The three albums that made Slash want tobecome a rock star
There are seminal records that enter our lives and have the capacity to alter entire outlooks and make the impossible seem possible. Every person who eventually becomes a music icon like Slash will never forget hearing a catalogue of records with great sentimental weight. Without these albums, their future may have looked bleak if it wasn’t for rock ‘n’ roll interference.
Admittedly, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash is a unique example. He was born to be a rock ‘n’ roller from his DNA alone and bred from stock, making him destined to be involved in the industry. There’s no place he feels more content than when he’s shredding on stage, which is his true home.
Before his personality revolved entirely around music, Slash spent every hour of his waking day thinking about his BMX, but he soon outgrew that passion. Once he heard three albums, he knew he’d found his new obsession. His parents played a significant role in shaping his music taste, and they were well-positioned to do so, considering both parents had industry connections. His father, Anthony Hudson, created album covers for Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Meanwhile, Slash’s mother, Ola Hudson, was a costume designer for stars such as David Bowie in Los Angeles.
Despite his parents’ background, music did not infiltrate his existence until he was a teenager. It quickly became a shared obsession with his future Guns N’ Roses bandmate, Steven Adler. Together, they decided to form their first band in 1979, despite neither yet playing an instrument, but it was the first crucial step in his journey.
Speaking to Signed Media in 2010, the guitarist revealed that it was his parents’ record collection that he has partially to thank for his career. He explained: “An important record for me was Led Zeppelin II, their second record. Because when I was a kid growing up, my parents had that record. My parents had the best rock ‘n’ roll record collection of anybody I ever met.” The guitarist continued: “But I remember loving that record when I was a kid, then when I started playing the guitar that record still had a huge influence on me as a guitar player. So that was an important record for me.”
While Led Zeppelin II is a record that came into his life thanks to his parents, it gave Slash a foundation to build upon once he worked out what he liked. As a result, his second selection, Aerosmith’s Rocks, is one he discovered for himself while experimenting as a teenager. “The next one that was really important for me was Aerosmith, Rocks, and that record came at a time when I was about 14 years old. I discovered that record at this girl’s house,” he revealed.
The Guns N’ Roses founder continued: “I’d gone there to sort of basically to get in bed, and we had a lot of records. We smoked some pot, had the candles lit, and she put the Aerosmith’s Rocks record on, and I completely focused on that record for the next hour. I played it over and over again. And forgot about her and sort of blew that whole day.”
Slash explained how the “attitude” that Aerosmith packed into the album “spoke to me” and also praised Rocks’ aggressiveness, which he credited with putting him “on the path of picking up the guitar.”
His final inclusion is The Who’s classic album, Who’s Next. The guitarist commended the record for having “a big influence on songwriting for me and my sort of approach to rhythm guitar”. He also labelled the LP as “one of the best rock records ever”.
While Slash’s parents’ record collection was a vital stepping stone in his musical voyage, he decided to graduate from fan to creator when he heard Rocks and Who’s Next. This allowed him to dream up a blueprint for the brand of music that he wanted to make, and it remains a vital part of his life to this day.
Slash’s three favourite albums
- Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin
- Rocks – Aerosmith
- Who’s Next – The Who
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