'Slash' Deluxe Edition Review

Slash's solo album has been out for a fair while now. I’ve sure spent a lot of money on it. I bought the "Sahara" CD single from Japan, the Classic Rock magazine set (twice) from the UK, I bought the standard edition locally, and then the local Deluxe edition, which was different to the new box set, it had different videos in it. Finally, I bought the recent box set, which comes with two CDs, a DVD, a pick, etc., in a box. The graphic on this box is the same as the one on the double disc edition that came out in Australia recently. I guess with the industry the way it is, the more they can sell us the same CD over and over, the more money they can make in the face of piracy, etc. The main CD is as brilliant now as it was when it first came out. The opening track is "Ghost," with Ian Astbury of the Cult. Immediately, Slash's chameleon-like ability to play to the song and the style he wants to achieve, is obvious. This sounds like the best Cult song, ever. "Crucify the Dead" is equally a song that matches the style of it’s singer, Ozzy. Ozzy has said this song is about the break up of GnR. The next song is my favorite. "Beautiful Dangerous" is amazing not least because you would not expect someone like Fergie to be able to deliver it as she does. I am surprised the clip for this song is not on the DVD, as it came out around that time. Either way, it’s an awesome song, and I don’t care about all the people online who have hammered Slash for working with her. The song works, and I don’t need to approve of her, or the other music she makes, to enjoy it. The next song is one of many with Myles Kennedy on the CD. Myles is from Alter Bridge, and was also the vocalist for the band Slash used to tour this album. It’s a very laid back song, one of many ballads on this album that I like a lot. "Promise" has Chris Cornell singing, it’s very "Sweet Child O' Mine" in the way it has a major sounding melody driving it on guitar. I don’t mind it, but it’s not the best on the CD. "By the Sword" was the first single, and it’s got the guy from Wolfmother singing. It’s a cool song. "Doctor Alibi" has to be the best Motorhead song ever, a perfect fit for Lemmy singing. "Watch This" is an instrumental and a bit of a throwaway track (as is "Gotten," that’s why I didn’t mention it, did you notice?)

"I Hold On" is a surprisingly good southern rock type song, with Kid Rock singing. "Nothing to Say" sounds exactly like Avenged Sevenfold. Actually, the one song I can think of that’s not on this CD, is a version of this song with a different tail end, and totally different words/melody, which I’ve heard online.

"Saint is A Sinner Too" is a good ballad, and "We’re All Gonna Die" is classic Iggy Pop, which sadly in my opinion means a rough sort of a riff and a lot of repetition with nothing too interesting going on. I assume though that every fan of guitar based rock has this CD in some form, and so it’s disc two where the action is. The first song is "Sahara," which is the track I paid $30 to get as a single from Japan. It’s a very GnR sounding song, to me, although the vocalist sounds nothing like Axl: it’s the nature of the riff that makes it sound that way to me.

The "Paradise City" version with Cypress Hill and Fergie was meant to be on the Classic Rock CD and was pulled. It was on the "Sahara" single, so I had it. It’s not really that interesting to me. My main point of interest was that I assumed Cypress Hill were long gone, but it seems they are still about.

Track 3 is "Mother Maria" with Beth Hart. I did not have this song before. It’s a very soft ballad. The solo is very country, as is the whole song. I like it a lot. "Baby Can’t Drive" is the bonus track on the Classic Rock version, with Alice Cooper and Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls) on vocals. This is a really strong track, I was amazed it did not make the main CD. It’s classic Alice.

Track 5 is track 1 with Japanese words, and Track 6 is a radio edit of "Beautiful Dangerous." Track 7 and 8 are named Demo 4 and Demo 16. I assume this means there were lots of demos and these are the two best ones. They are interesting ideas, but obviously well short of fully fledged songs. They probably are not something you’d listen to often, but serve as an illustration that Slash is not short of musical ideas, he could have done a double album if he wanted, and if he had enough singers.

Tracks 9, 10 and 11 are acoustic tracks with Myles Kennedy: "Back from Cali," "Falling to Pieces," and "Sweet Child O' Mine." "Back From Cali" and "Sweet Child" were also on the Aussie release. The other two tracks are live tracks with a full band, "Watch This" and "Nighttrain." "Watch This" is credited as having Myles sing, but it’s "Watch This, Dave," the instrumental from the album.

The DVD that came with the Aussie version had a 3D version of the "By the Sword" video, which is not on the box set. It also had "By the Sword" live, and "Nice Boys" live with Angry Anderson singing (that is a Rose Tattoo song). The one that came with the US Deluxe box has a "Making Of," "Back from Cali" (live), the "By the Sword" video and a behind the scenes on the making of the clip, all of which were on the Aussie one, and also, a live version of Mean Bone" (with Angry on vocals) plus a track by track interview with Slash. I’ve not watched it, but I assume it’s only track by track of the main album.

The Deluxe set is in a CD sized box, and it contains the booklet, the two CDs and DVD in cardboard sleeves, a pick, and a voucher for the ‘fan wall’, an interesting idea where fans submit photos, and they are used to make a mosaic picture of Slash, which is then sent out as a poster to everyone who bought it. I bought this four weeks ago and submitted my photo, it’s on the online mosaic picture (they have a tool so you can be shown where you are), but my attempts to contact support about getting the poster gave me only useless advice, and since then, the due date for submissions has passed. It remains to be seen if I ever get my poster; that whole side of things does not appear to me to be well organized. However, while I have bought this CD at least five different ways, I still think it was all money well spent as this is one of the best CDs of 2010 for me, for sure. This box is really the only way to get it, but either way, if you don’t have it, and you’re reading this site, you need it.

Comments

[skwint]

just ordered it - i will comment back with my own view.

[Allyson B. Crawford]

Torrent links are now allowed on this site. Thanks - Allyson

[Metalboy!]

Superb album. Superb review.

Did you get the "By The Sword" single?

Great cover illustration of Slash by Ralph Steadman of "Fear In Loathing In Las Vegas" fame. You can see it on iTunes.

[Peter]

"Ghost" the best Cult songs ever ? You must be joking, Cult has many, many better songs from the top of my head - "Rain" with much better riff than any of that Slash album.

[Metalboy!]

Gotta agree with Peter!

And I'd take that whole "Sonic Temple" album over anything on this, as great as some of this stuff is.

Still, Christian, it's a damned fine album as is your review.

[Christian]

Hey Metalboy, I didn't get the single, is the image the same as the one on the cover of the deluxe edition ? Hey Peter - I like a lot of Cult songs, my point really was that Slash has managed to write songs in the styles that suit the singers he got in and in many cases he sounds like their band on steroids. Perhaps Ghost is one I like more right now b/c it's fresh, or perhaps it's b/c I just love slash, but I wasn't meaning to diss the Cult, who were really awesome. I definitely like this album more than any Cult album, for it's variety of styles as much as anything. At the end of the day, though, everyone's entitled to their opinion, so thanks for throwing yours in the ring.