Archive: Album review – Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators – Apocalyptic Love

By STEVE MASCORD

NO matter the PR spin, this is step back for Slash from his eponymous all-star solo album of 2010. The iconic former GN’R axeman has returned to a band environment, with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy getting second billing, drummer Brent Fitz and bassist Todd Kearns providing back-up.

The result is an album best compared to the two Slash’s Snakepit releases. It’s clear from all three albums what the top-hatted one brought to Guns N’Roses – a no-nonsense hard rock attack in comparison to Axl Rose’s  epic melodrama, still evident on Chinese Democracy.

Both Apocalyptic Love and Chinese Democracy are unsatisfying for the same reason – they are estranged halves of something truly great.

In case that sounds like the musings of another miserable GN’R reunionist, here’s another reason why this reviewer sees Apocalyptic Love as Slash’s weakest album since leaving the Gunners.

While his cohorts in Slash’s Snakepit were unabashedly influenced by eighties hair metal, Kennedy’s involvement nudges this platter in the direction of modern rock – making it further removed from what we all loved about Slash in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong: if you love Alter Bridge you’ll like this. I don’t like Alter Bridge. At all.

I can understand how the soaring choruses and tightly-wound riffs push the buttons of their fans – but the buttons Desmond Child once played like a piano (mine) are impervious to their 21st century emo siren’s call.

Apocalyptic Love lacks songs, pure and simple.

“You’re A Liar” as the lead-off single should tell you that. It’s catchy enough but basically a hunk of ho-hum rifferama.

But it’s one of the two or three best compositions on this album. The title track, “One Last Thrill”, , they all flash by and as soon as they are finished, you can’t recall that much about them.

An exception is “Halo”, which has a compelling-enough chorus and an emotional underpinning that’s strong enough to engage the listener. The chorus of “Standing in the Sun” is pretty well-executed too and “Not For Me” is effectively melancholy.

The rest? Forgettable. The stark fact is that there is not one track on Apocalyptic Love that is better than the worst on Slash.

One colleague said this album sounded dated. My problem with it is that it doesn’t sound anywhere near dated enough.

Get Apocalyptic Love on CD