Is there a cooler rock star than Slash?

The top hat, long hair over his eyes, and shades are, simply put, iconic. I think the top hat/smiley face thing is an emoticon on my iPhone these days. Unfortunately for Slash, like your intrepid blogger, the man can’t sing a lick. At least it’s the Rock Chick’s opinion that I can’t sing, although I do so with great gusto every time I shower, but I’m getting off topic here. Slash falls into that group of super talented guitarists who can’t sing and have struggled with LSD – Lead Singer Disease (The BourbonAndVinyl Worst Cases of LSD – Lead Singer Disease). Slash has had Axl and Scott Weiland (RIP) to contend with, much like Eddie Van Halen with David Lee Roth, Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart or poor Jimmy Page whose been following Robert Plant around for years begging for a reunion. Record something solo Jimmy, it’s starting to get embarrassing. I always thought Slash should get together with his fellow Beverly Hills High School alumnus, Lenny Kravitz and do something because that would be ultra-cool. Lenny… Slash… together? Forget about it. It’s off the cool scale.

Slash’s lead guitar and melodic solos were a corner stone of the Guns N Roses sound. I was hoping since GnR have been on what seems to be a never ending tour, maybe they’d find some time to duck into a studio and try to recapture a little of that old magic. Apparently that ain’t gonna happen. All we get is the Appetite For Destruction box set.  There are still rumors that Axl is sneaking off to record with Angus Young in a new version of AC/DC, but I don’t know if I buy it. I think it was interesting that Axl filled in after Brian Johnson’s abrupt retirement but a full fledged album? I don’t think they should call it AC/DC if it’s just Angus and Axl. Maybe call it AC/AC.

Slash has once again reunited with vocalist Myles Kennedy, of Alter Bridge fame and recorded a new album that’s coming, like every other album this year, in September, entitled Living The Dream. Aptly titled, if you’re Slash I’d guess. It was my buddy in Denver, Stormin who turned me onto Slash’s last album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, (Todd Kerns on bass/backing vocals and Brent Fitz on drums) 2014’s World On Fire. That album was a tour de force of hard rock. It was 17 songs long. Nothing on it was an anthem like say, “November Rain,” but it was solid, hard rock and certainly an album everybody ought to check out.

Kennedy’s vocals are more, for lack of a better word, soaring than some of the other vocalists Slash has worked with. Axl always brought a grimy, nastiness to his lead vocals. He always sounded like he was on the verge of either an emotional breakdown or some fit of unspecified violence. Weiland’s vocals were more slippery and he had an almost psychedelic vibe. I’m not sure Slash and Weiland were were a perfect match but I really enjoyed the Velvet Revolver albums, especially the first one, Contraband. I certainly liked Velvet Revolver better than Slash’s Snakepit, which barely made a dent in my musical psyche. But with Myles it appears Slash has finally found a sane, powerful enough vocalist to play with.

This first track from the upcoming Living The Dream, “Driving Rain” is much a piece with the music on World On Fire, Myles and Slash’s last album. This is solid, straight ahead hard rock. Slash plays a dirty Aerosmith-y riff. Myles vocals are custom built for an arena. I will say, I played this song in my car and it’s a perfect car song, which probably goes without saying since the word “driving” is in the title… Slash’s solo is, as usual, the highlight of the track. It’s melodic and it really jumped out at me. This isn’t a song that’s going to change your life like say, “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Paradise City,” but those are probably unfair comparisons. It’s just nice to hear some guitar-driven, hard rock for a change! With Slash on guitar, you just can’t go wrong – even Michael Jackson knew that, which is why he had Slash play on “Black Or White.” “Driving Rain” certainly has me looking forward to the full album… it’s going to be a September to remember.

Cheers!