Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – 4
(Gibson Records / BMG)
Reviewed by Bridget Herlihy.
Almost three years after his last LP ‘Living The Dream’, Slash returns with frequent collaborators Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators for the creatively titled ‘4’. Kennedy has been recording and touring with Slash since he released his debut self-titled album in 2010, with The Conspirators appearing on each of Slash’s albums since 2012’s ‘Apocalyptic Love’.
‘4’ has all of the qualities of a standard hard rock album. There are lots of guitars, an abundance of the trademark solos that Slash has become renowned for, and of course the vocalist with a hardened, gravelly voice that is a perfect fit for this genre. There is no denying that this group of musicians are very good at what they do, and the fans will undoubtedly be hanging on every word and every note. Yet one can’t help but ponder how, or if, the sound of this collective has evolved over the last decade.
One factor that does set ‘4’ apart from SMKC from their earlier albums is the fact that this album was recorded live in the studio as opposed to being tracked. Subsequently, according to Slash, lead to the band creating a form of “magic” in the studio as they listened to and played off one another in a real-time collaboration. Recording an album live is no mean feat, and the resulting product is very polished and of the standard that you would expect of musicians of this calibre. It is easy to imagine this album performed live in an arena; Slash in his trademark top hat with his Les Paul pointing to the sky as Kennedy saunters across the stage.
Yet in terms of changes in the ‘sound’ of each of this group’s albums, there really aren’t any. Each album picks up where the last one left off, which will no doubt please SMKC fans to no end. Why mess with a crowd-pleasing, lucrative formula if you don’t have to, right? While the album serves up a significant level of energy and good old rock’n’roll, there seems to be a distinct lack of innovation and passion – the hallmarks for any truly great album.
‘4’ features some tracks that are sure to be crowd-pleasers, including opening track ‘The River Is Rising’, balladesque ‘Fill My World’ and the hard and heavy ‘Call Off The Dogs’. In fact, if you close your eyes and listen to ‘Sprit Love’ it is easy to imagine either Scott Weiland or Axl Rose singing, further underscoring Slash’s distinctive and formulaic song writing. Fans of Slash and Miles Kennedy and The Conspirators will undoubtedly be in seventh heaven with this album, and perhaps within that context staying true to one’s signature sound could be considered a strength rather than a weakness.
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