Slash needs someone to push him to make great music

[WildStar]

2 hours ago, Axl2002 said:

The last two SMKC records are so boring. I was a fan of his slash solo record and Apocalyptic Love but after

that the quality went downhill. Even Myles seem bored. I like his singing and melody writing  in Alter Bridge

and on his solo record. Why his stuff with slash is so average most of the timeI dont know. Maybe he is not that inspired by

the ideas of slash. There must be a reason. It seems like Slash needs an Diva like Axl or Scott to push him to

a better performance. Someone who says all the time "you can do better", "try harder".

It`s a shame that I dont like the latest record again. They are all great musicians but it really lacks of

good songwriting. and ideas with potential. Maybe they should write more of the music together

in the future. Maybe they think a good Slash Riff makes a good song but it takes more than that.

Especialyl the arrangements could be so much better almost on every song on "4". 

I disagree as I really like the last 2 albums. They have some really great songs.

But that's a good point about Slash needing a Diva. I don't think Myles is dull I think he's just down to earth and not a premadonna.

I love SMKC but not as much as Guns and VR. But maybe Slash is too old for all the drama

[WildStar]

1 minute ago, JimiRose said:

 

Now that is a collaboration I would love to see

Top Hat/Red Cap. A lethal combination 

[Free Bird]

4 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

100% agree. 

Slash nuthuggers don't like it, but my lord his last 2 albums have been terribly generic and uninspiring. Myles is the ultimate safe option. generic riff, 2 verse 2 chorus bridge solo outro, meaningless lyrics. do that 12 times you got yourself a slash album in 2022. I say this as a massive fan of slash, AL and WoF. completely agree that he tries to almost defend the music with it being 'raw and live' when in reality he wrote 12 riffs, said they'll do, myles instantly put words to them they went to the studio banged out a days rehearsal then recorded it in 4 days, even done the videos and photo ops all at the same time and released.

Whilst Axl is ridiculous and the complete other end of the spectrum, there is a happy middle ground between the 2!

Now that is a collaboration I would love to see

Didn’t you put the record off after reading the song titles?

As a big fan, like you pretend to be, you should know that they have written enough songs which don't follow the same formula.

[JimiRose]

11 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

Didn’t you put the record off after reading the song titles?

As a big fan, like you pretend to be, you should know that they have written enough songs which don't follow the same formula.

I did. And I am delighted to be proven right. If the new SMKC material inspires you, more power to you. But to the rest of us, it is bland. Bland lyrics, bland songs. 

[Free Bird]

7 minutes ago, JimiRose said:

I did. And I am delighted to be proven right. If the new SMKC material inspires you, more power to you. But to the rest of us, it is bland. Bland lyrics, bland songs. 

Ok, I'm glad you speak for the entire forum but me 

[jimisbatman]

16 hours ago, Axl2002 said:

The last two SMKC records are so boring. I was a fan of his slash solo record and Apocalyptic Love 

Totally agree, AL rulez, its so good. They are still yet to match it or better it

[Free Bird]

What Slash has to do is kicking Axl's ass, so he starts working again.

[El Guapo]

2 hours ago, jimisbatman said:

Totally agree, AL rulez, its so good. They are still yet to match it or better it

It's the strongest one for me as well. WOF is way too long and more Manga Metal than Rock n' Roll.

Everything after that...meh.

[Ralphelmo]

AL is my least favorite, who you gonna call, ghostbusters? xD

[El Guapo]

5 minutes ago, Ralphelmo said:

AL is my least favorite, who you gonna call, ghostbusters? xD

S'all good, man!

[jacdaniel]

I think a lot of people misunderstand the whole point of this project. 

GNR and VR were always very serious bands. 

This band is just a cool rock n roll band that play straight up rock songs. They're not trying to redefine rock or the music industry. 

Slash is not pushing himself in this band because that's the whole point of this band. 

[WildStar]

14 hours ago, jacdaniel said:

I think a lot of people misunderstand the whole point of this project. 

GNR and VR were always very serious bands. 

This band is just a cool rock n roll band that play straight up rock songs. They're not trying to redefine rock or the music industry. 

Slash is not pushing himself in this band because that's the whole point of this band. 

Absolutely SMKC don't get me going like Guns or VR but not many bands do. They're a cool RNR band to enjoy live and on record.

However I would say they're more of a serious band than Guns. Based on what they release and they're kind enough to do UK tours

[MaskingApathy]

On 2/15/2022 at 2:27 PM, Towelie said:

Slash is doing great with SMKC. If you don't like their music, listen to something else. Plenty of people do. 

I know right?

On 2/15/2022 at 8:44 PM, Naupis said:

If the most important characteristic of being the lead guitarist is "technical skill" Slash should be his own accounts be playing rhythm in his own band. There are probably no more than a handful of guitarists on this planet that wouldn't trade their left nut to trade the techincal ability you can learn for the intangible crap Slash does as a player that you can't teach.

This was from an interview Slash did with Classic Rock in 2014.

Anyone frustrated about or wondering why Slash keeps bothering with Myles should entertain that he might generally just like the guy. They both love guitar, seem to in many ways have similar personality traits, share a love of working their asses off and seemingly enjoy making music together because at this point neither guy "needs" this.

While I may not love everything SMKC do I can respect the hell out of the fact he is letting this band stand on its own material at this point instead of playing a Guns tribute every night with a few Slash songs thrown in. That would be quite easy given his station in life and the career he's had.

Guns is paying all the bills, but I promise he likely gets tremendous satisfaction personally out of the work he is doing with this band and what it has become considering what it started as.

Slash sees Myles like basically the rest of the rock n roll community outside of the GNR forums (which have deep seated misdirected anger at him because it is easier than focusing it on where it belongs) as the supremely talented vocalist he is. The fact he also happens to be an ace guitar player (which Slash no doubt respects/loves even though he really only sings in this band), is easy to work with and personable to be around tells you all you need to know about why Slash has basically committed to him for life.

All of this is 100% correct. I agree with the bold part, that's pretty important.

After seeing them 3 times this past week (2 of them up close) I can confidently say that the OP could not be more wrong.

 

[Chuerta86]

Slash did an amazing job at marketing himself with his signature look, a pretty distinctive tone and sound, and by constantly putting himself out there by appearing in others music, different events/media and of course his various musical projects outside of Guns. 

His place in pop culture is well deserved and is one of the few guitar players that has able to find that place outside their main band through his own merit and work ethic. 

[pbj_jam]

On 2/16/2022 at 6:08 PM, Free Bird said:

Who is the exception?

Axxl, tho honestly they might all be overrated, now if we include everyone, bucket might be underrated

[GnR Chris]

I don't know what OP expects from Slash. He's released four albums in ten years. Five in 12. He was averaging an album every two years till his return to GNR and then the pandemic. 

Personally, I like 4 a lot. It sounds different than the previous three SMKC records. I'm really digging the classic rock vibe and the lower register Myles seems to have used more often. The mix is awful. I listen to the Studio 60 sessions. I'd put "The River is Rising," "Actions Speaker Louder Than Words," "Fill my World" and "Whatever Gets You By" as some of the best songs on any of the SMKC albums. There is a lot less "sameness" on this album, helped by the tighter track list. "Fall Back to Earth" was such a nice closer.

I don't think Myles is the greatest lyricist, so I'll agree there.  However, I'm also not familiar with the majority of his work outside of SMKC.

This idea that Slash is "lazy" unless someone is pushing him is a pretty silly notion. His guitar is practically a permanently attached appendage. He's always playing. Someone else mentioned it here, but I feel the opposite about Slash. What people are calling generic or boring, I'll call impressive that he continues to put out good music album after album even after having enjoyed such a long career. It's easy to just continue playing existing material as a nostalgia act, which is what Guns N' Roses is.

Edited February 21, 2022 by GnR Chris

[KeyserSoze]

I agree with the notion that Slash fails to put himself out there and take a chance more and more as years go by.

Like many here have said, he seems to be very comfortable with Myles and his band, and I would have to agree it's because of the particularly mild, unflawed, and "un-public" relationship they seem to share. In general, I'm sure they've spent more time on the road together discussing ideas on future projects than Slash and Axl have, even during the reunion. Which says a lot for the building of a bond.... 

I think the solo album and the ideas from the many different artists that went into it was the best possible situation for Slash after the two biggest projects of his life crashed and burned. Apocalyptic Love was also a beautiful album for that early 2010's Classic Rock "nostalgia" period that was there for a minute. 

I think the problem with those first 2 SMKC albums is that they were fairly long... Not so much AL, but World On Fire totaled 17 songs with a run time of 1 hour and 17 minutes long... Thats stepping into movie length territory.... 

I know this was pre GNR reunion, but Slash should have taken a break from SMKC in late 2013-early 2014, which is essentially what he did to write World On Fire, but I mean completely stepped away from the project and gotten involved with something else to let those SMKC ideas flow. A Blues Album like someone had mentioned, or even making movies and not shite new age horror movies like that one he did early in the decade (i forget what its called) would have done worlds for his creativity and collective history. 

Instead, I feel like he and Myles, excited by the reception from the first album and creative partnership, blew their metaphorical load and sat down and wrote a bunch of songs.... and basically chose all of them to be on the second album... 

I feel like the best ideas of World on Fire and Living The Dream could have been combined to make one badass album... If Slash would have sat on the project instead of dropping a album every 2 years (with live albums inbetween we seldom forget!!!) I feel like more people would be open to the project as a whole timeline and you'd have less people saying all the songs sound the same, the solos are dull, and Myles doesn't go out of his comfort zone etc etc. 

I feel like even Myles and Slash were burnt out after 2014's World on Fire release and subsequent world tour... So much so that Slash was open to the GNR situation to potentially re-spark a creative flame that had previously been dead for more than 20 years.... Little did we know it would turn a money grab with little to no creative effort y any of the parties involved, especially the current management. 

And what did he do when that creative flame didn't reignite? Immediately turned back to Myles, like the ex thats always willing to fuck you and lift your spirit after your heart is broken.  

All the while, everything that Slash has done creatively has gone mostly under the radar. From his horror film that i can't remember the name of, to his Universal Monsters soundtrack or whatever the hell that was, I feel like those sorts of things only gave Slash a small piece of gratitude compared to the bigger euphoria he gets when writing an album and then touring for it. Hell, I feel like his divorce from Perla was more publicized than anything he's done beside GNR and SMKC. You could make the assumption that Myles and the band are Slash's enabler... 

The biggest problem here is that we have nothing to compare anything that Slash and Myles have done, to anything SLASH has done as a musician in the same time period.... 

Recorded guitar parts on 20+ year old Nu-Guns tunes? Not the same as 5 albums. 

Soundtracks and movies? It's a creative start, but we can't (and probably won't) collectively say that we'd rather Slash score horror for the rest of his life... 

That leaves the solo album between VR and SMKC, which a lot of people here have already said they wish he would revisit. So what is it about that album that draws us in? I'd venture to say it has something to do with the musicality that went into the project from all ends. Slash hand picking musicians/singers he wants to work with, AND writing music to fit there styles. Nothing To Say is a perfect example of what i'm talking about. Slash deviated from HIS norm and did something we have yet to see again from him. 

Another thing that bothers me is how different the lines seem to be between Slash's musical output (as dull as it might be sometimes) and Axl's.... 

I mean when you realllllllllly think about it, this whole timeline we are talking about in Slash's career has happened since Guns n' Roses as a band has last put out an album.... and yet you have people in here saying Axl is "underated" and Slash is "overated"...

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by KeyserSoze

[MaskingApathy]

16 hours ago, KeyserSoze said:

Immediately turned back to Myles

That's absolutely not true, they were already planning to do another album and tour after WOF; it was just put on hold because of GnR. He was never going to leave SMKC.

[KeyserSoze]

12 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

That's absolutely not true, they were already planning to do another album and tour after WOF; it was just put on hold because of GnR. He was never going to leave SMKC.

I never said that.

all i said was he turned back to SMKC. There was some point in time where he probably went/ “well, we aren’t doing shit. Time to go write and record that SMKC album.”

never meant to infer he was leaving

[thunderram]

I've made this same point for years: No matter what the members of GN'R do or don't do -- it's never good enough for the Karen's that reside here at MYGNR.

Case in point, most fans here complain ad nauseam about GN'R not creating new music. However SLASH has been churning out new music left and right for decades YET here's a thread complaining about it. Go figure.

There's no winning with some of you people. Only degrees of losing.

That's why I've said GN'R shouldn't release new music. Because most of you nancy's will complain about whatever music they do release not being to YOUR liking.

So what's the freaking point then?

Unreal.

 

[thunderram]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:00 PM, KeyserSoze said:

I agree with the notion that Slash fails to put himself out there and take a chance more and more as years go by.

 

SLASH does what SLASH likes to do. And that's exactly what everyone should do.

You can certainly choose to like or not like it. But questioning or damning him for following his own path is pure insanity.

[Rovim]

31 minutes ago, thunderram said:

I've made this same point for years: No matter what the members of GN'R do or don't do -- it's never good enough for the Karen's that reside here at MYGNR.

Case in point, most fans here complain ad nauseam about GN'R not creating new music. However SLASH has been churning out new music left and right for decades YET here's a thread complaining about it. Go figure.

There's no winning with some of you people. Only degrees of losing.

That's why I've said GN'R shouldn't release new music. Because most of you nancy's will complain about whatever music they do release not being to YOUR liking.

So what's the freaking point then?

Unreal.

 

quality is not the same as quantity. I'm into Slash's music, but whats the problem with expressing dislike, it's not even close to what I think Slash can still create but it's still pretty good.

[RichardNixon]

OP has a point, but Slash's albums are still fun to crank up. And it's not like there are any other good guitar rock bands out anyway. 

[Estranged Reality]

I actually disagree to a large extent. If you'd written this post about 10-15yrs ago I would have agreed more.

I think Slash seems more happy and productive than he's possibly ever been, and I also think he's pushing his playing in new ways the past few years and that may be due to sobriety or the fact that he isn't compromising any more. I'm not saying every song is great, but his actual playing has never been fiercer or stronger.

When he was in VR he looked miserable toward the end and openly stated he didn't agree with the musical direction of Libertad. I personally liked VR (especially Contraband) but it was just evident toward the end that none of their hearts were in it. Even with Guns he compromised at times in the old days. 

Now, his playing is a lot more aggressive with his solo material and I feel like sobriety has sharpened him. He's definitely playing faster on some songs than he ever really used to, and although I gravitate to the melodic blues based stuff and prefer emotive solos, he still brings that emotive quality to his "speed solos." I do think seeing him live really brings out the gritty, raw rock n roll vibe that he always aspired toward, and I don't think his actual technical precision has ever been this good. I saw him last night in Maryland and it was just crazy how many extended shredding improvisations he did. 

I've seen two of his solo shows now with Myles and each one made me appreciate the material more. I do agree with you that 4 suffered from its "rushed" pace and some of the solos were a little underwhelming, but the songs already sound tighter and better live and he's adding to the solos in good ways. 

I also think there were some surprisingly great tunes on his previous couple records with Myles in particular... Living the Dream had The One You Loved Is Gone which imo is a fantastic solo and one of his best in years. It's not groundbreaking music but that's never really what Slash wanted to make. And he probably won't make music like UYI without Axl. 

And that's what else is cool Right now. He gets to do his gritty club show solo work and then go back to touring with GN'R (and finally putting out new material) so there's no compromise for him *or* the fans. Best of both worlds.

If you'd made this post around 2007-2010 I probably would have agreed because as much as I like some songs on his first record, it definitely felt like a very commercial, "neutered" appeal to the masses and I think that was an era when Slash was at his most mainstream in terms of branding and recognition with Guitar Hero, etc. He was doing lots of guest appearances with dodgy rappers and pop singers they didn't fit his vibe at all, and began to feel like a bit of a product.

Now, whether you like the music or not, to me he feels way more genuine and authentic with what he's doing. No more solos for dubstep DJs.

There were some good songs on that first solo record but I think he's hit a stride with Myles and is making the sort of early Aerosmith influenced records that he grew up wanting to make. 

[Free Bird]

47 minutes ago, Estranged Reality said:

I actually disagree to a large extent. If you'd written this post about 10-15yrs ago I would have agreed more.

I think Slash seems more happy and productive than he's possibly ever been, and I also think he's pushing his playing in new ways the past few years and that may be due to sobriety or the fact that he isn't compromising any more. I'm not saying every song is great, but his actual playing has never been fiercer or stronger.

When he was in VR he looked miserable toward the end and openly stated he didn't agree with the musical direction of Libertad. I personally liked VR (especially Contraband) but it was just evident toward the end that none of their hearts were in it. Even with Guns he compromised at times in the old days. 

Now, his playing is a lot more aggressive with his solo material and I feel like sobriety has sharpened him. He's definitely playing faster on some songs than he ever really used to, and although I gravitate to the melodic blues based stuff and prefer emotive solos, he still brings that emotive quality to his "speed solos." I do think seeing him live really brings out the gritty, raw rock n roll vibe that he always aspired toward, and I don't think his actual technical precision has ever been this good. I saw him last night in Maryland and it was just crazy how many extended shredding improvisations he did. 

I've seen two of his solo shows now with Myles and each one made me appreciate the material more. I do agree with you that 4 suffered from its "rushed" pace and some of the solos were a little underwhelming, but the songs already sound tighter and better live and he's adding to the solos in good ways. 

I also think there were some surprisingly great tunes on his previous couple records with Myles in particular... Living the Dream had The One You Loved Is Gone which imo is a fantastic solo and one of his best in years. It's not groundbreaking music but that's never really what Slash wanted to make. And he probably won't make music like UYI without Axl. 

And that's what else is cool Right now. He gets to do his gritty club show solo work and then go back to touring with GN'R (and finally putting out new material) so there's no compromise for him *or* the fans. Best of both worlds.

If you'd made this post around 2007-2010 I probably would have agreed because as much as I like some songs on his first record, it definitely felt like a very commercial, "neutered" appeal to the masses and I think that was an era when Slash was at his most mainstream in terms of branding and recognition with Guitar Hero, etc. He was doing lots of guest appearances with dodgy rappers and pop singers they didn't fit his vibe at all, and began to feel like a bit of a product.

Now, whether you like the music or not, to me he feels way more genuine and authentic with what he's doing. No more solos for dubstep DJs.

There were some good songs on that first solo record but I think he's hit a stride with Myles and is making the sort of early Aerosmith influenced records that he grew up wanting to make. 

I'd like to add that most of the time who's complaining are the same people, release after release, like it's new to them how Myles sounds and what to expect from Slash after a decade with the Conspirators. 

And then they express their hope for a new singer, without realizing that Slash already has a new singer. Even their most favorite singer. But unfortunately he’s the one refusing to sing a single note.

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Free Bird