Whatever stage of Slash’s career you choose to examine—his tenure with Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash’s Snakepit, or his protracted solo career with Myles Kennedy—there is one element that unites all of his songs. The unadulterated energy that only comes with rock ‘n’ roll. At the core of his ability to infuse every song he has ever worked on with an unmatched style lies Slash’s love of live music. The power that can only be attained with rock music fuels this passion.
Many musicians list their favourite albums, but those lists rarely reflect the type of music they actually create. Slash is not one of those artists, despite the fact that many give the excuse that they prefer to interact with something different because they are surrounded by such music every day. His taste in music is a direct reflection of his identity as an artist.
He expects rock music that he listens to to be as intensely energetic as his own compositions. This suggests that the record should embody the rebellion and glitz that characterize the genre at all times. Many albums accomplish this. However, Cheap Tricks’ self-titled LP is the one that Slash says is the most “raw” for him.
The release of Cheap Trick in 1977 signalled the start of the band’s immensely lucrative career. They danced between punk, rock ‘n’ roll, and even pop music. So, it was never easy to pin them down to one particular genre even though they had a lively and enthusiastic sound. Still, the self-titled debut undoubtedly had more influence from punk rock.
Slash stated, “I owned every Cheap Trick album up until Dream Police. They’re all fantastic, but the first one is the important one for me. It’s among the greatest albums of “raw” rock ‘n’ roll ever. The album relied on hard rock to create a big, energetic sound that was challenging to turn away from. While the record wasn’t the band’s most well-known, it received positive reviews at the time.
Slash remarked, “It’s practically obscure, too. People don’t seem to talk about it that much.” However, the band recently performed the entire album live on tour. I’m always somewhere else, so I never hear about these things when they happen.
It should come as no surprise that Slash finds something like the Cheap Trick debut appealing given the type of music he releases. The Guns N’ Roses guitarist also relies on a raw energy that lies at the core of the record. This is true even though the band switches between genres.
