By shelz.

Some folks haven’t seen Slash since he took his last bow next to Axel Rose in 1996.  To get those folks up to date, Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum ditched that Axel guy and started Velvet Revolver in 1998. They recruited Scott Weiland as lead singer, Dave Kushner as rhythm guitarist and commenced to kicking rock ass all over the damn place. Here endeth the lesson.  Word to Sean Connery.

Fast forward to 2010.  Velvet Revolver has been on hiatus since Weiland showed up on a milk carton and well, rock gods can’t sit too long not rocking. So while the fellas search for a replacement, Slash has meandered into solo album territory.  Don’t trip.  This isn’t some one man, one guitar show a la Jose Feliciano.  Slash has gathered a pretty decent and respected arsenal of rock demi gods to help him out.  Not only do they help, they are a central facet of the strength of Slash’s self-titled side project.

Slash isn’t Flawless.  There is some old school, even dated sounding material on here.  Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop, who pitch in as vocalists, wear their age in their voices and some of the other guests seem to be not functioning at full strength.  However, after you side step the meh performances; you will end up in the midst of some really incredible composition and even better performances. 

Ian Astbury of The Cult is the first voice you hear on the lead cut, “Ghost.”  His performance is alright at best.  The lyrics are tepid and the song is cookie cutter 90’s rock. This is followed by Ozzy Osbourne’s contribution to the party, “Crucify the Dead.”  While Ozzy is sounding a little worn and eerily controlled, Slash sounds great.  His quick, winding riffs snake through the song, but this is far from his best performance on the album.

There is a definite high point next with Fergie coming through to play rock femme fatale against Slash’s ultra sexy performance in “Beautiful Dangerous.”  It’s not too poppy.  Will.I.am and them are nowhere to be found and Fergie carries a mid-tempo rock cut very well. “Back From Cali” and “Promise” are forgettable paint by numbers metal at best, but they lead to “By The Sword.” It’s a pretty phenomenal track that starts with simple bayou blues and expands into a rock piece with some digital tweaking of Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale’s voice.  The robust solo from Slash implodes on itself, just to start building all over again. Great.

The most interesting of the songs has to be the rock/pop hybrid “Gotten” with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.  It’s slow, thoughtful and Levine’s performance is beautiful. The lush arrangement incorporates plenty of strings with the cello adding a somber weight.  Slash’s emotional solo here is magnificent.

Also in this odd grouping of vocalists is Kid Rock helming “I Hold On.” It’s rock with a soul tinge and Rock’s raspy croon is perfect for the self-help anthem. “Nothing To Say” finds Slash amped up and running on the red line with an almost speed metal delivery that never quite explodes.  Headbangers rejoice.  He has a song just for you.

For the instrumental lover, there is one cut that is singer free.  However it features Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan.  This is supreme rock dopeness and should be considered the best song on the album, unless you’re deaf of course.  

All in all, this a very strong album.  Slash has the precision of a surgeon with that axe and this project proves nothing has changed.  There is a little too much reverence paid to the 90’s and some of the feature selections may have old head purists poking their bottom lips out and putting their lighters down, but the assortment of genres blends well.  I’m still looking for that next Velvet Revolver release, but this will definitely tide me over until that happens. **Crosses fingers

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