Slash – Orgy Of The Damned

Written by on 22-07-2024 at 19:30.

As a reviewer, you often spend a whole section of the review introducing a fledgeling or lesser-known band. With Slash, as one of the figureheads of Guns n’ Roses, this is of course superfluous: who doesn’t know this now 59-year-old guitarist with the curly hair?But the man already has quite a career outside of Guns ‘n’ Roses under his belt, both solo – Orgy Of The Damned is his fifth solo album – and in bands he may or may not have founded himself. Just think of Slash’s Blues Ball, Slash’s Snakepit and Velvet Revolver.

Well, there you have it: the word ‘blues’ has been dropped. The central word of this review. Because Orgy Of The Damned – although that is not immediately apparent from the title – is an ode to Slash‘s musical (blues) examples. And as with previous work, he once again calls on a host of international artists for this. Mainly for the vocals, of course, but also for guitar work, harmonica … And that can easily be someone from outside the rock world. In the past, Fergie, for instance, was allowed to perform, now it is the turn of the young pop phenomenon Demi Lovato. ‘Blues’ and ‘young’ do not always go well together. Certainly not if you look at the artists and their fan base. Although among artists, there are exceptions. Just think of French guitarist Laura Cox, American Samantha Fish who was recently joined by Slash onstage to jam, or Australian child starlet Taj Farrant who was discovered in Australia Got Talent in 2019 as a nine-year-old and carries the blues inside him as if he were the great-grandson of BB King and Etta James plagued by indigestible Weltschmerz.

But we were talking about Demi Lovato, then. She is in charge of vocals in the song that may be catalogued as groovy soul music rather than blues: Papa Was A Rolling Stone. An evergreen it is, a song everyone knows and sings or mumbles along to, but rather long and repetitive. Lovato does her thing with it, but the star of the song in this cover is Slash himself, who turns it into an attractive whole again with a lofty solo. Neither typical blues but very much seventies-swinging is the almost seven-minute-long Stevie Wonder cover Living For The City.

Not that every guest artist is equally well-known. Like Tash Neal on that song Living For The City and who now accompanies Slash on tour. Nor did singer Dorothy (Martin) of the eponymous band immediately ring a big bell. But she does appear to have been around for about a decade on the American hard rock and blues rock circuit. The song she contributes to, Key To The Highway, isn’t the best known either, but she clearly has the voice for it. You know, so just appropriately raspy, a bit à la Janis Joplin or Beth Hart. The latter, by the way, performs a very lived-in version of Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker on this album. Handsome work! Despite Slash‘s ample guitar work (or what did you think), this still hasn’t become a heavy rock album, the song choice takes care of that. Still, I don’t find all the songs equally successful. Iggy Pop gets credit for cannoning a rather soft song by Lightnin’ Hopkins, but it sucks. Iggy should rock, not be a crooner!

Fortunately, there are quite a few top moments. Killing Floor ran with a lot of attention from the start, not least because of the presence of AC/DC singer Brian Johnson with support from Aerosmith figurehead Steven Tyler on harmonica. Personally, I have always remained more of a fan of Bon Scott’s blues feel in AC/DC, but Johnson has kilos of personality and more than does it justice. Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac is also covered. Very good version by the way, in this case by country singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton. Definitely worth mentioning: Billy Gibbons stirring the strings with Slash on Willy Dixon‘s Hoochie Coochie Man. Real swamp blues that this duo excels at! To sum up: a pretty varied, twelve-song blues cover album that listens away very easily, that’s what Slash‘s Orgy Of The Damned has become.

Slash

Label:

Gibson Records, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. The Pusher feat. Chris Robinson (vocals, harmonica)
    Original by Wayne Hoyt Axton
  2. Crossroads feat. Gary Clark Jr. (vocals, guitar)
    Original by Robert Leroy Johnson
  3. Hoochie Coochie Man feat. Billy F. Gibbons (vocals, guitar)
    Original by Willie Dixon
  4. Oh Well feat. Chris Stapleton (vocals)
    Original by Peter Alan Green
  5. Key to the Highway feat. Dorothy (vocals)
    Original by Charles Segar, William Broonzy
  6. Awful Dream feat. Iggy Pop (vocals)
    Original by Sam (Lightnin’) Hopkins, Clarence Lewis, C. Morgan Robinson
  7. Born Under a Bad Sign feat. Paul Rodgers (vocals)
    Original by William Bell and Booker T. Jones
  8. Papa Was a Rolling Stone feat. Demi Lovato (vocals)
    Original by Barrett Strong and Jesse Norman Whitfield
  9. Killing Floor feat. Brian Johnson (vocals) with special guest Steven Tyler (harmonica)
    Original by Chester Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf)
  10. Living for the City feat. Tash Neal (vocals) with special guest: Jenna Bell and Jessie  Payo (background vocals)
    Original by Stevie Wonder
  11. Stormy Monday feat. Beth Hart (vocals)
    Original by T-Bone Walker
  12. Metal Chestnut
    Original by Slash

Line-up:

  • Slash

Links: