The “genuine” singer Slash called one of the only modern rock voices
Slash never wanted to be anything less than a rock and roll star. Even in an age when rock and roll has seemed uncool, the guitar gunslinger still embodies everything that makes rock guitar sound fantastic. For all the great licks he played, Slash knew getting the right frontman was as crucial as any of his massive solos.
Because as much as Slash could turn into an animal onstage, it would have been incredibly boring if all he did was play music with a singer who looked down at their shoes the whole time. The mark of any good frontman is being able to harness every ounce of energy in their body and throw it back out into the audience, and given Slash’s energy onstage, he has always found impressive singers to match him.
While Axl Rose was already a superstar with his impressive range and raspy voice when he got into his higher register, Slash’s 2010 solo album is the best example of him being able to work with anyone. Everyone brought their A-game in his presence, and even when songs sounded like they shouldn’t have worked on paper, everyone from Adam Levine to Fergie sounded like they were made to be rock and roll stars with Slash playing behind them.
But for a brief second in the 2000s, Slash was dangerously close to looking like a has-been. Guns N’ Roses had turned into a joke without him there, and since Slash’s Snakepit never got off the ground, he seemed more like a rock and roll burnout that happened to have an iconic look about him. When Velvet Revolver started, though, it felt like the rock and roll rollercoaster started up all over again when Scott Weiland entered the picture.
Compared to every other frontman in the grunge sphere, Weiland seemed like the one person who looked the part as a rock star. Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain always had strange feelings about fame, but with Weiland donning a dress onstage and changing his look on every album, he was clearly emulating what he had seen out of people like David Bowie rather than the punk sphere.
And since the 2000s had given way to rock being split down the middle between the indie scene, pop-punk, and nu-metal, Slash felt that Weiland was the one rock voice they needed for their band, saying, “My whole thing was just to have a fucking amazing rock ’n’ roll band. Scott was the only guy who had that voice, what we thought was a genuine rock ’n’ roll voice. For most artists today, it’s not about rock ’n’ roll any more, but it is for us.”
Then again, Slash probably didn’t plan for the same amount of drama that came towards the end of Velvet Revolver’s career. Weiland had been going through his fair share of issues, and while the band sounded solid live, it was only a matter of time before Slash saw the writing on the wall and broke things off before he found himself in the same position he was in at the end of Guns N’ Roses.
His later career with Myles Kennedy did manage to give us some fantastic music as well, but it’s a shame that Slash and Weiland never got to play together before the frontman’s untimely passing. Velvet Revolver truly seemed like the best of both worlds between rock and roll and alternative, but sometimes the biggest stars only shine bright for a limited amount of time.
