[NEW ALBUM DISCUSSION THREAD] Gibson Launches Record Label, to Release Slash Album Next Year

[Chuerta86]

8 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 Actions Speak Louder Than Words reminds me of another (non-SMKC) song, but I can't put my finger on what it is... that riff is super familiar though.

It kind of reminds me of Locomotive.

[Kranich]

Actions speak louder than words must be one of the worst songs slash wrote. Just listen to this chorus its so cheesy.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Kranich

[smakci]

i do not know about this album....i do not think there is a top 20 Slash song on this album...fall back to eart is good  but not great...

[Amir]

A few decent riffs and intros here and there but the songs all fall apart pretty much once Myles starts singing :/ I liked Myles on World On Fire, not sure what happened. April Fool and Fall Back to Earth are frustratingly close to being good songs, Spirit Love starts off interesting with the sitar and then meanders about. World On Fire seems more and more like it was lightning in a bottle

[ZoSo]

First, and probably the last time, I'll play this album unfortunately. Just like Living The Dream which has only had one play too! 

My immediate thoughts on some of the songs as I've gone through them:

TL/DR: Some good riffs and solos, which are immediately destroyed by Myles' voice and lyrics. As usual. 2* out of 5*.

- C'est la vie: Nice to hear the talk box out. Shit lyrics.

- The Path Less Followed: Good guitar solo, classic Slash, feel sounds similar to the Back & Forth Again solo. Vocals are down in the mix = a good thing!

- Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Intro very Led Zeppelin-ish.

- Spirit Love: Different. Nice intro, which conjures up images of Oddball from Kelly's Heroes sitting on his tank

- Fill My World: Main riff sounds like a 5 year old trying to play Sweet Child O' Mine in the local guitar shop. Instant skip.

- April Fool: Nice intro riff... then Myles 

- Call Off The Dogs: Great opening to the song, again sounds like classic Slash right up to the point that Myles' voice nukes the song from orbit. Just to be sure.

- Fall Back To Earth: a poor version of Messages mixed with Fall To Pieces

[StrangerInThisTown]

10 minutes ago, Amir said:

A few decent riffs and intros here and there but the songs all fall apart pretty much once Myles starts singing :/ I liked Myles on World On Fire, not sure what happened. April Fool and Fall Back to Earth are frustratingly close to being good songs, Spirit Love starts off interesting with the sitar and then meanders about. World On Fire seems more and more like it was lightning in a bottle

That was my gripe with April Fool aswell (apart from the mix), Myles sounded weird on it. He sounds MUCH closer to his World on Fire tone here on the song here, listen at 2:50. Can't wait until we can listen to the full thing tonight

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by StrangerInThisTown

[Ralphelmo]

1 hour ago, Kranich said:

Actions speak louder than words must be one of the worst songs slash wrote. Just listen to this chorus its so cheesy.

What the hell? This song is a quintessence of rock and roll, well constructed, well written, with great bluesy melody. The only weak spot is solo.

[skik08]

From ultimateclassicrock review : "The group takes the epic path just once on 4, with the album-closing "Fall Back to the Earth." The six-and-a-half-minute piece comes off like a hard-rock James Bond theme, dramatic and careening through texture changes as well as one of Slash's trademark, biting solos - shades of the Use Your Illusion era. With Guns N' Roses active again, some might reasonably ask why Slash or even Kennedy, with Alter Bridge and his solo albums, feel a need to keep other company. 4 is a convincing answer, the work of a band that continues to advance and evolve an identity that stands credibly alongside its principals' other endeavors."

I am not sure what most of you are listening to but all reviews are positive and the album is great. And some only giving it one listen? What is the point in that. I remember first time hearing Contraband and Chinese Democracy and absolutely hating it but like a lot of the times you give it time and more listens and read lyrics and it starts to click with you. I wasn't a fan of fill my world honestly but I do now really enjoy it. Loosen up guys and just keep listening 

Edited February 11, 2022 by skik08

[Ralphelmo]

Just now, skik08 said:

And some only giving it one listen? What is the point in that.

Yeah I love the 'instant skip' part in reviewing an album aswell. 

[Gunsdrummer63]

Fall back to earth has such a slash tone on it it’s insane. That tone was perfect. The intro is a similar estranged feel riff. Nice easy solo in the middle and beautiful outro solo

 

the rest of the song is just odd, or flat or missing something. 

[Gunsdrummer63]

Path less followed had a very back and forth again vibe solo 

[Gunsdrummer63]

2 hours ago, Chuerta86 said:

It kind of reminds me of Locomotive.

April fool reminds me more of locomotive

[ZoSo]

1 hour ago, Ralphelmo said:

Yeah I love the 'instant skip' part in reviewing an album aswell. 

I didn’t skip it when I played the album through in full, even though I’ve listened to the song many times before today, but if I were to put the album on again it would indeed be an instant skip.

It’s Myles voice that I can’t stand for the main part. 

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

11 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Actions Speak Louder Than Words reminds me of another (non-SMKC) song, but I can't put my finger on what it is... that riff is super familiar though.

Nobodies Fault But Mine by Led Zeppelin is my guess.

2 hours ago, Chuerta86 said:

It kind of reminds me of Locomotive.

Perhaps. The bridge before the solo reminds me of the pre chorus of Locomotive albeit slowed down. 

2 hours ago, Kranich said:

Actions speak louder than words must be one of the worst songs slash wrote.

An early album highlight for me.

1 hour ago, Amir said:

I liked Myles on World On Fire, not sure what happened. World On Fire seems more and more like it was lightning in a bottle

World On Fire took longer to make IIRC and was (arguably) produced better. Imo it's Slash's best work since Ain't Life Grand. 

1 hour ago, ZoSo said:

- C'est la vie: Nice to hear the talk box out. Shit lyrics.

- Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Intro very Led Zeppelin-ish.

- Spirit Love: Different. Nice intro, which conjures up images of Oddball from Kelly's Heroes sitting on his tank

- Fill My World: Main riff sounds like a 5 year old trying to play Sweet Child O' Mine in the local guitar shop.

- April Fool: Nice intro riff... then Myles 

- Call Off The Dogs: Great opening to the song, again sounds like classic Slash right up to the point that Myles' voice nukes the song from orbit. Just to be sure.

- Fall Back To Earth: a poor version of Messages mixed with Fall To Pieces

 I can imagine C'est la vie as an upcoming single.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words reminds me of Nobodies Fault But Mine by Led Zeppelin.

Spirit Love reminds me of Ghost & Muse.

Fill My World is an album highlight for me (early days). Throw in a piece of Xanadu by Rush for good measure.

April Fool & Call Off The Dogs remind me of Aerosmith.

Fall Back To Earth reminds me of Messages too. A good album closer imo.

[Gibson87]

From an instrumental standpoint this was an interesting record. You could tell that Slash was trying new things. Myles' vocals/lyrics hold the songs back, unfortunately.

[Gunner55]

6 minutes ago, Gibson87 said:

From an instrumental standpoint this was an interesting record. You could tell that Slash was trying new things. Myles' vocals/lyrics hold the songs back, unfortunately.

This. I was watching this band from 2012 while doing cardio and while I still like Myles, 10 years ago he was a different singer. I get it, age and voice. I still think he's good, just holding himself back a bit to preserve his voice. 

Overall album sounds good so far to me. Last one took a couple listens for me to absorb and enjoy it, this may be the same but I like it so far. Spirit Love is my favourite so far. 

[ZoSoRose]

42 minutes ago, Gibson87 said:

From an instrumental standpoint this was an interesting record. You could tell that Slash was trying new things. Myles' vocals/lyrics hold the songs back, unfortunately.

This

[Ralphelmo]

I disagree, It's the first time I honestly can say that Myles couldn't squeeze more from the material he got. And it's the first time he did some interesting work on melody (WGYB, ASLTW, April Fool, Fill My World, CLV) using his lower registers. After few listens what made this album average is lack of any good solos and terrible production.

 

'Whatever Gets You By' has obvious 'Rocket Queen' riff, maybe that's why it's my favorite so far.

'Actions Speaks Louder Than Words' is my second favorite. I knew it's gonna be really good just by the snippet on youtube 'making of' series. I don't think it's the Led Zep song mentioned above, I know this rhythm from some kind of a hit song, very popular one. Will figure it out...

'April Fool' my third favorite is pure Slash, too bad it has no memorable solo, because the song itself is one of the best SMKC ever did.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Ralphelmo

[Alexmee239]

2-3 songs that really stand out and are great, the rest is mediocre. 

[axl666]

Some good songs on this. Stand outs for me are C'est la vie, spirit love and fall back to earth (and from the earlier releases, the river is rising and fill my world). 

Overall, good album.

[ZoSo]

30 minutes ago, Ralphelmo said:

I disagree, It's the first time I honestly can say that Myles couldn't squeeze more from the material he got. And it's the first time he did some interesting work on melody (WGYB, ASLTW, April Fool, Fill My World, CLV) using his lower registers. After few listens what made this album average is lack of any good solos and terrible production.

Ok, so I gave it another run through and I think you do have a point about Myles using his lower register when singing those afore mentioned songs.

[Amir]

Fall Back to Earth growing on me, sure it will sound better live.

[MaskingApathy]

6 hours ago, Free Bird said:

Since the reording of the livestream should represent the album and was recorded at the same time as the album, I'd think the solos Slash has done will sound more or less like the ones on the record. 

Don't expect too much 

They did the livestream 2 months later (May 2021).

[Estranged Reality]

I want to give this more time to digest before I dismiss it, because (and maybe I'm in the minority with this?) I actually really liked Living the Dream. Thought it had some solid rockers, catchy hooks, and a couple amazing solos (Lost Inside the Girl). 

I remember telling my friend after that album, and seeing Slash play a club gig, that I wished they would just record something live to bottle the raw vibe of their live shows. So production wise I dig this a lot but I feel like the spontaneity resulted in less catchy / memorable tunes on first listen. 

I'll give it a few more spins before I make up my mind (fill my mind?) but I regret to say the first listen left me a little underwhelmed. 

[Estranged Reality]

Btw here are a couple pics I took of Slash on the last tour that I never shared here. I don't know if there was a photographer in front of me that explained why he kept looking my way, but it felt like he was looking right at me and posing for shots, it was kind it surreal. Being up close for that show was one of my favorite concert memories ever. They killed it.