SLASH’S GUITAR TONE STILL GETS ME
Even if I haven’t exactly been thrilled with Slash’s post-Guns N’ Roses output, I never thought his guitar playing got bad; listening to No More Tears over the weekend, I was struck (again) by the fact that Zakk Wylde’s playing has become a parody of itself, but Slash still seems to have an endless arsenal of killer guitar solos left in him. If the dude could just get Izzy Stradlin to write him some decent songs, I have little doubt that the man would be able to turn me back into a fanboy faster than you can say “Saul Hudson.”
Case in point: “Kick it Up a Notch,” a new song Slash has recorded with a couple of cartoon characters. And, no, I don’t mean Axl Rose and Scott Weiland.
The song comes from the Disney Channel original movie Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, which debuts August 5, and which I guess is a spin-off from some television series, although I don’t really know because I don’t have children and I don’t care to do the research because life is short and I have other things to do.
ANYWAY, it’s not an especially great song, which is kind of beside the point, because I don’t know if Slash had anything to do with its writing or was just a session player or what. And the vocals, which I assume are by one of the title characters, are certainly so irritating that if I was a parent and my kid insisted on listening to this on repeat, I would probably have to Casey Anthony them*.
But Slash’s leads are fantastic. And, more than that, whomever recorded his guitars deserves a beer or ten, because Slash’s tone hasn’t been this sweet since Slash’s Snakepit’s Ain’t Life Grand?, which, holy shit I am getting old fast, came out eleven years ago. It’s just way grittier than he sounded on either Velvet Revolver album or even his solo album, without losing any of his signature warmth. I would be really, really stoked if they released an instrumental version of this song, so I could enjoy it without wanting to find whomever does that cartoon voice and crush his windpipe.
ANYWAY, you can check out the song over at Noisecreep. It will be released as part of the soundtrack for the T.V. movie on August 2.
-AR
*Too soon?
