A few days ago (September 16) world renowned guitarist Slash formerly of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver put out a third solo album titled World on Fire. This is his second one with Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy doing all of the vocals (the first one with Kennedy being 2012 release Apocalyptic Love) whereas the first album titled Slash had a different singer for each song. With the new album out, Slash is now set to astound the world once again with his own brand of electrifying rock n' roll.
If you were a fan of Apocalyptic Love then World on Fire is right up your alley. It features almost exactly the same kind of vibe musically. However, that is where I find a problem with the album. As much as I was a fan of Slash's previous album I was hoping for something a little different this time around. It kind of kept me from really enjoying what Slash and Kennedy brought to the table this time around. I just didn't really notice any variety in the tunes. However, that is not to say that any of the songs on World on Fire are bad because they aren't. These are some good straight up rock songs if you listen to them individually, but I personally didn't find anything particularly memorable about any of them.
The title track World on Fire is the main single out for the album right now. It opens guns a'blazing with Slash furiously and rapidly playing the song's opening riff. It is a somewhat faster song, but not ridiculously speedy. In a sense, it almost seems like Slash's modern take on hair metal. I get the impression that the idea behind the song World on Fire was just for Slash to play stuff as fast as he could. He does a pretty good job of it because it would seem his chops are just as up to par as they ever were. I will admit that that the chorus hook sung by Kennedy is kind of catchy, but I don't see it being remembered in that long a period of time.
One song that did stand out amongst the the long parade of hard rock songs that blend together was one called 30 Years to Life. It starts off with a REALLY sweet riff that Slash played using a finger slide while Kennedy sings the catchiest hook on the whole album that I remember more than anything else on World on Fire. However, then it goes into the bulk of the song which is a lot more up tempo and similar to the other songs on the album. I think the intro wasn't long enough, but they make up for it by using that section again for a longer period of time near the end of the song.
As a long time fan of Slash I REALLY wanted to like World on Fire more than I did. As I said earlier, none of the songs were bad by any means but none of them seemed that memorable and they all seemed too similar to one another. What made his previous album Apocalyptic Love so great was that even though it had this sound the songs were more varied. I may need to listen to the whole album a couple more times to get a better feel, but it makes me sad that not one song made me go "HEY! What was THAT?! Let's play that again!!!". Personally, I think maybe Slash works better when he has other musicians helping to write the music along side of him as was the case in his previous bands. However, my opinion may differ from yours so I still encourage you to get the album and judge for yourself.
World on Fire, by Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators receives 3 out of 5 stars.
Track List:
1. World on Fire
2. Shadow Life
3. Automatic Overdrive
4. Wicked Stone
5. 30 Years to Life
6. Bent to Fly
7. Stone Blind
8. Too Far Gone
9. Beneath the Savage Sun
10. Withered Delilah
11. Battle Ground
12. Dirty Girl
13. Iris of the Storm
14. Avalon
15. The Dissident
16. Safari Inn
17. The Unholy
Buy the album on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/World-Fire-Slash/dp/B00L633PXO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411185305&sr=8-2&keywords=slash+world+on+fire
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