Is Slash really a better guitarist today than he was in the 90s?

[default_]

6 minutes ago, Smokin' Cigarettes said:

Not to be judged wrong, the dude can still go and plays at a high level, but it's just different now.  He's trying to play like a 'virtuoso' blues guitarist which by default takes some of the shine of his style away.

 

Nah, blues has nothin to do with what hes doin now 😐

[Sydney Fan]

3 hours ago, dario27 said:

Slash has always been a band player/musician. and tbh in GNR there's a weaker link than Axl and it definitely influences his playing. Frank.

He HAS improved a lot as a guitarrist, and he has released very good music even after GN'R. I'm 100% sure if we see new material in GN'R, serious material he'll deliver. in a live environment i think he needs another drummer to be more dynamic. 

Brent fitz would get my vote apart from sorum and of course.

[pugachev]

5 hours ago, zepsun said:

I've been a Slash-a-holic since I started playing guitar 24 years ago.

He is a more advanced player now - technically speaking. He likes to shred more - this also might be a result of the songs being played much faster - it does take away some of that breathing which usually allows for more melodic phrases. 

I used to admire his ability to make bad notes sound so cool and metal. Long steel bends off-pitch that end up sounding like sound effects rather than notes. Like in It's So Easy Tokyo 92 - starting here almost at the end... albeit he is running, but it fits in so good... and then there's the similar style notes starting the outro at 3:22. I think he is just feeding off his studio solos, enabling him to play around with it live.

TIL would have been way better if he had been the original guitarist on it and did a Don't Cry/Nov. Rain type of thing. The chord progression in TIL fosters repetitiveness in a solo, so my guess is, if Slash, Axl, Izzy had wrote it together the chord progression would have a different feel behind the solo, and Slash would have come up with something more suitable. There was one night in 2016 where be basically did a perfect solo - forget what show.

He still does some cool things, like the sustained bits in Estranged - he bends down to the sustained note instead of sliding... kinda sounds cool. Slash's best moments to me, are the ones where he is going outside of a scale to hit some insane bends, he is using melody, stops and sustains, to create unique phrasing end of Estranged solo (like at 6:36 in the video), OR sweet phrasings like the outro extended solo in Rocket Queen behind "don't ever leave me...."

Also Fortus needs to stop copying what he's doing an octave lower though - it's a bit annoying, at least to me.

 

 His tone during that era was just unreal

Find me a Mr Brownstone from anytime of this tour that sounds half as decent as this one. Same notes, but god damn, that fuckin tone is amazing. I also prefer how he use to hold that last bend for a while instead of releasing it like he does so quickly now adays. Then check out the little outro bit he does at the end of the song, such a nice touch. I could go on for days about which bits and pieces of particular songs they did better in the UYI days, but that's mostly personal preference. 
 

And one of my favorite bits on that show from Slash is the third solo in Civil War, sounds so amazing
 

Compared to NITL Tour, doesn't even begin to compare.
 

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by pugachev

[Rovim]

Just now, default_ said:

Nah, blues has nothin to do with what hes doin now 😐

slash was always a hard rock player that can shred. marc said it was a choice to play slower and blues is an influence but his forte is hard rock not blues.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Rovim

[ironmt]

6 hours ago, -W.A.R- said:

Ashba truly is better than the old one.

That name has no business even being mentioned In a Slash thread.  

[EvH]

When people finally realize that you were actually better than the old one:

I kid, I kid 

[ludurigan]

22 hours ago, Towelie said:

I see this opinion bandied around a lot around these parts, and I'm not sure I buy it.

Maybe it's because Slash spreads himself too thinly these days between GNR and SMK&C, but I haven't seen many Slash moments from the NITL tour which left me in awe and blew me away like he did regularly on the UYI tour.

Even outside of a live setting, his playing on It's 5 O Clock Somewhere and Ain't Life Grand is head and shoulders above anything he's done on his most recent SMK&C albums.

Contrary to what some people may believe, I do think it's possible for a musician to lose their chops and regress as a player. Slash seems content to just wank any old improv and call it a solo these days, and sometimes he sounds really crappy doing so. The only CD song he sounds great on is Better, and that's because it's the only song where he's actually bothered to write a proper solo, with a structure and some melodic phrasing.

His TIL solos are worse than Ashba's. And he has no finesse or taste when he takes the solo spot in Sorry - again, even Ashba, who is a far cry from Buckethead, managed something more tasteful than what Slash plays. He also murders Catcher In The Rye and Prostitute.

I don't believe it's because Slash isn't up to the task, but I just think his lead work and solos have become increasingly lazy and rudimentary in the last few years and it really shows when he is playing solo spots originally occupied by virtuosos such as Bumblefoot and Buckethead.

 

 

i miss the old Slash

too many notes these days

[Towelie]

4 hours ago, Ant said:

As a ton of people have said he's technically more proficient than ever but his style and approach has changed. I think a lot of it is the musicians who surround him.

SMKC has this sort of faux-metal washed up sunset vibe -- I think they're all incredibly talented musicians I don't really care for their output and I think it brings out the worst in Slash. Fortus and Frank aren't any better in that respect. 

Slash is funnest when he's got a loose band around him so he can get raunchy and emotive... when he goes for shred and proto-metal he just doesn't play to his strengths. It's weird 'cause I actually really like a lot of what he did in VR... it was more modern rock, less try-hard... sunset metal? haha... I found it way more compelling. It felt less cheesy? for lack of a better word than his solo stuff. I'm not exactly sure why that is the case. 

In the end I just grow more and more appreciative of both Snakepit albums... gritty southern rock and R&B/Soul tinged stuff... way funner to listen to. 

(I play guitar because of Slash).

I agree with every word.

I too have grown more fond of the two Snakepit albums over time, especially I5OCS. And I love how you summed up SMKC, as having this faux-metal, washed up Sunset vibe. I like some of their shit, but you're right, as a band, they're cheesy as fuck. Both Snakepit and VR were much cooler.

I miss the days when you used to hear just a few notes and you'd be like "that is so Slash." I remember after I first got into GNR, hearing the song Hey Stoopid by Alice Cooper for the first time. Before I even checked the album credits, I knew that it was Slash playing that lead part in the intro. It just had that Slash sound, the tone... the guy who used to make his guitar sing. I haven't felt that in Slash's playing since VR, and the lead work in songs like You Got No Right, Messages and Loving The Alien.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Towelie

[SoulMonster]

Well, at least he's got his top hat.

[Chester 524]

12 hours ago, default_ said:

He's probably bored as fuck with the whole thing and knew since day one what and how the tour was going to be, Slash has always been a simple guy that just wants to play rock n roll, but now he sees himself caged while doing what he loves the must, it probably turns him off. 

He cant talk, he has to follow strict rules, he cant play new songs, he cant change the setlist... He is basically a prisoner. I would feel extremelly bored too. 

And he probably doesnt care for the Chinese songs, we all know those arent the kind of songs Slash would even consider listen to at his car and thats probably the reason he never bothered on writting a decent solo and thats why he always change em, cause he didnt care to writte one. 

just to point out that he might really feel like a prisoner ince his divorce is settled.  based on the reports, he owes perla so much money that he won't ever be able to leave GNR and will have to tour when they say, play what say, promote what they say (GNRAIR)

[jacdaniel]

He sticks close to the original recordings for his solo's most nights so I don't get the big deal.

 

 

[Tom-Ass]

12 hours ago, Sydney Fan said:

Brent fitz would get my vote apart from sorum and of course.

Agreed 100%  If we couldn't get Adler or Sorum, Fitz would have been great. Anyone but Frank.. I just tried to watch a Don't Cry from the other day and he sucked so bad. His drumming the constant whammy bar action from Fortus ruined it.

[Free Bird]

2 hours ago, jacdaniel said:

He sticks close to the original recordings for his solo's most nights so I don't get the big deal.

 

 

It's just a fan forum. You'll always find some people bitchin' about bits and bobs when something gets boring.

[T-Minus]

He's clean and sober now and obviously "technically" a better player.  I agree with every word that has been said about VR being his last shining beacon of guitar work.  The guy is obviously content with where his playing is and at this point has absolutely nothing to prove and nothing to hunger for.  It may seem like he is on auto pilot at times but that is just because he has reached that point where everything is so comfortable to play that he can do it with his eyes closed.  Do I have a problem with that? Not at all.  There has never been a better fit for lead guitar in Guns n Roses.  As much as I love Bucket, bumble and Finck's work at various times, Slash Is, was and always will be THE Guns n' Roses lead guitarist.  If they released an album of new stuff you would so more fire, 100%.

[Tom2112]

22 hours ago, jacdaniel said:

Noodling is a thing that Fortus, Bucket and Bumble did. Half the solos on CD are pure shite and just mindless noodling. 

Look at Fortus butcher the opening solo in Nightrain every night. Just tries to play as many notes as possible. His other solos are all similar.

I feel like sometimes CD fans get bitter that Axls vocals are going bad, Frank's drumming is bad and not many care much for CD so they open a Slash thread to try even the score.

That's crazy. I for one criticised Slash from day 1 of the NITL tour, overly long solos, out of tune bends (it may as well be my handle on here). 

I don't need to even the score and if anyone here actually does that they need their head examined. 

I've watched live a few times and each time (even the first time ever seeing him) I was blown away that my childhood hero was in front on me, but I was underwhelmed with his lead playing. As a rhythm player he is as good, or better than he's ever been. His lead playing is less adventurous, it's also slicker in ways and looser in others.

He's still a fantastic player, but overall he's in the Zakk Wylde category of over-playing. It's not entertaining, when he sticks closer to the original recordings or foesn't go on too long he is still a force, when he plays 10-15mins the only people that aren't bored are those crazy Slash fans, just like the same Axl fans who say "He really wasn't that bad, I kinda like his clean voice".

[moreblack]

Really though, there's nobody in the Zakk Wylde category of overplaying.

[megaguns1982]

I think he can still play like he used to in 91-93 but is too lazy. He butchers the coma solos every night. Then you watch Chicago 93 and he fucking nails it.

Edited July 4, 2018 by megaguns1982

[gnfnrs1972]

I'm so glad that I know nothing about playing guitar so that I can just enjoy music.

[zepsun]

17 hours ago, pugachev said:

 His tone during that era was just unreal

Find me a Mr Brownstone from anytime of this tour that sounds half as decent as this one. Same notes, but god damn, that fuckin tone is amazing. I also prefer how he use to hold that last bend for a while instead of releasing it like he does so quickly now adays. Then check out the little outro bit he does at the end of the song, such a nice touch. I could go on for days about which bits and pieces of particular songs they did better in the UYI days, but that's mostly personal preference. 
 

And one of my favorite bits on that show from Slash is the third solo in Civil War, sounds so amazing
 

Compared to NITL Tour, doesn't even begin to compare.
 

 

Haha... are we doing this?  Agreed... new civil war tone is total shit. I think he's mixing in some DSPs... his amps aren't even as 'live' as they used to be. Some backstage iphone clips I've seen, you can't hear the stage sound at all because it's all in the in-ear monitors.

The tone in the second solo for Civil War Tokyo 92 is soooooo amazing... he's using the neck pickup with his volume rolled off slightly.  (Similar to the tone in Pretty Tied Up)

Jungle, tokyo 92, the intro... best way to start that song... Was pretty staple during the UYI tour. The leads behind the verses especially at 1:21

 

I feel like they are a bit choreographed these days. They seem to be doing the same positions and movements on stage every night for certain songs. Maybe it's just cause we have more access to seeing every show...

Difference between Appetite era and UYI era tones are his distorted levels. He almost used next to no distortion in shows like the Ritz and it sounded amazing. And then there's his Patience solo at the AMAs '88 - holy fuck... best Patience solo

 

[shotsfired cro]

Slash is better player that was evolving through the years, no doubt about that, however, overall the band was a lot better then than it is now.  During the UYI's we had  the BAND.  Now we have 3 individuals acoompanied by 4 whatever musicians that they don't even view as equal.

You can tell Slash and Duff had much more fun and felt much more comfortable with Izzy/Matt/Gilby/Steve on that stage.

Now its like take the money and run. Doing business, where before it was more like having fun.

I honestly think with bringing back Matt and Izzy, not only the sound but also the on stage chemistry would improve, but it is what it is.

I don't think anyone there knows what exactly Melissa is there for one.

[Draguns]

52 minutes ago, gnfnrs1972 said:

I'm so glad that I know nothing about playing guitar so that I can just enjoy music.

I think it's the usual around here: people thinking they know when then they know jack sh!t. The Michael Jackson meme of eating popcorn is perfect for this and many threads on here. 

[ludurigan]

8 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

Agreed 100%  If we couldn't get Adler or Sorum, Fitz would have been great. Anyone but Frank.. I just tried to watch a Don't Cry from the other day and he sucked so bad. His drumming the constant whammy bar action from Fortus ruined it.

exactly

they are creating a distraction so no one can really notice the weak link in what's left of GNR

[double talkin jive mfkr]

slash was way better in the heyday in that he wasn't trying to show off per say and songs like DTJM, COMA showcased his skills at whole other level not seen since, this coupled with the chemistry he had with sorum puts his current peformances to sleep not to say that technically he isn't more proficient now - but the extra groove and emphatic peformances from UYI blows Jimmy Page out of the water 

all u need to do is see Tokyo DVD DTJM or the Chicago 92 Coma  

[GoForJMark]

The difference today is he's no longer high or drunk when he performs. I think the drugs and booze made him not give too much fuck and play those awesome licks back in the AFD/UYI/EARLY VR Era.

[Ak1nney]

Slash is one of the rare greats that has gotten better the older he has gotten. Yeah, he doesn't have as much of the fire and attitude he did in his youth (understandably), but I'm convinced he could pretty much anything he wants. Impressive.