This arrived in the mail today. Haven’t even taken off the shrink wrap yet! Thanks @mitchlafon!
A World With Heroes – A KISS Tribute for Cancer Care – A 40th Anniversary Celebration. That’s a buttload of songs, people! (I love that Ron Young of Little Caesar SINGS “Little Caesar”.)
HEAVEN & HELL – Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell – Live in Europe (2010 Armoury)
Even though there was a double live CD (Radio City Music Hall) shortly before this, I don’t think anybody was complaining. Obviously, with Dio now gone, this is his final live album. There was also a studio album in between these two live albums (The Devil You Know) and there are three songs from it here. The fact that none of these albums are released under the name “Black Sabbath” means nothing, to me this is Black Sabbath by any other name. Please excuse me if you find me using the names Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell interchangeably.
Obviously Ronnie was not a young man when he died, and the human voice changes naturally with age. This is not the same sound as the guy who recorded Mob Rules or Heaven and Hell. The older Ronnie had a deeper voice, the range reduced noticeably. However, it is still Ronnie James Dio, one of the most powerful charismatic metal singers of all time. It might be an older, wiser Ronnie, but he knows how to work around his voice’s limitations to still deliver stirring versions of these songs. He made stylistic changes to compensate.
The band itself is cooking. Tony’s riffing and soloing sounds straight out of 1980. Vinnie’s drumming is more fill-laden than it was on The Devil You Know which was very sparse. I’m happy about this. Geezer is playing those rolling, rollicking bass lines that only he can compose. This helps define that “Black Sabbath sound”. Geezer played on 3/4 of Black Sabbath’s studio albums, and his bass sound is part of that identity. Most importantly, Heaven & Hell were having fun, showing the world why these guys together were as Black as any Sabbath. This is the way it should have gone with the Dehumanizer tour. That reunion should have lasted a long time, should have produced tours like this one, and should have produced a live album. I guess there were still egos and wound and the band weren’t ready to stick it out back then. This then is our last chance to appreciate the Iommi/Butler/Appice/Dio gestalt of Black Sabbath. They should have but didn’t get all the glory back in ’92, the last time they tread the floorboards of hockey barns nationwide.
The track listing is just fine and dandy if brief. I would have preferred a double CD like Live Evil or Radio City Music Hall. Highlights for this listener included the three new songs, especially “Bible Black” and “Fear”. I also loved the new version of “Heaven and Hell,” which has some new tricks during the extended middle. I guess the guys were being creative right up til their last.
Because the keyboards are handled by Scott Warren (Dio) and not Geoff Nicholls (Sabbath 1980-1995), there is a slightly different sound to the backing keyboard parts. He uses different voices than Nicholls did. Not a huge deal but an observation worth mentioning. Speaking of voices, I don’t like the way that Sabbath have been using tapes/samples on the backing vocals. This is especially noticeable on “I,” where you can hear several distinct Ronnie’s singing backup vocals while the “live” Ronnie sings lead. I guess Sabbath lacks a good solid backup singer, and Ronnie couldn’t hit the same notes anymore, but I feel cheated. I am firmly in the category of people who like their live music to sound live.
4/5 stars. Still a crucial part of the Sabbath live canon and necessary to all fans as Ronnie’s last stand.
I had to treat you guys right on a Monday. This edition needs no commentary. These are all real search terms from real people who ended up (somehow) at my site. Enjoy (I guess). If you missed the last one, Mythbusters edition, click here!
WTF Search Terms VIII: Fetish edition
A photo-heavy review for you today folks, enjoy the goodness! This one goes out to Rich, from KamerTunesBlog, a collection of detailed journeys through the discographies of many great artists.
LED ZEPPELIN – The Complete Studio Recordings (1993 10 CD Atlantic box set)
It’s funny to read some of the complaints about this box set on sites like Amazon! “The Song Remains the Same isn’t included!” Well, correct. It’s called Complete STUDIO Recordings, not Complete Live Recordings. “The artwork is too small!” Well, it’s a CD, not an LP. I’m of the belief that you can’t go wrong buying the Zeppelin LPs in mint condition. Much like Kiss or Alice Cooper, Zeppelin often gave you extra bang for your LP buck (more on that later). “Presence and Coda suck!” Well, I’m sorry if you feel that way, but this is the COMPLETE Studio Recordings, not the Personal Favourite Studio Recordings.
Anyway, I listened to the entire box set last weekend once again, and it’s always nice to revisit Zeppelin’s back catalogue in that way. After all, each album is a portrait of where they were at that time, and are truly best when played as complete albums, not songs on a compilation. Zeppelin I and II are an embrionic, pseudo-heavy metal band with hippy tendencies, but you are immediately blown away by how good this band was. All four members were simply stunning, a raging and ripping Plant included. By Zeppelin III they really started to explore the “light and shade” that Pagey speaks of in the included Cameron Crowe essay. It is a beautiful album. Zeppelin IV of course combines the sounds of the first three together into one multi-platinum work of art.
After Zeppelin IV, their albums become harder to characterize, but diversity is still key. Much like the Beatles before and Queen after, Zeppelin were not content to be a simple bass/guitar/drums combo. Strings, prototypical tape-based synth, and numerous other instruments are brought in to add to the Zeppelin mosaic. Houses of the Holy contains one of my favourite moments in “No Quarter” which is anchored by John Paul Jones’ keyboard and synth work, a hauntingly beautiful piece. Physical Grafitti contains perhaps their highest achievement in “Kashmir”, but certainly songs like “The Rover” continue the metallic goodness that spawned the band. Presence is an album misunderstood by many, a back-to-basics tour-de-force of power. The very Rush-like “Achiles Last Stand” combines progressive rock tendencies with Plant’s lyrical mysticism. Finally In Through the Out Door represents Pagey taking a step back and Jones filling the gap with modern forward-thinking synthesizer arrangements. “All My Love” is a ballad that came about five years too soon, a Plant/Jones penned masterpiece of beauty. “In The Evening” haunts with Plant’s vocals buried in the mix under cascades of Jonesy’s synth and Page’s whammy bar. “Hot Dog” is a pure country ho-down, and Zeppelin ended their career with the diversity that they started it with. But it doesn’t end there, as an expanded version of Coda is included, an odds-and-sods collection of outtakes. Certainly these are not the absolute greatest of Zeppelin moments, but “Bonzo’s Montreaux” represents the kind of experimentation that Zeppelin were founded on. A sequel of sorts to “Moby Dick”, it is a drum orchestra and worthy of the albums before. The expanded edition includes one of my favourite tracks, Zeppelin’s version of “Traveling Riverside Blues”. Page’s slide guitar is eloquent as it is excellent.
The packaging is ample. A thick booklet with photo after photo is included, as well as the aforementioned Cameron Crowe essay. Reading it, you can see where much of Almost Famous came from. Each CD is packaged with a reproduction of each LP’s original artwork. That means, for In Through the Out Door, you get all six covers, plus an image of the paper bag, and the inner sleeve. Zeppelin III gives you a miniature version of “the wheel”, and Physical Graffiti, the “windows”. These are static versions; if only you could manipulate them like the originals, but alas.
Remastering job is OK. I detected what I thought were a couple problems, I thought I heard some tape drop-out. I hate to say it, but maybe the Zeppelin catalogue could use a fresh remastering. 20 years have passed since this was released. And hey, just in time, Jimmy’s working on remastered deluxe editions of each album! Stay tuned.
As for the here-and-now, you can either go out and buy each album separately, or you can buy this set. Personally I think this set is the way to go, especially if you care about packaging. And it’s Zeppelin — you kind of need all the albums, don’t you? I won’t rate albums individually (that would require a Zeppelin series, something I would like to do) but I can give this box set:
5/5 stars
A little bonus review, part 5.5 in my series of Ace Frehley reviews! Just a single track today. Missed the last installment? Click here!
ACE FREHLEY – – “Cherokee Boogie” (1996 Attic)
From Guitars That Rule the World, Vol 2: Smell the Fuzz – The Superstar Guitar Album!
I was a big fan of the first installment of the Guitars That Rule the World. It had a really eclectic and diverse list of guitarists, including Zakk Wylde (doing chicken-pickin’ for the first time on record), Albert Collins, Richie Sambora, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and many others. This volume (with a stupid cumbersome title) is geared more towards alternative artists such as Billy Corgan, J. Yuenger, and Kim Thayil. There’s also John Christ of Danzig, Alex Lifeson, and Robert Fripp. Hell even Billy Sheehan has a track, and he’s a bassist! (But, you can already get the Lifeson and Sheehan tracks on albums by their side projects Victor and Niacin.)
To me this album is only worth buying for the brand new Ace Frehley track. It’s an instrumental called “Cherokee Boogie”, and while it doesn’t boast too many particularly strong catchy melodies it is still the Ace. Ace’s soloing is (as always) note perfect for the song. The riff is quintessential Ace, thick and chunky, albeit not one of his best. It’s still nice to hear his distinct Les Paul squeal on a new track. I especially love when the song gets fast and thrashy just past the halfway mark. At this point Ace is burning rubber, and it’s a real rush.
I’m not familiar with the backing musicians on this recording. They are Saul Zonana (bass) and Phil Richford (drums). They get the job done without getting in Ace’s way.
I would say that “Cherokee Boogie” would have made a strong instrumental interlude on any of Ace’s post-Kiss solo albums. It’s 4:00 of solid rock guitar.
3.5/5 stars
Very poor audio on this
Part 5 in a series on Ace Frehley! Missed the last part, Trouble Walkin’? Click here!
Spacewalk – A Salute to Ace Frehley (1996 DeRock/Triage)
Just in time for the massive Kiss reunion tour came this tribute CD. There were several versions of this. I have the second-coolest of the three:
This is one of those tributes made up of a mish-mash of metal musicians, no real “bands” so to speak, although all are great musicians. Scott Travis plays drums on most of it (lending an awkward Priest-like vibe to the drums), Charlie Benate plays with Scott Ian on “Rip It Out”, and Vinnie Paul of course plays with Dimebag Darrel on “Fractured Mirror”. (This site has all the information and credits for the CD. Enjoy! You’ll notice the backing band is basically Racer X on most tracks.)
I’m good with every track on here except one: Bruce Bouillet’s version of “New York Groove”. I’m not into drum loops in general, and although the track has a funky groove to it, it’s just not my bag. On the other hand, Scott Ian’s cover of “Rip It Out” is Anthrax-worthy. Frankie Bello’s on bass, and somebody named Zach Throne sings it with Scott. Zach nails an authentic Ace-like vocal, while Charlie’s relentless on the drums. The Anton Fig drum solo is almost exact note-for-note. As is the signature guitar solo.
Gilby Clarke’s “Shock Me” is one of the better tracks. I don’t usually think of Gilby as a soloist, since in GN’R he didn’t solo. His soloing style is unlike Ace’s, but he performs an original solo of his own that is appropriate to song. On the other hand I wouldn’t count “Deuce” by Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) as a favourite. The vocal (by somebody called Tom Gattis) is a tad overwrought. Another “blah” tune is “Snowblind”, performed in a too-modern metally sound by Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys) and Snake Sabo from Skid Row.
Ron Young (Little Caesar, the Four Horsemen) has a soulful but southern sound on “Hard Luck Woman”, an odd choice for a Frehley tribute. Written by Paul and sung by Peter, the original was created for Rod Stewart to sing! But it’s as good a cover as any, and I don’t have a lot of other stuff of Ron’s, so I’m cool with this. Jeff Watson (Night Ranger) is on guitar.
We all knew Sebastian Bach would knock it out of the park on “Rock Bottom”, and he does. “Rock Bottom” wasn’t written by Ace, but he did write the intro, performed here by Russ Parish of Fight/Steel Panther. Baz is obviously a huge Kiss fan and the song is in great hands, although the solo’s way too modern. Still, I wish I had “Save Your Love” too.
Tracii Guns is passable on “Parasite”, but again I think the song is done in a style too contemporary. Up next is John Norum of Europe, with “Cold Gin”! (Hey, two songs in a row written by Ace!) McMaster is back on lead vocals, not my fave singer in the world. John is a great guitarist, and this version of “Cold Gin” is heavy with fills. Some go with the song, some miss the mark.
Dime’s “Fractured Mirror” is perfect, even the production and sound of the acoustic guitar is eerily similar to Ace’s original. Dime may well have been the biggest Ace Frehley fan in the world. Darrell does throw some of his own personality into the song, but I think foremost on his mind was probably playing the song the way he remembered it. And he does.
Lastly, “Take Me To the City” is performed by Ace himself, with his crack band: Steve Werner on drums, Karl Cochran on bass, Richie Scarlet on guitar and backing vocals, and…Sebastian Bach is there too at the end! This Ace rarity is the best of all reasons to track down this CD. This is Ace back to a hard rocking Frehley’s Comet sound, with an anthemic chorus. When Baz shows up at the end, it’s icing on the cake (although you need to turn it ^UP^ to catch him in the fade).
I don’t really buy tribute albums anymore, because I find these mish-mashes of somewhat related artists to be a bit tedious. Still, it’s pretty solid, and definitely worthwhile to fans of bands like Pantera, Skid Row, or Anthrax. The Ace bonus track is pretty much a compulsory purchase.
3/5 stars
Soon, we’ll also be talking about another quality tribute album with some surprising guests and alumni. Stay tuned.
Part 2 of a 2 part Mr. Big special. Click here if you missed Lean Into It!
MR. BIG – “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” (1991 Warner UK 7″ single)
I won’t talk about the song “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”; I did that already. (In short: “classy and cool”.) I picked up this 7″ promo import from the UK from a record show in London (Ontario). At $5, it was a no-brainer purchase. The sleeve is cardboard, not paper, and pretty cool.
I was in the dark as to what the B-side “Shadows” was. The label indicated the song is from 1990, and produced by Giorgio Moroder. Although it’s not credited as such, that would make the song from the Navy Seals soundtrack. They didn’t write it, so it doesn’t sound like Mr. Big. It’s very “hard rock” circa 1990. I could swear parts of the verse melody are directly ripped off of Whitesnake. So, “Shadows” is a curiosity, nothing to get too excited about.
I know there was a second song from the Navy Seals soundtrack called “Strike Like Lightning”, if you’re interested in tracking it down. Also on the soundtrack was Bon Jovi’s cover of “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Try” by Blue freakin’ Rodeo! How the hell did that happen?
MR. BIG – “To Be With You” (1992 Warner Europe CD single)
Like with the other single, I want to focus on the B-sides. I will say that this version of “To Be With You” is an uncredited edit version. It’s 6 seconds shorter and lacks the count-in. This German import CD single has three live tracks. I found this one at Fairview Mall in Kitchener, an incredible score for the time!
Mr. Big sound like they are killer live. “30 Days In the Hole” is more spontaneous and funky than its album counterpart. It’s a lot more fun, and man could this band groove. The Tokyo crowd clearly loves it too.
In crashes the old Talas/David Lee Roth speed demon, “Shy Boy”! The band can pull it off musically, Sheehan repeating his bass magic, and Gilbert having no problem with a lightning fast solo. The only one who can’t keep up is vocalist Eric Martin. His normal soulful voice isn’t right for a song that was defined by David Lee Roth.
The final track is a medley. They first tease the Japanese audience with the first couple minutes of “Woman From Tokyo”, before switching gears to “Baba O’Riley”. It’s all but seamless, and natural. Gilbert plays the synth lines, but on his guitar. Meanwhile Sheehan handles the riff, on his bass. Martin shines on this one, much more at home with a song like this. He really gets to stretch out, and I love it. Sounds like Gilbert singing Townsend’s vocal part. Really cool.
“Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” – 3/5 stars
“To Be With You” – 4.5/5 stars
Today, the album. Tomorrow, the singles! Yes it’s a two-part Mr. Big feature! Happy long weekend, hope you’re partying safely!
MR. BIG – Lean Into It (1991 Atlantic)
Yeah yeah yeah…”To Be With You”! As Mr. Big said themselves on a later album, “Get over it”!
I’ve always considered Mr. Big to be more shred-lite than glam metal or pop metal. After all, with credentials like these…Talas…Racer X…Impelliteri…these guys know how to play. Eric Martin is a unique blue-eyed-soul singer, one of a kind, absolutely brilliant. Martin and the band also know how to write catchy hard rock tunes. Combine that with their playing pedigree and adventurous arrangements, and I’ll call ’em shred-lite if you let me. And this is a pretty damn good album for rockers who want just a touch of integrity in their pop.
The opener kicks you right in the nuts with one of the best Big tunes ever, “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)” (whew). The album starts with an adrenaline rush straight to the head. Why the “Electric Drill Song”? Because it opens with the sound of Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan playing their instruments with electric drills with guitar picks glued to the bit! In unison? Basically spoofing the whole “How fast can you play?” question, Big’s creativity make this speed rocker a standout.
“Alive and Kickin'” is nothing more than a hard rocker with soulful vocal and killer chorus, but “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” is classy and cool. Pure pop with an incredible retro melody and adventurous guitar arrangement, this first single went tragically ignored. I don’t remember it getting much airplay though it deserved it. I’m not sure if the world of 1991 would have accepted a song like this from a hard rock band.
“CDFF – Lucky This Time” is another weird title. See, “CDFF” stands for CD Fast Forward which is the sound you’re hearing at the opening of this rather ordinary ballad. The only thing really oustanding about this song is Billy’s rumbling bass groove. The guy doesn’t sound like anybody else, and he raises the song to another level. “CDFF” is followed by the cool and swampy “Voodoo Kiss”, which ended side 1 of the original album.
Side 2 kicked off with another pop rocker, “Never Say Never”, co-written by Canada’s own Jim Vallance. Catchy but non-descript. “Just Take My Heart” is the second ballad, and a forgettable song to me. “My Kinda Woman” kicks the adrenaline back in. Yet it is Paul Gilbert’s “A Little Too Loose” that rekindles the creative fires on this album. Bluesy and fun, this was one of the high points of this record. “Road To Ruin” shows off the vocal harmonies of the guys, all good singers in their own right. It’s another creative arrangement. Then, of course, the album ends with “To Be With You” which, hard to believe, was actually a really creative song too! Before it got played to death. Now, it’s the typical rock ballad, but at the time of release, it was very different from the kind of ballads that other bands were putting out, except possibly Extreme. It has a sparse, vocal-oriented arrangement, an acoustic guitar solo, and no drums to speak of.
Tomorrow we’ll be talking about two singles from this album “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”, and “To Be With You” itself, both of which have worthwhile rare songs!
4/5 stars
This one goes out to FanFigureZero and his jaw-dropping site.
In downtown Kitchener last night, I dropped in at the great store Lookin’ For Heroes, to pick up the lastest issue (#94) of Transformers Re-Generation One. Unfortunately I was a week early, but they did have Eddie! Several different Eddies. I decided to start yet another Iron Maiden collection!
I already had the old McFarlane figures from a long time ago, but this new series has seven figures in it. And I plan on getting them all!
SLASH – Slash (2010 Universal Deluxe edition)
This album was a revelation to me. Truth be told, I didn’t expect too much. I didn’t consider Slash to be among the best songwriters in Guns N’ Roses (Izzy and Duff for that honor). So, a couple things about Slash struck me right away. One, every track on this album is strong, almost every one would make a great single. Two, I was surprised how these songs kind of chameleon themselves to resemble the bands that the singers come from. Almost every guest does a co-write, which might explain this.
I’ll discuss my favourite tracks. I have always been a Cult fan, so Ian Astbury’s “Ghost” kicked off the album with a bang. It doesn’t quite sound like the Cult, but at first it didn’t sound like Slash either. Astbury’s voice, deep and low, is almost as strong as ever. Ozzy’s track is next, and my immediate feeling was, “This song could have been a Sabbath number with a little tweaking.” I very much enjoyed this song.
I’m not a Black Eyed Peas fan; at all! All I really know about Fergie is “Big Girls Don’t Cry”. To my surprise, she is capable of the rock. Her vocal is highly stylized (as are many on this CD) and she just rips it up on “Dangerous Beautiful”! Of all the singers on this CD, Fergie is the most similar in attitude to Axl. Every once in a while she does a squeal or two that sound positively Axl. This is a decent song made memorable by Fergie’s vocal, although I think the lyrics leave something to be desired.
I wasn’t at all familiar with Alter Bridge, but Myles Kennedy blew me away. I guess there must have been a reason that the Led Zeppelin guys were jamming with him as a potential replacement for Robert Plant. I get that, but although he has a powerful voice with great range, he has his own sound. My new favourite singer! His two songs, “Back To Cali” and “Starlight” couldn’t be less alike. However they both boast one thing in common, and that is a chorus to raise the roof. These two choruses are among the strongest moments on Slash.
Chris Cornell is up next with “Promise”, a good song which struck me as more similar to Cornell’s early solo work than Soundgarden. Let it be remembered that Chris opened for Guns N’ Roses on their 1992 European tour. The first single “By The Sword” featuring Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale is another one that blew me away. It struck me as very “metal” with the kind of lead vocal that is high and powerful, like Wolfmother itself. Great song, and bears similarities to “Beggars and Hangers-On” from the first Slash’s Snakepit album.
I’m especially not a Maroon 5 fan. I burned out on them in the record store, and the person responsible knows who she is, I do like Adam Levine’s stylized vocal on the ballad “Gotten”. This guy is smooth like butter. My only wish is that there was more of his music with Slash. The way his vocal and Slash’s guitar melodies intertwine is quite beautiful.
Lemmy’s tune sounds like some sort of Motorhead outtake (don’t forget Slash appeared on Motorhead’s March Or Die CD). Anything Lemmy touches automatically sounds like Motorhead. Up next is an instrumental featuring Dave Grohl on drums and Duff McKagan on bass. Immediately, that familiar Dave Grohl drum sound kicks you in the face, on this rocker that is pure groove, with Slash playing a low grinding riff.
I didn’t mind Kid Rock’s “I Hold On”, and I found his vocal quite appealing. Another one that surprised me was M Shadows’ “Nothing To Say”. I’ve never listened to Avenged Sevenfold but this guy’s voice has enough melody to carry the tune. The song itself was riffy, like late 90’s Megadeth or black album era Metallica. Good song. Very similar to “Chains and Shackles” (more on that song later). I have to listen to both back to back, but it’s possible they are both based on the same music.
I have no idea who Rocco DeLuca was, but his tune is another winner. The final track of the regular album songs is the immortal Iggy Pop’s “We’re All Gonna Die”. One of the most fun tunes on the album with great lyrics, Pop and Slash have an obvious chemistry. What a great tune with which to close the regular edition!
Oh, and three ex-GN’R members appear: Duff, Izzy, and Josh Freese (who was in the band after Slash).
Among the bonus stuff, an English version of “Sahara” featuring a singer I never heard of called Koshi Inaba. Good song, but is is followed by Alice Cooper’s track with…someone I never heard of apparently from Pussycat Dolls. This actually sounds a lot like an Alice Cooper song, say circa The Eyes of Alice Cooper. Another good song, and we all know how big a fan Slash is. Lastly there is Fergie and Cypress Hill’s “Paradise City” remake. Good choice for the very Axl-ish Fergie to sing, and Cypress Hill add their sound to the verses. Great version, a guilty pleasure. There is also a Japanese version of “Sahara”, and a song with Beth Hart called “Mother Maria” which is a really nice one featuring her strong bluesy voice. I’m telling you, Beth Hart can really sing, she is a the real deal. I just wish they didn’t add distortion to her voice…she does not need it.
The new acoustic live material with Myles Kennedy is sheer awesome. Kennedy’s got an incredible voice and you can tell this is really live. The backing guitar player makes a few mistakes during Slash’s solo in “Sweet Child” and it’s right there, unfixed. I like that. It’s like a guarantee. It’s like the Stones and Henry Rollins say — “The only way to know for sure.”
I’m disappointed that Nick Oliveri’s “Chains & Shackles”, the best song in my opinion, is not present on this edition. It remains exclusive to the Australian iTunes. However, by my reckoning every other bonus track from every other format is on this disc. There are also two previously unheard demos. These demos are interesting jams and they show great interaction between Slash and his players. Also included are some live electric versions (also seemingly unpolished) and a bonus DVD. All of this is worth owning if you really love the album like I do.
I made a bonus CD with the Oliveri track, and other “bonus tracks” that I found online, as well. How official these downloaded tracks are I can’t say; Wikipedia is silent on the issue.
You may have noticed I didn’t comment on Slash’s presence too much. I dare say it, the only weakness to this album is that Slash is overshadowed by his guests. That happened to Santana on some of his records as well. Slash’s guitar playing is still unique and stylish, not hogging the spotlight but sharing it more than fairly. Slash himself explores more sounds on his Gibson than I’ve ever heard him play before. When he solos, it’s Slash; it’s the old GN’R sound, and it sure is cool.
5/5 stars
mikeladano.com 