Guns N’ Roses’s in-house guitar hero, Slash, is a dying breed who smokes cigarettes and carries a Les Paul. His renown is rare in the modern era. He is a legendary lead guitarist who shares a similar style with legendary guitarists Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.
These days, there are fewer artists like Slash who mix a deep blues-based style with a love of fast-paced noodling. Instead of placing their own unique stamp on the song, modern players prefer to focus on textures and simplicity. This is simply the way that modern music has developed; it’s not a criticism either. Now, a controlled pseudo-intellectual angle has taken the place of pride and hilarious natures as the trend.
It’s possible that the world won’t see another band as good as Guns N’ Roses, as the negative response to their headline performance at Glastonbury 2023 provides more proof that the times are changing. Even though they may be serious, bands that come out in 2023 with the same hard-rocking image as Guns N’ Roses frequently come across as funny. This however does not reduce their value in the records of rock history. This is particularly true for Slash, who has always been their most essential element.
Whatever one’s feelings toward his band, Slash’s highlights reel is extensive and full of musical style. His grasp of a wide range of genres is something that everyone can appreciate, from his signature track “Sweet Child O’ Mine” to the overlooked “Double Talkin’ Jive.” It says it all that Slash, an aesthetic successor to the guitar-playing greats of the past, has received praise. Even when his group has not.
Slash is fully conscious of the fact that he is among the last of the traditional lead guitarists. In a 2007 interview, Guitarist was asked if he believed that the lead guitarist, or “guitar hero,” was becoming extinct. Slash insisted that he was clueless as to the future course the instrument would take. He did, however, acknowledge that, aside from himself, he thinks Zakk Wylde of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society is the last of this group.
According to Slash, the guitar scene in Los Angeles had essentially degraded its meaning. By the time Guns N’ Roses arrived, this degradation was evident. Subsequently, the 1990s produced a multitude of outstanding bands that were not at all lead guitar-driven. From the mid-1990s onward, you had this diverse mix of pop bands. Fortunately, Zakk is still alive despite the fact that the guitar hero has kind of disappeared. Zakk and I may be the only guys still playing Les Pauls.
Watch Zakk Wylde in action below.
