Album review: Slash's solo album

On Slash's first solo album the most faithful approximation of the classic Guns N' Roses sound doesn't come in the track featuring Ozzy Osbourne or the one with Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows. Nor is it in "Watch This," which includes input from another ex-GNR member, Duff McKagan. Rather, it's "Beautiful Dangerous" that comes closest to old hits like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "You Could Be Mine."

The guest vocalist on that cut? Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas.

Slash's recruitment of such a heavy-metal outlier illustrates his determination to find a replacement for Axl Rose, whose paranoid whinny so perfectly complemented the guitarist's arsenal of trashy glam-blues riffs. You can look at the 14 all-star collaborations on "Slash" as evidence of his impressive Rolodex, or you can view them as a series of creative tryouts -- musical speed dating in search of a new Mr. (or Ms.) Right.

Team-ups with Ian Astbury ("Ghost"), Chris Cornell ("Promise") and Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale ("By the Sword") produce familiar sparks but die out quickly.

And a ballad with Adam Levine of Maroon 5, "Gotten," aims for "November Rain" but ends up pretty soggy.

Slash seems more energized in "Doctor Alibi," a brainless fist-pumper with Motörhead maestro Lemmy Kilmister, and "We're All Gonna Die," in which Iggy Pop up offers some of the cheerful nihilism that originally inspired Rose.

-- Mikael Wood 

Slash
"Slash"
(Dik Hayd/EMI)
Two stars (Out of four)

Comments

[Dem]

It's funny that Fergies input on this album is the only track that is barely memorable...the rest is a pointless outting of a faded guitar hero trying to sell records...Slash was great in Gn'R because he reflected the brightness of Axl Rose. Say what you want, but Chinese Democracy has more soulful solos, more depth and better production than this lame outing from Slash