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

[Sydney Fan]

10 hours ago, megaguns1982 said:

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.

This is why i always wondered if chicago especially 92 was meant for an official release.

[AncientEvil80]

On 7/3/2018 at 11:10 AM, Nintari said:

Contrary to popular belief, musicians don't have "prime" years like athletes. Vocalists, sure. But not musicians and song writers. The real reason why bands seem to put out their best music when they're young is simply because they haven't released their best shit yet. Once it's out, it gets harder and harder to do it again because the well has been tapped. Only the greatest musicians and song writers maintain excellence for many years and even they eventually dry up. It's all a matter of simple deduction.

Musicians are humans. And their performance is both mental and physical. Therefore, not to be pedantic using logic here, they are prone to peaks and troughs in performance just like everyone else.

So I'm sorry but 100% disagree, instrumentalist musicians DO HAVE their prime periods. Perhaps and most likely there are exceptions, but the vast majority for one reason or another after a certain peak (which can also last decades, eh...) will inevitably see a noticeable decrease in performance.

Since we're talking about guitarists, tendons/joints/nerve damage in particular of the left hand/wrist/arm is usually the first inevitable reason for a decline in technical ability. Loss of mental capacity due to age or inappropriate lifestyle (ehrm ehrm.. ) is also a significant factor.

Then of course, external factors such as lack of inspiration or different motivations etc will also play a role but that's a different story.

As for our Slashie-boy, I think it's fair to say he found new "words" in his vocabulary to express himself but clearly also lost or abandoned other ones. So a mixed bag for me personally. I prefer to listen to what he was expressing back in his 20's than now. But just personal choice here.

All in all, he has maintained a rather even level of performance through the decades, gracefully and quite impressively. I can't complain - I mean... look at Kirk Hammett as a prime example of performance degeneration.  Or Yngwie (car accident to be accounted for though..)

[megaguns1982]

1 hour ago, Sydney Fan said:

This is why i always wondered if chicago especially 92 was meant for an official release.

Even when slash broke a string at the end of coma it still sounded awesome.   I reckon it was meant for release but this band have a solid reputation for plans falling through.

[BillyMac]

A few things have changed with Slash over the years. When Guns first came out his playing was much more bluesy, he even used slower vibrato on some of his bends and his playing had more feeling. As he has aged and gotten technically more sound he has advanced more towards being a shredder who crams tons of notes into his playing. I prefer the slower bluesier style myself because I think it gives the songs more character. Shredders like Buckethead and speed guys have always bored me to death because their playing feels robotic and lifeless! I have played guitar for 32 years and I have never aspired to be a shredder. Slash is most definitely still the star of the show though. Case in point...I took my wife and sister in law to see Guns on the first leg and all they could rave about afterwards was how incredible Slash was and they know nothing about music!

[Intercourse]

You only realize what a guitar icon is when you actually hear Slash play live for the first time...holy fuck his presence is immense and the level of self assured delivery is unreal. 

I never really saw that on screen just live.

 

AncientEvil is spot on about Slash, more of a shredder than he used to be, a bit more heavy mental around the edges than I would like, but still amazing and yes..musicians do peak (creatively at least) and hardly ever repeat their greatest achievements. 

Musicians get sober and get old and some of the black magic that came with their youth, exuberance for the job and altered state is lost. Its like going to night clubs in your late 30's, you're hardly going to dance like you did aged 22 (unless you scored some great Class A)  

 

[DaneisKing1389]

I'll say that his This I Love solo from April 9, 2016 is one of my favorite things he's played with the band ever. I legitimately think it's a different kind of perfect than the original solo.

[Nosaj Thing]

30 minutes ago, DaneisKing1389 said:

I'll say that his This I Love solo from April 9, 2016 is one of my favorite things he's played with the band ever. I legitimately think it's a different kind of perfect than the original solo.

Any chance you can share a video of that performance?  I wanna see if it's the same solo I like.

[Top-Hatted One]

This should answer the questionhttps://youtu.be/mEBibckfqWc

[Silverburst80]

To me he plays the guitar like an instrument these days if that makes sense, i feel in the 80's/90's it was more an extension of his actual being. Not to harp on about Frank but i think he effects Slashs playing, the more the drummer is loose and swingin the better it's suited to Slash.

[Ak1nney]

As someone mentioned above, to see Slash play live in person... that's when you really can take it all in. I saw him for the first time in Ohio in 2016 as part of this reunion. I was completely blown away. I've always had massive respect for him, but to see it in person. He's probably, no... definitely, the best guitarist I've ever seen in person.

[Tom-Ass]

 

[viruzzz]

On 6/7/2018 at 4:10 AM, Top-Hatted One said:

This should answer the questionhttps://youtu.be/mEBibckfqWc

Sorry for the off topic but GOD DAMN, how well that sounds!
I never heard that concert before, I'm going to check it out, what a frontman Scott was, even with all his problems.

Actually, before Scott's death, I seriously wanted a reunion and a last VR album. I think they had a great period. Those 5 guys made 2 great albums and were really powerful on stage, I missed them in Argentina in 2007 because I was sick.

[Chunder Monkey]

I think the tempo they set in the current band lends itself to less emotional versions of the songs.

A big part of Slash's blues rock style in the 1990s was the slow bends, the vibrato and held notes. At the fast speed they do the songs at the moment there just isn't the space for that stuff. For example the riffs in SCOM before the chorus...they're almost comically fast these days so they don't have the feel of the performances from the past. 

Additionally, Slash has obviously improved his shred technique since around 2010. Although, that said, he had moments of blistering shred in the past just not every often, but some of the Snakepit 95 stuff live if you watch it back he plays with a surprising amount of shred considering I had thought it was a more recent innovation. 

As far as a peak - in terms of technical finesse so far I think the peak has been 2012. I think the 2012 myles shows were better than the 2014 Myles shows. Whether that is because he's now on the way down or just he was particularly inspired that year remains to be seen. Future slash may yet pull something out of the bag. But he was a monster player in 2012 to an insane level. Then again - for pure rock star and passion 80s and 90s Slash is the mind blowing performer that inspired a generation to take up guitar. Anything his young self lacked in chops was made up for with enthusiasm and coolness in spades. So they're both awesome just different flavours.

As for the reunion shows. Well, you get close to Slash and he's still mind-blowing and a lot of reviewers basically say Slash is what makes the show at the moment and saves it on nights where Axl's voice is having a bad day.

IMO as much as I loved the NITL shows I've been to - I don't think the current band has the same chemistry as say the UYI line up or other GNR line ups. I'm not sure why. Slash was amazing with Myles. I think Richard is a great guitarist. Frank I thought drummed ok when he was with the nu-guns band. Duff is always solid. In theory the sum of the parts should be epic - and it's obviously great - but there's something that doesn't quite mesh about it. Maybe it's playing to a click? Or don't they?  Maybe it's Melissa added to the rock songs? Maybe it's that Axl is having trouble and everyone  is on edge covering it. Maybe Slash is just bored playing so very many ballads every night? Hard to say. Maybe it's just age.

I think they are all amazing players but they simply do not mesh together as well as say UYI GNR or Velvet Revolver did. 

TBH i would be interested to see how it sounded with Matt Sorum. Not trying to bash frank but there was just always something monstrously good about the way Slash, Duff and Matt locked together in shows in every project they have been in together - GNR, VR, Charity Stuff, Guest spots - whatever - they just play well together. I miss that vibe - it may not be the only factor but I think it's part of it. 

 It will be interesting to see what Slash is like out of the road with Myles at the end of the year. 

 

[Tom-Ass]

Fuck the haters....

 

[Tom-Ass]

Blasphemy that we can't see Slash around the 7:40 mark..

[DaneisKing1389]

On 7/5/2018 at 5:16 PM, Nosaj Thing said:

Any chance you can share a video of that performance?  I wanna see if it's the same solo I like.

2:19

[Lethalis]

I've seen Slash last week and he was great live (Goffertpark, Nijmegen).

He has a massive impact on the whole sound of the band and was easily the most impressive musician on stage.

It was nice to see Axl in a good mood, but Slash was the one who impressed me.

It's really hard to tell if he has gotten better though.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Lethalis

[Nosaj Thing]

6 hours ago, DaneisKing1389 said:

2:19

It is.

Beautiful, wonderful solo.  ONLY SLASH.

[Old_school_gnr_fan]

I think so much of it has to do with Slash being clean, but he was simply awesome when I saw the band in July 2016. My favorite parts of the show were the riffs he was laying down prior to "Double Talkin' Jive", and the outro of "Layla" that leads into "November Rain".

I also think that Axl has a way of bringing out the best in Slash. I'm not sure what it is, but I am a fan of very little of Slash's work outside GN'R. I withheld from labeling him as a guitar "god" until the show two years ago. He was out there looking like he had something to prove, and he delivered.

Yes, he's better now than he was in the 90's.

 

 

[Free Bird]

6 hours ago, Nosaj Thing said:

It is.

Beautiful, wonderful solo.  ONLY SLASH.

Yeah, best solo ever played for TIL and many people said he sucked after this performance and he was just noodling  WTF?

[Rovim]

8 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

Yeah, best solo ever played for TIL and many people said he sucked after this performance and he was just noodling  WTF?

it's a good solo slash played there but compared to the studio version it's noodlier. not a wasted note in robin's solo. even when slash was shredding or playing very fast in uyi it was always lyrical as fuck. i think it also shows how good robin's work is as his solos on better and this i love cannot be matched even by slash. i don't think bucket's twat outro can be bettered by slash in that tune as well. 

having said that, slash is a monster guitar player and his chinese live work is great. at his best when he finds the balance live between speed and melody it sounds perfect.

[moreblack]

15 hours ago, DaneisKing1389 said:

2:19

That's making the guitar sing and more, there's a lot of extra nuances in his playing that Robin could never come close to. 

[Towelie]

People always bang on about Robin's TIL solo, but his best solo on Chinese imo is that tasty bluesy solo he does on Better.

I actually really love Slash's interpretation of that solo, he uses a lot more notes, but unlike a lot of his Chinese lead work, it is structured, melodic and actually goes somewhere.

I do cringe at how Slash has simplified the sweep picking part in Better though (the part that Ron used to do). Surely I can't be the only fan who’s noticed this sloppy cop-out?

Edited July 11, 2018 by Towelie

[PatrickS77]

It would be sad if he wouldn't be after 30 years of playing. Your example of CD songs to me is just a case of him not really giving a damn. Those are not his songs and it's concession enough of him that plays them.

[Jim Smith]

Yesterdays’s solo today is like shit