Slash
has been at this for a long time and while most people love his contributions
to Guns ‘N Roses far more than anything else he has done, I have to admit that
later-era Slash is quickly becoming my favorite version. For a quick Slash history lesson, he started
out in Guns ‘N Roses (instead of Tracii Guns who went on to form LA Guns), and
when Axl Rose did Axl Rose things and G’N’R (at least it’s most popular
incarnation) disbanded. Slash went on to
form Slash’s Snakepit (which bares quite the resemblance to his current work)
and then formed the supergroup Velvet Revolver with Duff and Matt from G’N’R as
well as vocalist and heroin cautionary tale Scott Weiland. I have a feeling, if Weiland had not done
Weiland things, that Velvet Revolver would still be going today. Alas that was not the case and Slash ventured
out on his own. His initial solo album was a collaborative
effort, everyone from Ozzy to Lemmy to Fergie played a role. It was here that the current incarnation of
the band was formed when he partnered with Myles Kennedy. That brings us to now and the band of Slash;
Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.
I’m not
going to lie, I was never a huge Myles Kennedy fan, even during my review of Apocalyptic Love upon its release I
mentioned how I was unimpressed by the vocals.
Myles grew on me every time I listened to that album (and it was a lot) and while I will never count him as
one of my favorite vocalists, his presence on World on Fire was not as jarring as it was on the initial playthroughs
of Apocalyptic Love. His range as a vocalist is incredible and he
meshes with Slash and the Conspirators better than anyone save maybe Axl Rose.
As good
as Kennedy is on this album (as well as the Conspirators, let’s not discount
their contribution) this is a Slash album through and through. The guitar work is beautiful throughout, with
a very Iron Maiden-esque galloping guitar style playing a prominent role on the
last two albums. Not that Slash has
changed his style at all, but I have definitely noticed that style more with
this band. Slash has grown as a guitar
player throughout his various projects (and that’s saying a lot for someone
that was a legend after his first G’N’R album) and I have enjoyed seeing that
journey, and conversely, can’t wait to see where it goes next.
While
the album is good, it definitely has an Apocalyptic
Love – Side B feel to it. I am
hard-pressed to find anything too new or different on this album. This is not a bad thing at all, who really
wants to reinvent themselves every two years or so, but in terms of the tracks
on Apocalyptic Love and those on World on Fire, it feels like they were
written at the same time and then split, almost like Use Your Illusion I and II, an inadvertent double album so to
speak. To be honest, that is perfectly
fine with me, the more music Slash releases, the happier everyone will be. Now to just get him to tour around the
Central New York area…
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