The singer Slash was “floored” by
When Slash was first making music, he had the privilege of sharing the stage with one of the most dynamic voices in rock. Axl Rose brought undeniable anger and energy to Guns N’ Roses’ music. While many of his lyrics were rightfully controversial, there was no escaping that his voice brought unimaginable depth to the band.
When Guns N’ Roses initially broke up, Slash was keen on continuing to work on music and, in doing so, worked with a range of excellent musicians. This happened at first during Slash’s Snakepit, a super band he made with the Jellyfish guitarist Eric Dover on vocals. While he provided grit to the songs, there wasn’t the same range that Rose could brandish.
The first time Slash got to work expansively on various songs was on his first self-titled solo album. This record saw him work with a range of musicians from different backgrounds. The album saw Slash cement himself as a versatile guitarist as he worked alongside the likes of Lemmy, Iggy Pop, and Fergie, writing fantastic rock songs that complemented them all perfectly.
While there isn’t a bad performance on the album, there was one singer who really stood out to Slash, to the point that the two continued to work together on a range of albums that would come later into the guitarist’s career. Myles Kennedy performs on the album twice, singing the songs ‘Starlight’ and ‘Back From Cali’, both of which flaunt the singer’s vocal ability.
“The last record was a great project,” said Slash, reflecting on hearing Kennedy for the first time. “I got to work with great people. It was a very liberating experience. In that process, I met Myles Kennedy. He floored me as a singer. I thought he was fantastic, so we sort of developed a relationship.”
After hearing Kennedy sing, Slash invited him on tour, where they performed a range of Guns N’ Roses hits and songs from his solo project. As they found out more and more how much of a musical match made in heaven they were, the two decided they would continue to work on future projects, which resulted in the 2012 album Apocalyptic Love.
“I realised this really magic moment of recognising that this was a really well put together group and it was fantastic,” said Slash, “So we went out and started touring and I thought, ‘If I was gunna do another solo record, I would just go with these guys’. So the whole record was written on the road. We came out with all the songs, arranged everything, a really gruelling pre-production period, and then we went in and recorded the whole album live in the studio.”
The two have since had a successful career playing together, with a string of hit albums and successful tours under their belt since those first features were recorded.
