There was never a plan for rock and roll for those with a faint of heart. Every great rock and roll band that thrills listeners will inevitably be followed by a select few that, through the sheer force of their music, terrify even casual listeners and seek to intimidate anyone who gets in their way. Guns N’ Roses was already veering towards more brutal territory in the 1980s. But according to Slash, one album summed up all that was evil in music.
Slash was more drawn to slightly off-color songs than most other rock acts even before he picked up a guitar. During The Beatles’ peak, Slash had a strong affinity for The Rolling Stones. He enjoyed the guitar tones of Keith Richards on songs like “Satisfaction.”
Deeply rooted in the blues, Slash’s early compositions frequently feature him mastering the 12-bar structure in a way that only he can. He was aware. However, that blues could be used for more than just simple progressions when he heard Aerosmith play for the first time. They had a swagger to their sound that no other band could match.
Aerosmith may have given Slash his start in the music industry in his formative years, but beneath the English rock scene was a more aggressive genre of music. From the beginning of their debut album, Black Sabbath was on the verge of creating heavy metal. This stood in contrast to the sounds of Led Zeppelin and Cream, who were pushing rock in daring new directions.
Even though Tony Iommi was still able to put together various blues-infused chords with a strong beat, the sounds of their self-titled song were unique for the typical listener. Iommi made riffs that made everyone who heard them shiver by using the dreaded tritone.
Sabbath was one of the darkest rock genres available in the 1970s, but Slash couldn’t quite get enough of it. Reflecting on those early years, Slash considered Sabbath’s debut among the most dangerous-sounding rock albums he’d ever heard.
Speaking about Sabbath’s history, Slash would claim that Iommi’s guitar playing was genuinely insane. He told Music Radar, “This was another very eventful record for me, Sabbath’s debut album”. This is, in my opinion, the most menacing rock ‘n’ roll record ever. Whatever band you come up with, I don’t care. The best of them all is Black Sabbath’s debut album. In all respects. It sounds like pure evil.
Slash’s guitar playing may have a melodic bent, but the fierce swagger of songs like “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Rocket Queen” has a similar bite that Iommi probably recognised right away. Even with Slash’s distinctive guitar voice, any group that bills itself as “The World’s Most Dangerous Band” will always be in the shade. This is in contrast to what Black Sabbath had accomplished.
