Slash is back with another stab at a solo album. Yes, the man is a rock legend and has managed to stay at the forefront of the rock world decades after his golden era. It's good to see the guy's still at it, if for no other reason than because we'll get to hear some Guns N' Roses tunes whenever he plays live.
Of course, most who pick up Apocalyptic Love are going to be hoping for some sort of reborn GNR (and nobody's counting the actual reborn GNR), but that's not what they're going to find here. That might sound damning, but it would be unfair (and too easy) for someone to listen to this record and list the ways in which it fails to live up to the best of Slash's prime days. For that reason, I will try to take the high road and avoid drawing up a side-by-side comparison with this album. Guns N' Roses is gone forever (again, the new lineup doesn't count), and we need to accept that fact.
Taking the critical high ground is one thing, but I'm not above comparing the album to some of Slash's other work, like Velvet Revolver. I would call myself a fan of the two albums that the Slash/Duff/Sorum/Weilland crew produced a few years back and, while their break-up was inevitable given the people involved, there was some solid rock that came out of those days. "Slither," "Sucker Train Blues," and "Fall to Pieces" from their first album Contraband are all shining examples of Slash in full-on Slash mode. Anyone can recognize that he's the man behind the riffs, and there was no doubt that his talent could extend beyond the GNR years. That's what I was looking for when I picked up Apocalyptic Love. I wanted some Slash-driven songs that gave me flashbacks to the band which once was (sorry, trying not to mention them). Velvet Revolver was able to deliver that for me but, for some reason, his solo albums just haven't been able to pull it off. There is certainly some fine music on Apocalyptic Love, but not once did a track rise to the level of a song like "Messages," which was a bonus track on Libertad (and a personal favorite). Where's that amazing guitar work that we all know he's capable of?
The guitarist's last album, the self-titled Slash, suffered from a similar problem (as did his previous efforts with Slash's Snakepit). Slash was fun because every track had a different guest singer, including Ozzy, Chris Cornell, Fergie, Dave Grohl and Iggy Pop. It was an all-star bash which gave the album the little extra something that it needed to be worthwhile, even if none of the songs were particularly memorable. Apocalyptic Love recruited Myles Kennedy throughout, who many would recognize as the Axl stand-in from the recent Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He showed up on Slash for a couple of tracks, and while he can hold his own, his pitchy voice can get a little old after a few tracks. In my twisted mind, I pictured his voice as being the result of a love child between Axl Rose and Vince Neil, after that child was then kicked in the nuts by Bruce Dickenson. His voice can be a little much, but the guy can wail when he needs to.
There are several songs on this album's thirteen that come close to satisfying my Slash craving, including "Anastasia" and the title track. High energy intros get the songs going, building into solid rock tracks that boarder on being catchy. The lyrics are decent enough, and the riffs aren't all that memorable, but these songs are worth checking out. Slash still knows how to rock – however, a lot of tracks on the album gave me flashbacks to the forgettable filler songs on the Use Your Illusion albums. "One Last Thrill" and "Far and Away" are fast paced tracks with garbled lyrics that reminded me of "Coma" or "Dead Horse," the easily forgettable tracks that were mixed in with epics on Illusion One. Nobody would have complained if they had been left off the album, and several tracks on Apocalyptic Love could fall into this category too.
While Apocalyptic Love fails to produce memorable, catchy tunes of the caliber of Guns N' Roses or Velvet Revolver, it still succeeds in being a decent rock album. There are rumors of a possible Velvet Revolver reunion, which would please me, but until then, I suppose these solo albums are enough to keep Slash from getting rusty.
Artist:
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Album:
Apocalyptic Love is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
