A great musician should be passionate about music. That may seem an obvious statement but there are many people out the making a living as a musician that are not and to be honest, in the great scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter providing they play their parts well. After all, in life, we never think that a bus driver has to love driving or a person working in a pizza parlour adore pizzas so likewise, we should not expect every musician to be a music nut. Slash though, is clearly an aficionado of the classics. In fact, this album - his first solo album since 2010 - is as sincere and passionate as you can get with stellar performances on every track from everyone on it.

 

Some of the titles are instantly familiar and have been covered numerous times through the years but the approach Slash has taken to each song is as good as you will ever hear. He made the right decision to record them in a studio, live, with a band, making each one feel heartfelt and fresh. As a few examples there’s a blistering section by the entire band on Oh Well through which Slash solo’s true to Peter Green whilst the version of Hoochie Coochie Man goes back to the Muddy Waters original from 1954. Billy Gibbons drops a delicious vocal on it as sultry as Muddy’s ever was. (if you search for it, the actual title was I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man). When it comes to Stormy Monday, you can take your pick of any of the 200+ versions already recorded since T-Bone Walker wrote and released it in 1947 (Call It Stormy Monday But Tuesday Is Just as Bad) as a favourite but this version will jump into most people’s top five. Slash and the band are on fire on this track as Beth Hart draws on Etta James to deliver a stunning vocal.

 

All but one of the tracks – the instrumental - have a guest vocalist and no doubt due to his knowledge and ardour to get things right, he has chosen each guest well. Musically, the core band of Michael Jerome (d), Johnny Griparic (b) and Teddy Andreadis (k), are very capable and comfortable in both the Blues and Soul genres – that’s a rarity these days. They play off not only Slash but each other as well. The recording team of Mike Clink, David Spreng and John Spiker could not have done a better job capturing the sounds and mixing the band; I suspect everyone involved with this project is also an aficionados of the classics.

 

Simply put, if you like great Rock, Blues and Soul, you’ll love this album.

 

Track List

The Pusher (featuring Chris Robinson)

Crossroads (featuring Gary Clark Jr)

Hoochie Coochie Man (featuring Billy F. Gibbons)

Oh Well (featuring Chris Stapleton)

Key to the Highway (featuring Dorothy)

Awful Dream (featuring Iggy Pop)

Born Under a Bad Sign (featuring Paul Rodgers)

Papa Was a Rolling Stone (featuring Demi Lovato)

Killing Floor (featuring Brian Johnson)

Living for the City (featuring Tash Neal)

Stormy Monday (featuring Beth Hart)

Metal Chestnut