Slash
Slash assembled an army of stellar singers to help take the tunes of his first solo album to the next level. He also gathered a distinguished lineup of musicians to help flesh out these kickass songs, part of which comprises Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Add your top-hatted six-string host and you have *Appetite for Destruction*- era GNR…sans Axl Rose. But who needs Axl when the Cult’s Ian Astbury kicks off the party with “Ghost,” a perfect hybrid of Sunset Strip hair metal and post-goth alt-rawk? And it wouldn’t be a real metal party without Ozzy lending his unmistakable howls to the foreboding “Crucify the Dead.” Ever wondered what Fergie would sound like singing for GNR? Wonder no more — she kills it on “Beautiful Dangerous,” a song so good she can’t deny that rock music may need her to stick around. Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale sounds like he was born for this project, as the bluesy “By the Sword” plays better than his own band. If *Chinese Democracy* left you with a bad taste, *Slash* offers the perfect chaser.
Axl Rose's old sidekick is back with a bunch of riffs and some special guests. Shame no-one goes the extra mile, says <strong>Caroline Sullivan</strong>