Album Review: Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators - 4
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Unsurprisingly, ‘4’ is the fourth album from Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators. I’ll admit that I’m relatively ambivalent about the GnR guitarist and his mainstream output. His self-titled solo album that was released in 2010 remains my favourite, the variation in vocalists providing more interest than the albums that followed, although the three previous releases with Kennedy & the Conspirators are more collaborative group efforts than solo work. The Conspirators take the shape of Brent Fitz on drums, bassist Todd Kerns and guitarist Frank Sidoris and they are a solid outfit. Now, I have nothing against Myles Kennedy possesses a fine voice, one of the best in the business.
‘4’ opens with the upbeat ‘The River is Rising’. Nothing to complain about here, it’s a hard rock track full of swagger with Kennedy hitting the higher echelons of his vocal range early. There are the typical throwaway flicks, the drumming is solid if unspectacular and the format follows the pattern you’d expect. A brief drop in tempo leads to the solo which is almost Country in feel. It’s a dependable start.
The production on the album is as you’d expect, crisp and polished. The recording was completed live in Nashville at the RCA Studio A with producer Dave Cobb. There is a definite cohesion on the album which may have been absent on previous releases. ‘Whatever Gets You By’ follows with a smouldering feel, a bluesy number which works well, ‘The Path Less Followed’ sees Kennedy and Slash really letting loose, almost as if the first few tracks were the warm-ups, with Slash’s solo particularly enjoyable.
The challenge for me with this album is that whilst it’s all executed superbly, the music is rather generic. There’s little that grabs you by the lapels and shakes you. This is music you might put on whilst reading, washing up or darning your socks (does anyone still do that?) ‘Spirit Love’ for example, is a medium-paced track with an oriental flavour, but it is just a little dull. You can repeat that for ‘Fill My World’, the mandatory slower song which is radio friendly but oh so average.
The album does at least threaten to finish with a bit of fire. ‘Call off the Dogs’ was apparently written at the last minute, and the spontaneity is evident as it’s a pacy, punchy song that powers along neatly with a raucous middle section which sees Slash in fine soloing form. It’s got audience participation written all over it, with Kerns bass lines diving in to take centre stage. And then we arrive at the closing song, ‘Fall Back to Earth’. At over six minutes in length, it's by far the longest track on ‘4’. It’s a strange track, gentle and fragile in parts which segue into a heartfelt chorus that overlaps Kennedy’s singing with Slash’s soulful playing. It’s one of the better songs on the album, in part thanks to the slower pace which allows the band to stretch out a bit.
‘4’ is an album that will no doubt satisfy Slash’s many fans and it’s certainly not a bad album. The absence of anything to really stir the emotions in terms of uniqueness might be more to do with my expectations. However, with so much music available these days, it takes a lot to really grab my attention.
