If there is one truly iconic image that captures the spirit of real rock ‘n’ roll in the twilight years of the twentieth century, it has to be that of Guns N’ Roses' very own Slash. Stripped to the waist, top hat perched at a rakish angle atop his curly mop of hair, whilst a cigarette hangs from his bottom lip, his pipe cleaner thin legs spread akimbo as the man himself prepares to launch into another turbo charged riff on his Les Paul guitar. This guy is/was the epitome of cool.

Right here in 2010 that iconic image may remain fully intact, but Guitar Hero adverts aside can you honestly say hand on heart that Slash has played a part in the last twenty odd years in anything as musically life changing as that 1987 heyday known as ‘Appetite For Destruction’?

If we look back at his résumé ‘GNR Lies’ may have come closest, riding on the attitude and momentum of the band’s debut, whilst ‘Use Your Illusion 1 and 2’ probably had one good album between the two of them, ‘Spaghetti Incident’ meanwhile was…well, I’ll let you fill in the blank there, and Slash’s first two solo/Snakepit albums, were sort of mildly interesting. Then we had Velvet Revolver and whilst I’ll openly admit to liking this band, did they touch that epoch making GNR debut musically? Did they fuck.

On unwrapping this ‘first’ Slash solo album for Roadrunner, I couldn’t help but get a sense of excitement running through me, as Mr Hudson is well overdue something of a return to form, and when Ian Astbury ushers in the album’s opening track ‘Ghosts’ proclaiming “kill the ghost that hides in your soul rock 'n' roll” it all sounds so prophetically perfect that I’m sporting a musical lazy lob-on at the prospect of this being one of the best albums of the year so far. Then as quickly as it arrived I lose my musically induced semi-solid faster than if I'd just had a close encounter with Sonia off Eastenders as ‘Crucify The Dead’ kicks in. Even if Ozzy delivers one of his best vocal lines in decades on the track you just can’t help thinking you’re listening to a different album and therein lies my first problem with this album. It lacks continuity.

So, whilst tracks like ‘Doctor Alibi’ with Lemmy and ‘We’re All Gonna Die’ with Iggy Pop are both pretty cool tunes, you do have to wade through a lot less memorable stuff like ‘By The Sword’ with Andrew Stockdale and ‘Gotten’ with Adam Levine to get to them. Add in the equally forgettable ‘Beautiful Dangerous’ with Fergie, and the folk rock of ‘Saint Is A Sinner Too’ with Rocco De Luca any primetime GNR fan listening at this album for the first time will be thinking what is Slash up to here?

But hold your horses, I still haven’t revealed my second problem with this album, which I actually find as equally frustrating as my first. That being when Slash does get down to some rocking like on ‘Nothing To Say’ with M Shadows, ‘Back From Cali’ with Myles Kennedy and ‘I Hold On’ with Kid Rock, he just seems content to play “Stars In Their Eyes” guitar in the style of the singer’s day job bands rather than carving out that unique Slash tone that thousands or guitarists worldwide try so damn hard to emulate. So when the album’s only instrumental ‘ Watch This’ does unfurl its chunky as fuck riff, it is a delight to finally hear Slash milking his six string arsenal for all its worth.

Look, don’t get me wrong I’m not saying this is a shit album; it’s far from that. In fact the album does have some brief moments of greatness, however it’s just a disappointment when someone like Slash appears content with this musical lot in life, and you do have to wonder how this will translate onto festival stages around the world this summer.

Fans of Slash will no doubt already own the ‘Classic Rock’ edition of this album released earlier in the year (which added a track called ‘Baby Can’t Drive’ featuring Alice Cooper and Nicole Scherzinger), and I can see them all flicking me the bird right now.

Me, I’m off to play Guitar Hero.

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