Album Review: Slash Apocalyptic Love

When comparing Slash's self-titled debut solo album to Apocalyptic Love, it would easily be considered Slash's pop record of sorts. Apocalyptic Love leaves the pop behind and propels head first into leather clad rock'n'roll. Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), a featured vocalist on Slash, was drafted to handle frontman duties for his live gigs, Kennedy impressed 'the man in the top hat' enough to be the only vocalist on this album, and it works.

Slash chooses to leave the session musicians behind and instead utilises his live band on this album, the end result being a straightforward rock album that features trademark tasty guitar hooks and soaring vocal melodies. Opening with the album's title track, which launches straight into a detailed guitar riff (sounding more like a solo), the track briskly winds its way to a melodic bridge before launching into our first guitar solo of the album. Part of Slash's success lies in his ability to appeal to guitar nerds through blistering solos and guitar technique. However, he understands what the guitarist's role is in a band, which is to compliment the singer and the melody of the song, and it is that which appeals to the non guitar nerd; the songs are just darn good rocking tunes.

Highlights include the riff heavy Halo, the anthemic No More Heroes, the vocally-rich We Will Roam and the epic Not For Me. Whilst Apocalyptic Love doesn't have the entourage of famous singers, this album proves they aren't needed, Slash's intricate guitar riffs combine mercilessly with Kennedy's melodic vocal style and, simply put, the end result is a brilliant rock'n'roll record.

FACT FILE

Length: 13 tracks, 54 minutes

Mood: Heavy, anthemic, rich.

DID YOU KNOW?

Born in London and moving LA when he was five, Slash (real name Saul Hudson) is a Grammy Award-winning rock guitarist, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in April this year and has received countless accolades and awards.

The 46 year old artist's self-titled first solo album debuted at #3 on the ARIA Album Chats and achieved platinum sales in Australia.

All the songs on Apocalyptic Love were written together by Slash and Myles Kennedy, as Slash explains: “Myles and I basically collaborated on the new material. The main thing is we wrote these songs together, which is a big difference from the last album, where I wrote each song with all of the different collaborators. The whole creative nucleus is between Myles and me. ”

Slash runs his own record label called Dik Hayd International, which this album has been released through.

As an original member of the iconic rock band Guns N' Roses, he helped the band create some of the most signature sounds in the history of rock'n'roll.