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Slash (album)

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Untitled

Slash is the eponymous debut solo album by former Guns N' Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. The album was produced by Eric Valentine and features multiple musicians including four of the five members of the Appetite for Destruction era Guns N' Roses lineup: Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Axl Rose is the only member of that lineup who does not perform on Slash.

History and recording

In his 2007 autobiography, Slash mentioned he was planning a solo album, and listed some of the vocalists with whom he would like to work. He stated that the album would be called Slash & Friends (although & Friends was later dropped from the title). Slash's wife Perla mentioned in a 2008 interview that the album would include "everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Fergie."[1]

On January 16, Slash made an appearance at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show where it was announced that his debut solo album will be released in the U.S. on April 6. The CD will be made available in Europe via Roadrunner Records.[2]

On January 19, 2010, Slash teamed up with Linkin Park's Music for Relief, along with Alanis Morissette, The All-American Rejects and others, and donated a previously unreleased track to aid the victims of the earthquake tragedy in Haiti. The song released was titled "Mother Maria" and featured Beth Hart. According to the track listing, "Mother Maria" will be featured as an iTunes bonus track for the record.[3]

On February 1, 2010, Ultimate-Guitar.com revealed the official track listing and cover artwork of the solo album. The cover art was produced from a painting by Ron English, a prominent Pop Surrealist artist and friend of Slash.[4]

On February 8, 2010, Slash announced that the album would be made available in the United States via EMI. A world tour was prepared for spring, to promote the album with Myles Kennedy as singer.[5]

In the United Kingdom, the album was set to be released on May 10, 2010, although a limited-to-1000-copies edition of Classic Rock magazine covering the whole of Slash's career complete with the album, amongst other memorabilia, would become available on April 7, 2010.[6]

The single "By the Sword" (feat. Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother) was premiered on February the 27th on spinner.com.[7] It was released as a digital single in the US on March 16, 2010 and in the UK on March 28, 2010.[8]

On March 4, 2010, it was announced that another song featuring Myles Kennedy, entitled "Back from Cali," was added to the album's track listing at the last minute,[9] making Kennedy the only person to be featured on more than one song on the album's standard track listing. Slash also announced that Izzy Stradlin is the only other person who played guitar on the record,[10] performing rhythm guitar on the song "Ghost," featuring Ian Astbury.

On March 19, 2010, Slash exclusively released in a newsletter the instrumental song "Watch This Dave", which features Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan.

Ultimate-guitar.com published on March 20 the session notes with the gear used for the recording of the album.[11]

On March 23, 2010, the songs "Crucify the Dead" (feat. Ozzy Osbourne) and "Ghost" (feat. Ian Astbury and Izzy Stradlin) were premiered on Amazon.com.[12] On the same day, the songs "Starlight" (feat. Myles Kennedy) and "I Hold On" (feat. Kid Rock) were premiered on ESPN Radio.[13]

On March 26, 2010, the song "Back from Cali" (feat. Myles Kennedy) premiered on Amazon.com along with "Beautiful Dangerous" (feat. Fergie). On the same day, the song "Nothing to Say" (feat. M. Shadows) premiered on his MySpace page.[14] The next day, "Promise" (feat. Chris Cornell) premiered on Amazon.com. On March 29, 2010, "Gotten" (feat. Adam Levine) and "Doctor Alibi" (feat. Lemmy Kilmister) premiered on Amazon.com.

On April 6, 2010, the Best Buy exclusive version was released, which includes both the album and a Slash T-shirt. Best Buy also sells an exclusive digital version of the album that includes 2 bonus tracks on Napster.com: "Baby Can't Drive" (featuring Alice Cooper/Nicole Scherzinger/Steven Adler/Flea) and a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" (featuring Fergie/Cypress Hill).[15]

On April 23, 2010, Slash revealed that he would have wanted Thom Yorke to sing "Saint Is a Sinner Too" but that he was too nervous to call the Radiohead singer.[16]

In an interview with the Finnish Soundi magazine, Slash also stated that he would have wanted the record to also feature his friend, former-Hanoi Rocks lead singer, Michael Monroe, but there was not a song that Slash thought fit him.

As of April 18, 2010 the album has gone gold in Australia. The second single, after "By the Sword," will be "Back from Cali."

2010 World Tour

Slash during a concert in Rome in 29 July 2011

On February 4, 2010, Slash announced via a MySpace blog that "Myles Kennedy is going to be fronting the band for the upcoming tour. Something I'm really stoked about. Myles sang a killer track on the record & I think he is by far one of the best Rock & Roll singers out there today. I'm really honored & proud to be working with him." Concert dates and ticket information have not yet currently been released but the guitarist confirmed, via Twitter that he was in talks with England's Download Festival promoter Andy Copping regarding an appearance with Kennedy and the rest of the touring band at the festival.[17][18] Slash confirmed that he will play his own solo material and songs from Guns N' Roses ("Civil War", "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "Nightrain" among others[19]), Velvet Revolver, and Slash's Snakepit, as well as Alter Bridge material ("Rise Today").

The touring line-up for the upcoming tour, besides Myles Kennedy and himself is Bobby Schneck (Slash's Blues Ball, Aerosmith) on rhythm guitar, Dave Henning (Big Wreck) on bass and Brent Fitz (Alice Cooper) on drums. He then announced via Twitter that Todd Kerns (Age of Electric, Static in Stereo, Sin City Sinners) would be performing bass duties on the tour instead of Dave Henning.[20]

Slash performed "By the Sword" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 6, and on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on April 9. While performing the song on Jay Leno's show, Slash was wearing an "I'm With Coco" pin, to show support for former Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien. There are very few close-ups of Slash during the song, but TMZ caught one second where the pin was displayed on camera. Slash also played "By the Sword" on Lopez Tonight on April 9, 2010 and performed "Back from Cali" on the show on April 12. Slash and Adam Levine performed "Gotten" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 11.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(56/100)[21]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[22]
Los Angeles Times[23]
About.com[24]
MusicOMH[25]
Classic Rock[26]
Ultimate Guitar[27]
PopMatters[28]
Futuretunez[29]
NOW[30]
The Guardian[31]
The Washington Post(mixed)[32]
Sunday Mercury(positive)[33]
Star Tribune(mixed)[34]
Billboard(73/100)[35]
"Rock Sound.tv"(8/10) [36]
"Yahoo! Music Album Review"(7/10) [37]
"New Music Express"(7/10) [38]
"MTV News"(Positive) [39]
"ThatDoesntSoundRight"

Upon release, Slash entered the Billboard 200 charts at number 3 (also at number one on the Rock, Hard Rock, Digital and the Independent Albums Chart) with 61,000 copies sold during the first week.[40][41] The album also debuted at number one in Canada, Austria, New Zealand and Sweden while it also broke into the top 20 in Germany, Finland, Australia, France, Norway, Poland and Switzerland.[42]

The album's first single, "By the Sword" (feat. Andrew Stockdale) peaked at number 41 on the Rock Songs Chart and number 78 on the Canadian Hot 100.[43] "Beautiful Dangerous" (feat. Fergie) charted at number 11 and number 58 on the Heatseekers Songs and Canadian Hot 100.[43] The cover of "Paradise City" (feat. Fergie & Cypress Hill) also charted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 75.[43][44]

The album has received generally mixed-to-positive reviews, scoring a 56 out of 100 ("mixed or average reviews") on Metacritic.[21] MTV News Writer Kyle Anderson called the album "a tremendous collection of hard rock songs that center around the axe man's signature chunky, swirling riffs.... On balance, it's an excellent album, and it feels good to have that classic Slash sound back."[39][45] Writer Shelby Powell took note of Slash's precision on guitar, rating the album 3.5/5 thumbs, but took off points for "a little too much reverence paid to the 90’s and some of the feature selections may have old head purists poking their bottom lips out and putting their lighters down," but concludes that "the assortment of genres blends well."[46]

As of the summer of 2010, the tour has been promoted as "Slash featuring Myles Kennedy".

Track listing

Standard Edition [47]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ghost" (feat. Ian Astbury)Slash, Ian Astbury3:34
2."Crucify the Dead" (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)Slash, Ozzy Osbourne4:04
3."Beautiful Dangerous" (feat. Fergie)Slash, Fergie4:41
4."Back from Cali" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Slash, Myles Kennedy3:35
5."Promise" (feat. Chris Cornell)Slash, Chris Cornell4:41
6."By the Sword" (feat. Andrew Stockdale)Slash, Andrew Stockdale4:50
7."Gotten" (feat. Adam Levine)Slash, Adam Levine5:05
8."Doctor Alibi" (feat. Lemmy)Slash, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister3:07
9."Watch This*" (feat. Dave Grohl & Duff McKagan)Slash3:46
10."I Hold On" (feat. Kid Rock)Slash, Kid Rock, Marlon Young4:10
11."Nothing to Say**" (feat. M. Shadows)Slash, M. Shadows5:27
12."Starlight" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Slash, Kennedy5:25
13."Saint Is a Sinner Too" (feat. Rocco DeLuca)Slash, Rocco DeLuca3:28
14."We're All Gonna Die" (feat. Iggy Pop)Slash, Iggy Pop4:30
Japanese Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Sahara" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Koshi Inaba4:00
Japanese Deluxe Edition[48]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Sahara" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Koshi Inaba4:00
16."(Bonus DVD) Making of the Album"  
Australian Deluxe Edition[49]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Paradise City" (feat. Cypress Hill & Fergie)Axl Rose, Slash, McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler[50][51]5:14
16."Back from Cali (Acoustic)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Slash, Kennedy3:42
17."Sweet Child o' Mine (Acoustic)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Rose, Slash, Stradlin[50][51]6:02
18."(Bonus DVD) Making of the Album"  
19."(Bonus DVD) By the Sword (Music Video)"  
20."(Bonus DVD) Behind the Scenes from the Video for 'By the Sword' (Part 1 & 2)"  
21."(Bonus DVD) Back from Cali feat. Myles Kennedy (Live)"  
22."(Bonus DVD) By the Sword feat. Andrew Stockdale (Live)"  
23."(Bonus DVD) Nice Boys feat. Angry Anderson (Live)"  
24."(Bonus DVD) Starlight feat. Myles Kennedy (Live)"  
25."(Bonus DVD) By the Sword (Side-by-Side Simulated 3D Version)"  
Australian iTunes Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Paradise City" (feat. Cypress Hill & Fergie)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50][51]5:14
16."Chains and Shackles**" (feat. Nick Oliveri) (pre-order only)Slash, Nick Oliveri4:28
Deluxe Edition[52][53]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Sahara (English version)" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Koshi Inaba3:58
16."Paradise City" (feat. Cypress Hill & Fergie)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50][51]5:14
17."Mother Maria" (feat. Beth Hart)Slash, Hart5:27
18."Baby Can't Drive" (feat. Alice Cooper, Nicole Scherzinger, Steven Adler & Flea)Slash, Cooper3:20
19."Sahara" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Inaba4:00
20."Beautiful Dangerous (Radio Mix)" (feat. Fergie)Slash, Fergie4:11
21."Demo #4"Slash3:52
22."Demo #16"Slash3:23
23."Back from Cali (acoustic)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Slash, Kennedy3:42
24."Fall to Pieces (acoustic)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Scott Weiland4:29
25."Sweet Child o' Mine (acoustic)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50][51]6:02
26."Watch This* (Live)"Slash3:44
27."Nightrain (Live)" (feat. Myles Kennedy)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50]5:00
28."(Bonus DVD) Making of the Album"  
29."(Bonus DVD) Back From Cali feat. Myles Kennedy (Live)"  
30."(Bonus DVD) By The Sword (Music Video)"  
31."(Bonus DVD) Behind The Scenes of 'By The Sword'"  
32."(Bonus DVD) Starlight feat. Myles Kennedy (Live)"  
33."(Bonus DVD) Mean Bone feat. Myles Kennedy (Live)"  
34."(Bonus DVD) Track-By-Track Interview with Slash"  
Monster Energy Drink Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Chains and Shackles**" (feat. Nick Oliveri)Slash, Nick Oliveri4:28
Best Buy/Napster Edition[54] & Brazilian Edition[55]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Paradise City" (feat. Cypress Hill & Fergie)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50][51]5:14
16."Baby Can't Drive" (feat. Alice Cooper & Nicole Scherzinger)Slash, Alice Cooper3:20
iTunes Edition[56]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Mother Maria" (feat. Beth Hart)Slash, Hart5:27
16."Sahara (English version)" (feat. Koshi Inaba) (pre-order only)Slash, Inaba3:58
Canadian Deluxe Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Sahara (English version)" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Inaba3:58
16."Baby Can't Drive" (feat. Alice Cooper & Nicole Scherzinger)Slash, Cooper3:20
17."Paradise City" (feat. Cypress Hill & Fergie)Rose, Slash, McKagan, Stradlin, Adler[50][51]5:14
Classic Rock Slashpack Edition[57][58]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Baby Can't Drive" (feat. Alice Cooper & Nicole Scherzinger)Slash, Cooper3:20
Vinyl Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Sahara" (feat. Koshi Inaba)Slash, Inaba4:00
16."Baby Can't Drive" (feat. Alice Cooper & Nicole Scherzinger)Slash, Cooper3:20


Notes:
*Different countries list the track title as "Watch This Dave".
**"Nothing to Say" and "Chains and Shackles" are two versions of the same song with different lyrics and production.

Personnel

Release history

Region Release date Format Label Catalogue
Japan March 31, 2010 CD, Digital download Universal Music UICE1156
Australia, Malaysia April 1, 2010 Sony Music 88697675922
Spain April 5, 2010 Roadrunner Records
France
United States April 6, 2010 EMI 31433
Canada
United Kingdom April 7, 2010 Classic Rock Slashpack Roadrunner Records
April 2, 2010[59] CD, Digital download RR77952
Germany April 9, 2010
Brazil[55] April 30, 2010 Music Brokers 7798141333530

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums[60] 1
U.S. Billboard Independent Albums[60] 1
U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Albums[60] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[40] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart 1
Swedish Albums Chart[42] 1
Austrian Albums Chart 1
UK Rock Chart 1
Finnish Albums Chart[42] 1
Greek Albums Chart[61] 2
U.S. Billboard 200[62] 3
European Top 100 Albums 3
Australian Albums Chart[63] 3
Swiss Albums Chart[42] 3
German Albums Chart 4
Danish Albums Chart[64] 4
Norwegian Albums Chart[42] 4
Italian Albums Chart 6
Polish Album Chart[42] 11
Hungarian Albums Chart[65] 12
French Albums Chart 15
UK Albums Chart[42] 17
Spanish Albums Chart[42] 26
Mexican Albums Chart[66] 34

References

  1. ^ Slash Solo Album To Feature Ozzy Osbourne
  2. ^ Slash: Solo Album Release Date Announced
  3. ^ Music for Relief official website. Posted 2010-01-20.
  4. ^ Slash: Solo Album Artwork & Track Listing
  5. ^ Slash to guest on Alter Bridge frontman's solo album, Blabbermouth, February 8, 2010
  6. ^ Track Listing On Classic Rock Magazine
  7. ^ http://www.spinner.com/2010/02/26/slash-by-the-sword-feat-andrew-stockdale-song-premiere/ Slash, 'By the Sword' Feat. Andrew Stockdale -- Song Premiere, spinner.com, February 27th, 2010
  8. ^ http://twitter.com/Roadrunner_UK Roadrunner announces Slash single release, twitter.com, March 5, 2010
  9. ^ http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/slash-solo-album-interview-the-track-by-track-guide-238767/5#content Slash solo album track by track, musicradar.com, March 4, 2010
  10. ^ http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/slash-solo-album-interview-the-track-by-track-guide-238767/2#content Slash talks about the song he did with Izzy Stradlin, musicradar.com, March 4, 2010
  11. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/interviews/slash_i_needed_to_do_something_where_i_was_a_captain_of_my_own_ship.html Slash's gear for the recording of the album, ultimate-guitar.com, March 20, 2010
  12. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Slash/e/B000APVSRE//ref=pe_64050_14664150_pe_00_head//B000APVSRE "Ghost" premiere, March 23, 2010
  13. ^ http://search.espn.go.com/slash/ "Starlight" and "I Hold On" on ESPN Radio, espn.go.com, March 23, 2010
  14. ^ Slash op MySpace Music – Gratis gestreamde MP3’s, foto’s en Videoclips
  15. ^ Slash Best BuyŽ Exclusive
  16. ^ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2010/04/23/13691396-wenn-story.html Slash 'too scared' to call Yorke, jam.canoe.ca, April 23, 2010
  17. ^ "Blog from Slash". MySpace. February 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  18. ^ "Slash Names His Tour Singer". Classic Rock. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  19. ^ http://tweetphoto.com/18018113 Slash's setlist at the Roxy, April 10, 2010
  20. ^ "Slight line-up adjustment". Twitter. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  21. ^ a b ""Slash" by Slash". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  22. ^ "Allmusic review".
  23. ^ "Los Angeles Times review". April 5, 2010.
  24. ^ "About.com review".
  25. ^ "MusicOMH review".
  26. ^ Classic Rock Presents Slash special edition magazine - reviewer Mick Wall rates 9/10
  27. ^ "Ultimate Guitar review".
  28. ^ Ramirez, AJ. "Slash: Slash". PopMatters. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  29. ^ "Futuretunez review".
  30. ^ Boles, Benjamin. "Disc Review "Slash"". NOW. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  31. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. Sullivan, Caroline (May 7, 2010). "Slash: Slash". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  32. ^ "Washington Post review". The Washington Post. April 6, 2010.
  33. ^ "Sunday Mercury review".
  34. ^ "Star Tribune review".
  35. ^ Digital Albums | Billboard.com
  36. ^ Slash - Slash | Album Reviews | Rock Sound - New Music First
  37. ^ Slash Album Review, New album reviews and latest album releases on Yahoo! Music
  38. ^ Slash - Album review: Slash - 'Slash' (Roadrunner) - Album Reviews - NME.COM
  39. ^ a b Slash’s Label Leads The List Of Silly Vanity Imprint Names » MTV Newsroom
  40. ^ a b "Slash - Slash". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  41. ^ http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news08022 Slash is number 3, hitsdailydouble.com, April 13th 2010
  42. ^ a b c d e f g h "SLASH: More First-Week Chart Positions Revealed". Blabbermouth. Apr. 16, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ a b c "Slash > Charts & Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  44. ^ "Slash Music News & Info". Billboard. Retrieved Apr. 14, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ Slash’s Label Leads The List Of Silly Vanity Imprint Names » MTV Newsroom
  46. ^ Planet Ill » Album Review: Slash-Slash
  47. ^ http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/slash-solo-album-interview-the-track-by-track-guide-238767#content Slash album track by track, musicradar.com, March 4, 2010
  48. ^ Slash - Slash (2010) [Japanese Deluxe Edition, CD DVD] in AvaxHome Megaupload Rapidshare Torrent download
  49. ^ SLASH (DELUXE EDITION) | Music , Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI
  50. ^ a b c d e f g h Liner notes, Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses
  51. ^ a b c d e f g Liner notes, Greatest Hits, Guns N' Roses
  52. ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SLASH To Release Deluxe Edition Of Solo Album: Details Revealed
  53. ^ Bravewords.com > News > SLASH - More Deluxe Edition Of New Album Details Revealed
  54. ^ "Slash - Slash (Best Buy)".
  55. ^ a b "Slash - Slash (Brazilian release date)". livrariacultura.com.br. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  56. ^ "Slash by Slash". iTunes. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
  57. ^ "Slash solo album interview: the track-by-track guide". MusicRadar. Mar. 4, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  58. ^ "SLASH's Version Of 'Paradise City' Featuring FERGIE Gets Withdrawn". Blabbermouth. Mar. 19, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  59. ^ [1]
  60. ^ a b c Digital Albums | Billboard.com
  61. ^ greekcharts.com - Slash - Slash
  62. ^ "Slash - Slash". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  63. ^ Slash's World | All things considered…
  64. ^ Hitlisten.NU
  65. ^ Top 40 album- és válogatáslemez- lista - Slágerlisták - MAHASZ - Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége
  66. ^ http://www.greaves.tv/amprofon3/100.php

External links

Preceded by New Zealand Albums Chart number-one album
12 April 2010 - 25 April 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Canadian Albums Chart number-one album
April 24, 2010 - 30 April 2010 		Succeeded by
My World 2.0 by Justin Bieber
Preceded by
Jajamen by Rolandz

 Swedish Albums Chart number-one album
April 16, 2010 - April 23, 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Austrian Albums Chart number-one album
April 21, 2010 - April 29, 2010 		Succeeded by
Iron Man 2 by AC/DC
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