The one album and two guitarists Slash thinks “personified rock guitar”
The mercurial guitarist Saul Hudson is better known to his fans and everyone else who hasn’t been living under a rock as the one and only, Slash. One part of the generation-defining band Guns ‘N’ Roses, Slash also found fame as one of his era’s greatest guitarists of all time. A swashbuckling performer capable of melting your mind and turning sane people into lose-their-shit fans within a few licks.
The son of legendary rock costume designer Ola Hudson, Slash was always likely to jump on the highway to hell and pick up as much rock and roll road rash as he could along the way. His early adoption of the devil’s music meant he was always destined to be a guitar hero himself. But, just like any other music lover, there was one moment when things really clicked.
For Guns N’ Roses axeman Slash, music has been an integral part of his life from an early stage, but one album and two guitarists were responsible for re-defining his thoughts on what the art form could be. From this point onward, he had a clear idea of the type of rock music he wanted to devote his career to making and has never looked back.
This record entered his life at a period of flux as he entered his teenage years and began experimenting like all people of that age. There was an increasingly rebellious spirit building up within him, and finally, there was an album that embodied the same electric feelings running through his body at 100mph.
The album in question is Rocks, the fourth LP by Aerosmith, which introduced Slash to their wizardry. It was a crucial moment in his musical life, and he’ll always be eternally grateful for its seismic impact on him.
During an interview with Guitar World, Slash explained how he was introduced to Aerosmith Rocks by a girl who was “the hottest chick in school” while they “smoked a bunch of pot”. However, after he heard this album several times on repeat, he claims to have “got up, grabbed my smokes, jumped on my bike and went home. I never did get laid. But not too long after, I picked up my guitar, and I’ve been doing this ever since.”
He said of the record: “Rocks was also right up my alley because I was one of those kids. I was bad in school. I had long hair and wore jeans. I smoked. I didn’t fit into the yuppie crowd. I was basically just a punk who didn’t fit in anywhere. At that time I knew nothing about the guitar, either.”
“I had been to a lot of recording sessions with my parents, but I didn’t know anything about anything,” Slash added. “But I always dug music, and Aerosmith’s drunken, chemically induced powerhouse sound just sold me and changed me forever. Rocks was aggressive, loud and swaggering. It fit my personal”.
While Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler takes a lot of the plaudits, which is natural considering he’s the poster boy for the band, Slash was more in awe of guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. These two musicians may not receive their fair share of praise, but in the mind of the Guns N’ Roses guitarist, they are master craftsmen.
He told Esquire of their contribution: “Joe and Brad, those two guys just have always personified rock guitar to me, and the kind of phrasing and attitude and aggression that appealed to me when I was just picking up the guitar. I heard the Aerosmith Rocks record, and that was the catalyst for the direction that I went as a musician.”
Slash continued: “That kind of raunchy, barely-holding-it-together, loud, boisterous, frenetic sound. That was the biggest influence on me at the time. And it still is a huge influence on me. And I’ve been playing with these guys every single night and they’re such fuckin’ great musicians and they have such a groove in that band.”
While it’s been decades since Slash first encountered Rocks, his comments highlight his deep love for the record and the stellar work of the guitarists responsible for it.
