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Slash Discusses His New Solo Album, Fear Covers Album and That South Park Episode
Two years into Zoom becoming a mainstream method of communication, it’s clear that the assortment of books, artwork and knickknacks that decorate the shelves in the background of a video call say a lot about the person appearing in front of them. Sure, some folks opt for a shelf-free background, but unless you’re in a particularly enthralling room or have some very special art or posters as your backdrop, all that tells people is that you’re boring. Of course, there’s always the digital option of replacing your actual setting with something more interesting… if you’re a coward. As one might expect, Slash has a wide variety of tchotchkes on the shelves behind him in his preferred Zoom setup. The groupings of gifts, purchases, and other small acquisitions no doubt tell different parts of his...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
The 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was A Thing
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one either. Because that isn’t possible — actually, it is, if you wanted some compilation of who sold the most records/concert tickets/has the most fans/got the most death threats, etc., and someone could come up with a bunch of very empirical metrics and create a “heat index” or something, and could deliver an actual scientific ranking! But we, um, didn’t do that. In fact we didn’t even, technically, do the “we...
Watch Post Malone Cover Black Sabbath and Alice in Chains With Slash, RHCP’s Chad Smith, and More
Bud Light Seltzer’s New Year’s Eve livestream was appropriately headlined by the human incarnation of Bud Light itself, better known as Post Malone. But if fans were expecting Posty to stick with his own tracks, they clearly hadn’t been paying attention to last year. Much like how the Crocs collaborator busted out his own take on Nirvana classics toward the beginning of quarantine, he closed the year with “Rooster” by Alice in Chains and “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. And similarly to how the Nirvana set featured Travis Barker on drums, Malone got some help from his famous friends like Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer (and Will Ferrell lookalike) Chad Smith, and Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney. The stream also included sets by Steve Aoki, Saweetie, Jack Harlow, and Sebastian Y...
Slash on His Love of Pinball, Making New Music While at Home
“The idea behind the whole thing was basically to recreate a full Not In This Lifetime concert experience,” Slash tells SPIN, then laughs. “You know, I sound like a fucking salesman now…” Perhaps so. But at least the product the guitarist is promoting is a pretty killer one — the new Guns N’ Roses Not In This Lifetime pinball machine. Make no mistake: While plenty of artists — everyone from ‘70s rockers KISS and Ted Nugent to more recent subjects like Metallica, Iron Maiden and AC/DC — have lent their names and likenesses to pinball machines over the years (Guns N’ Roses did it in 1994 as well), none of them jumped into it with as much enthusiasm and know-how as Slash and company have. A collaboration with industry leader Jersey Jack Pinball, the Not in This Lifetime table is a ridiculousl...
Slash, Kirk Hammett and Tom Morello Eulogize Eddie Van Halen During Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony usually takes place in the spring; however, like so many other plans those were changed after the coronavirus outbreak hit. With ample time to figure out an alternate plan, the Rock Hall curated a virtual celebration to honor the Class of 2020, but something it wasn’t expecting was eulogizing the great Eddie Van Halen. The Van Halen guitarist passed away on Oct. 6 after a decades-long battle with cancer, and Slash, Tom Morello, and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett paid tribute to the legendary axe man during the ceremony. “Eddie Van Halen was a tremendously gifted musician,” Slash said. “His style and his sound were completely unique to him. He had a massive impact on guitar playing. I don’t think there’s anybody who’s picked up guitar since 1978 t...
Slash Says Guns N’ Roses Have Been Working on New Music in Quarantine
Guns N’ Roses planned to be on the road right now, but like so many other bands their plans were thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, instead of rehearsing the hits, the band is using its downtime to work on new music. Slash recently gave fans an update on what he’s been up to during quarantine while chatting with music store Sweetwater. “I’ve been pretty much a homebody, but I’ve been back and forth between my studio in the house and doing a lot of writing and recording on my own,” he said. “I’ve been jamming with Duff [McKagan, bassist] and I’ve been jamming with Axl [Rose, frontman] and I’ve been doing stuff like that, so we’ve been getting some work done that way. But I haven’t been doing much else.” The guitarist added that he hasn’t worked on any other projects since ...
Guns N’ Roses Take Aim at Trump With New T-Shirt
Guns N’ Roses took aim at President Donald Trump’s trip to the Honeywell factory in Arizona last week when the 45th president of the United States walked around the vicinity without a mask on. The band has released a special edition t-shirt with “Live N’ Let Die With COVID 45″ on it, which claps back at Trump’s maskless tour of the same factory that is producing the N95 masks for the federal government. The proceeds from shirt sales will go to the Recording Academy’s MusiCares that’s providing services and resources for musicians in need, especially during the novel coronavirus pandemic. GNR leader Axl Rose hasn’t been shy about voicing out his opinions regarding the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic and even got into a Twitter beef with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin....
