black Sabbath is notfar…obviously!

3/Beautiful Dangerous (Fergie)
It starts with a hip-hop loop, almost Indus…First, Fergie seems verysensual, sexual. And then, it goes wrong. Its too mainstream, toocommercial (for me). It’s as if Christina Aguilera was trying to rockor perhaps more appropriate, a bad Pink song. Disappointment.Finally, the “sexual” intro is the best part of the song! I love thesolo at the end, and the underlying “sexual moan.” It’s so sexy … butbarely audible … maybe a reference to “Rocket Queen?” The ambiance ofthe song, is, to be honest, very good. It’s original and interesting.The problem is that it’s too commercial and mainstream. I just don’tlike the chorus. Teenagers who love The Black Eyed Peas, JustinTimbershit,Aguilera or Bitchney will like this one. Very radiofriendly but not adult.

4/Promise (Chris Cornell)
Another ballad, but I prefer this one. The so-called “power ballad,”like a not-so-soft ballad, a ballad with some balls on it! It startwith some metallic arpeggio, which holds as the theme of the song.Immediately you feel the ambiance, so melancholic and dramatic. Its a‘pop-rock’ song: radio friendly, mainstream, but also well done! It isreminiscent of the first two Cornell solo records (very good) as wellas the Audioslave discs. Moreover, The Cornell’s touch is much morepresent here than Slash’s (except the solo, of course!). It’s aperfect single for the American market, much more adult than“Beautiful dangerous.” The chorus is super catchy, but unfortunately,it is also too "American" for France and Europe, I predict. (Aboutrock: the French market prefers a very mainstream tune and shittychorus!

5/By the sword (Andrew Stockdale)
My favorite track. I personally hate Wolfmother, but this time I haveto admit that the combination Andrew Stockdale/Slash is perfect! Thisis the highlight of the record. This song transports us tp the 70s,nostalgic of Led Zeppelin/Deep Purple. The song is very wellconstructed: it emits the 70’s with a power chorus so strong andbeautiful. The Slash chords fuckin’ rock! At one point the scream ofStockdale - just before the solo - mixed with the furious guitarbridge, elicits goosebumps!! So beautiful, powerful…awesome!Moreover, the voice of Stockdale, is very solid – it’s both the baseand elevates the song. It’s a perfect springboard for the Slashguitar solo! The "liquid wah-wah solo" on the clean sound bridge isalso superb. A masterpiece. Very good track.

6/Gotten (Adam Levine)
A very syrupy ballad with a very classic form. Think clean guitarmixed with a soft voice, not terribly original. The final bridge isvery good, like fireworks of synthesizer accompanied by very melodicguitar. This is the only good part of the song! I’m not a fan ofAdam Levine, nor Maroon 5, and this song sounds as if it was takenfrom their last album. However, this song is not so shitty,especially the final bridge. If the music were paired with a husky orbroken voice, it would have been much better.Anyway, another remark on this particular song:It’s funny: the final bridge, that I really love, is veryinstrumental. There are strong wall guitar chords with some powerfulsynthesizer lines; it’s like a movie soundtrack, really“cinématographique.” It reminds me of the atmosphere of tracks from'Chinese Democracy' like TWAT or Prostitute…

07/Doctor Alibi (Lemmy)
A rock n’ roll tune! It’s always the same with Lemmy: it rocks! Thechorus has a hint of UFO “Docteur Docteur.” Very good old-schoolstyle rock.

08/Watch this (Dave Grohl/Duff)
Very strong instrumental track that blows the rest of the album away!A mix of metal and progressive metal which rocks HARD during itsalmost four minute duration. Riffs are loud, heavy, demolishing –just like a chainsaw. Very clean and efficient, almost. It remindsme somewhat of a slower version of VR “Slither”’s initial riff mixedwith modern Metallica’s style of rock. The solo also reminds me ofsome old G n’ R tunes… definitely a highligh on the album!

09/ I Hold On (Kid Rock)
Again, as a European I hear this song to be a “US Rock” kind of tune:radio friendly… just like Nickelback or Aerosmith. Not my cup of tea.It’s also not so original, too cliché. A track like this can do verywell in the US market, and simultaneously fail in the French. Thedivide between taste and culture. The song isn’t necessarily bad,just not my taste.

10/Nothing To Say (M. Shadows)
New metal/speed metal kind of tune … similar to the nu-metal ofM.Shadows: Avenged Sevenfold. No interest for me. I can imagineSlash enjoyed this kind of “freestyle figure”…the intro and the exitare very Metallica-esque and represent the 2 best parts of the song!The intro is followed by the 1st riff which feels like the 80s, read:Iron Maiden. Lots of double bass. Not too bad, but I hate thevocals. It almost seems like bad Dream Theatre on parts. Verysuperficial, empty, and not so powerful. However, nu-metal is reallynot my taste.

11/Starlight (Myles Kennedy)
Heavy pop/blues and is very shiny. The chorus is catchy. It’soptimistic, colourful, and very sunny, like a bowl of fresh air. It’sa stark difference from the rest of the records. Not rock’n roll. Themore I hear it, the more I like it. A mix between Jane’s Addiction,Hair musical, and old 70’s folk-rock.

12/Saint is a sinner too (Rocco De luca)
The UFO/unidentified thing/interlude of the record… is very strange.Acoustic guitar added, very soft and high-pitched voice, plus coolsynthesizer accompaniment… the whole thing is kind of a flamencoballad. It’s very soft, tender, melancholic, and minimalist. Theguitar solo sounds like a classic solo guitar. The ambiance of thesong is interweaves Dire Straits’ “Private investigation,” LedZeppelin’s “Misty Mountain hop” and the end of G n’ R “Double Talkin’Jive.” Quite interesting. Anyway, It’s a perfect break on the album.

13/We're all gonna die (Iggy Pop)
Killer riff! Perfect for Iggy! We’re back to rock n’ roll again,almost punk – we could qualify it as “soft punk.” Raw, simple,efficient. Catchy and dynamic chorus. I love the funny lyrics; theytell of dying, getting high, pissing on the ground, etc. Iggy isinsolent and arrogant like in his best days, a throwback to theStooges era. An ideal song to finish the album. Last weekend, thechorus wouldn't get out of my head - it stayed with me all day.

My favorite tracks:13/4/5/8/2/6/7/11
thanxs to E for the 'final' translation