Slash - Slash (Japan, Limited Deluxe Edition, SHM-CD) (2010)

Like Jeff Beck before him, Slash is a superstar guitarist who can’t sing a lick -- a situation that poses a considerable problem when it comes time to record a solo album, which apparently is whenever his band collapses under the preening ego of a lead singer. When combing through the wreckage of GNR he decided to form a band whose singer almost seemed like an afterthought, but he took a different route after the meltdown of Velvet Revolver, choosing to follow Santana’s Supernatural blueprint, hauling in a different singer for each track. Of course, Supernatural was designed with the intention of having Santana cross over to a new audience, but Slash, with the exception of Fergie howling “Beautiful Dangerous,” was made with his old fans in mind, bringing in gnarled old rockers like Ozzy, Lemmy, and Iggy to carry the brunt of the work, slipping in a few new faces -- like Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, Rocco DeLuca (the first signing to Kiefer Sutherland’s label), and Myles Kennedy, chosen to front Slash’s supporting tour for the record -- along the way. It’s a comfortable and familiar fit that poses only one significant problem: nobody bothered to write any songs; they’re just playing for the sake of playing. Ironically, the exceptions to the rule are Fergie, who winds up pushing Slash in an interesting hooky direction, and the instrumental jam between the guitarist, his GNR/Velvet bandmate Duff McKagan, and Dave Grohl, a track that has more forward movement and momentum than the rest of the record combined, suggesting that perhaps Slash should follow Beck’s lead and cut an all-instrumental record instead of biding his time creating cozy sleaze with old friends.