why i love slash

[D]

i remember since 5th grade writing lyrics and dreaming of being a musician,

i was very poor as a kid, projects, eating soup beans 4 days a week, eating out was like thanksgiving, we were just poor, my dad was an alcoholic and abusive and gambled all the money away

we wore hand me down clothes etc etc

we couldnt afford to buy cassettes so the only music i heard was on night tracks on tbs, or my brother would luck up and a friend would copy him stuff on a tape, *which is how i became a bon jovi fan*

anyhow i remember seeing GNR for the first time, they were raw,hungry,street lookin guys and slash's guitar spoke to me as much as axl's vocals

anyhow my dad was drunk one day and i talked him into buying me a guitar, i wanted to be just like slash but of course i couldnt cause i just didnt have the patience

he ended up selling my guitar

i remember saving every penny i had and buying use your illusion 2, that cd changed my life, i hadnt heard afd, i remembered gnr because of scom wttj and pc that i saw on tv, so i bought uyi 2, instantly i knew that music was what i had to do

i ended up getting a guitar, inspired by slash i practiced and practiced and practiced, it also gave me an escape from my miserable shitty life, i didnt have distortion, i had one of those cheap fuckin guitars with a built in amp, but it was good enough

the reason im writing this, is because over the last few years ive turned into more of a lighter side ballad love song singer songwriter, but since ive bought contraband, i have really re connected with my roots *which is slash* and for the first time since i was a  kid i just sit and played guitar from 6am till noon today, just jammin and creating the hardest bluesiest slashesque riffs, something ive never been able to do b4, and they just flowed so easy


tonight while i was joggin i had contraband in my discman and someone said "who are u listening to" i said "velvet revolver"

they asked who it was and i said guns n roses with scott weiland from STP singing instead of axl

thats the first time ive ever said that



anyhow this post is one big rambled incoherent mess

but slash when i was a child and had no future gave me hope and inspired me and made me believe it was possible to better my situation and improve my life and that it was ok to chase my dreams


plus slash is a frontman playin guitar, no other guitarist ive ever seen gives off as much energy and passion live than slash

i love axl everyone knows that, but slash is almost on equal level as axl, without discovering slash as a youth i wouldnt be creating music and playing guitar today


has slash inspired anyone else?  we always talk about axl and this guy and that guy, but lets take a moment and give slash the credit he deserves

[Smoking Guns]

"plus slash is a frontman playin guitar, no other guitarist ive ever seen gives off as much energy and passion live than slash"  Well said.

D, I feel a lot like you do.  I didn't come from an environment like Slash or anything.  But he too inspired me to play guitar.  He just gives me chills.  To me is the perfect guitar player.  He is truly amazing.  With out Slash, VR could still be good.  But VR has someone that nobody else has.  They have Slash.  When I watch the Letterman performance and he hits that solo, it makes me realize how awesome he is.  And he hit the big time at such a young age too.  I think he was only 21.  To be that talented, it is just unreal.  The guy can't even read tab.  I too have great admiration for the guy and he does deserve much more credit.  And he is so humble about it.  Angus Young is second on my most inspirational list.  

[D]

slash and prince are the only 2 guitarist that i buy a cd just to hear their guitar solos their tone and melodic styles are second to none in my book!

[metallex78]

Yeah, I agree with you D, but Slash does get allot of credit, even if it isn't so obvious here.
Just check out ANY guitar magazine over the last 15 years or more, and even today he's still referred to as a guitar god.

I just love Slash's style. I mean he can sound like he's sloppily sliding all over the guitar neck, but it all just fits. His tone, his style, his attitude, it's all great. His style inspired me to play guitar too.

I've been listening to allot of other bands over the last few years, but since the formation of VR, I've gone back and watched and listened to all of my old GN'R stuff, and I fell in love with his playing all over again.

I hope Velvet Revolver come to Australia soon so I can finally see this guy live!

[vicarious existence]

Slash has inspired me to play guitar as well. I got a guitar years ago for my birthday, and thought it was cool for a while, but I got bored after a little while. Then a year or 2 later I started getting into GNR, and I was just amazed by Slash's style, attitude, etc. So listening to him play inspired me to pick up my guitar again, and now I usually jam at least a little bit every day.

[matt88]

I'll join this list.

Slash completely 100% influenced me in learning guitar.

His look, style, stage presence and Tone which is so fucking beautifull...are the best i have ever seen.

His energy on stage has NEVER been matched. He cranks up a sweat straight away and never fails in making the hair stand up on the back of my neck with his excellent playing.

[D]

this is not a diss on slash but also he showed me that u dont have to be mr beefcake hunk wonderful hot guy to be cool

slash i dont think would be considered good lookin by to many but his guitar playin made him sexy to chicks etc

i was an outcast, weird unattractive guy in my teens and i had no dates or gf, didnt get my first kiss till i was 21 years old didnt lose my virginity till i was 23 but i always had and still have my guitar

its never let me down and i remember being in band and my band director made me play "proud mary" by CCR on guitar, he made me solo the melody but during this long break he let me improv and play whatever i wanted

so when it came to my solo, i clicked on my distortion, turned up my guitar and got in my hero slash's guitar solo stance and blew the fuckin roof off of that gym, i got a standing ovation and people in my school looked at me different from that day forward

the guitar is a powerful instrument! and it transcends race,social status everything

im sorry this shit really doesnt fit into anything, its just listening to VR made me remember what an impact slash had on my life an impact to be honest with u i had forgotten

[Mr Cowbell ?]

Hell yeah in the begining of the video for SCOM, I love to hear slash plug into his live amp. I wish the album had the amp crack sound before the sound. In my book slash will always be on top of the guitarist mountain.

[matt88]

Yeh the guitar is a powerfull weapon.

Ever since i've played it and people have seen me playing the chicks have come at a faster rate than before

[Mr Cowbell ?]

i was an outcast, weird unattractive guy in my teens and i had no dates or gf, didnt get my first kiss till i was 21 years old didnt lose my virginity till i was 23 but i always had and still have my guitar

so when it came to my solo, i clicked on my distortion, turned up my guitar and got in my hero slash's guitar solo stance and blew the fuckin roof off of that gym, i got a standing ovation and people in my school looked at me different from that day forward

If these PEOPLE looked at you in a different way after you blew the roof off the gym. How come you didnt come into your own until 21?

[Imfuckincrazy]

plus slash is a frontman playin guitar, no other guitarist ive ever seen gives off as much energy and passion live than slash

Very true...

Thanks for creating this thread, D...

I can't really describe how much Slash has influenced me... what can I say that hasn't already been said? To me, he is the most inspirational guitarist who ever lived. He is the whole reason why I came to appreciate music... I was four years old, wanting to play guitar "just like Slash."

I spent a summer with my cousin because after my father died, my mom had to go back to school and get a job, and he (my cousin) was really into Guns N' Roses... so I left for home with my own copy of Appetite For Destruction and, after begging my cousin, a guitar.

My mom was never a big fan of GNR, in fact she hated them, so she got mad that her four year old was going around singing GNR songs, and she took away my CD. I tried learn to play guitar but I was too impatient, so I set it down for about a year, and then my mom sold my guitar...

Of course, I got back into GNR when I was about 10, but my mom still doesn't like me listening to GNR (because "Axl Rose is a bigot" and other stupid shit), and she won't even let me see VR live. I told her the other day that I would like to meet Slash and the band, and she said, "All they'd want to do is get in your pants. Guns N' Roses are known for that shit." Ugh, whatever. I'm sick of arguing with her about something that she obviously has no clue about.

She doesn't understand how important it is to me. It's not fair. She should know how I feel because GNR was/is to me was what Queen was and is to her.

Anyway, back to the guitar... When my mom met her boyfriend (who is a musician - he was the keyboardist for Icehouse back in the 80s) about 6 months ago, I picked up the guitar again (because he can teach me and my mom isn't complaining), and of course my main inspiration is no other than Slash. He's what motivates me to keep practicing and keep trying... and of course sometimes I get discouraged... I know I'll never be as good as Slash (I think that's impossible). But when you think about it... take religion for example - you can't be as perfect as God but you should strive to be like him. So, Slash is my religion.

[D]

i was an outcast, weird unattractive guy in my teens and i had no dates or gf, didnt get my first kiss till i was 21 years old didnt lose my virginity till i was 23 but i always had and still have my guitar

so when it came to my solo, i clicked on my distortion, turned up my guitar and got in my hero slash's guitar solo stance and blew the fuckin roof off of that gym, i got a standing ovation and people in my school looked at me different from that day forward

If these PEOPLE looked at you in a different way after you blew the roof off the gym. How come you didnt come into your own until 21?

lmmfao hold up i just realized something, i got totally confused, i lost my virginity at 21 got my first kiss when i was 19, damn im losing my mind, i just realized i frigged that up, yeah it came shortly before that actually

i had a girlfriend that was a virgin and wanted to wait till marriage to do it, so i respected her wishes and dated her for bout 4 years or so ,

i didnt mean look at me like everyone all of a sudden wanted to fuck me or be my best friend but they respected me after that!

[D]

plus slash is a frontman playin guitar, no other guitarist ive ever seen gives off as much energy and passion live than slash

Very true...

Thanks for creating this thread, D...

I can't really describe how much Slash has influenced me... what can I say that hasn't already been said? To me, he is the most inspirational guitarist who ever lived. He is the whole reason why I came to appreciate music... I was four years old, wanting to play guitar "just like Slash."

I spent a summer with my cousin because after my father died, my mom had to go back to school and get a job, and he (my cousin) was really into Guns N' Roses... so I left for home with my own copy of Appetite For Destruction and, after begging my cousin, a guitar.

My mom was never a big fan of GNR, in fact she hated them, so she got mad that her four year old was going around singing GNR songs, and she took away my CD. I tried learn to play guitar but I was too impatient, so I set it down for about a year, and then my mom sold my guitar...

Of course, I got back into GNR when I was about 10, but my mom still doesn't like me listening to GNR (because "Axl Rose is a bigot" and other stupid shit), and she won't even let me see VR live. I told her the other day that I would like to meet Slash and the band, and she said, "All they'd want to do is get in your pants. Guns N' Roses are known for that shit." Ugh, whatever. I'm sick of arguing with her about something that she obviously has no clue about.

She doesn't understand how important it is to me. It's not fair. She should know how I feel because GNR was/is to me was what Queen was and is to her.

Anyway, back to the guitar... When my mom met her boyfriend (who is a musician - he was the keyboardist for Icehouse back in the 80s) about 6 months ago, I picked up the guitar again (because he can teach me and my mom isn't complaining), and of course my main inspiration is no other than Slash. He's what motivates me to keep practicing and keep trying... and of course sometimes I get discouraged... I know I'll never be as good as Slash (I think that's impossible). But when you think about it... take religion for example - you can't be as perfect as God but you should strive to be like him. So, Slash is my religion.

awesome stuff crazy! i dont think anyone can be as good as slash but im definitely a more emotional and better guitarist thanks to slash

thanks for sharing that, i love it when people arent afraid to share their personal history!

[Dizzy]

Slash hasn't influenced me to play guitar, but if I did, I'd want to be just like him.  The passion, the power, the precision, the emotion, everything.....  I love putting on GNR songs and listening to his beautiful solos with my eyes closed, because he plays the kind of music you can feel rather than just hear.

[Rebecca Duff Rose]

D man I love you and respect you from the bottom of my heart!!

I can remember me joining this fantastic board last year- you made me feel like home straight away! And for that I thank you man!  

I feel the same way with Duff- my lifes a load of b*ll*cks!
And I adore Slash, Duff and GNR loads cos they take me away! They free me!  
 

[Mr Cowbell ?]

lmmfao hold up i just realized something, i got totally confused, i lost my virginity at 21 got my first kiss when i was 19, damn im losing my mind, i just realized i frigged that up, yeah it came shortly before that actually

i had a girlfriend that was a virgin and wanted to wait till marriage to do it, so i respected her wishes and dated her for bout 4 years or so ,

i didnt mean look at me like everyone all of a sudden wanted to fuck me or be my best friend but they respected me after that!

Yeah earning respect from people is the best you can earn. Sorry just thought maybe you stayed in highschool for a couple of extra years or something.

[Dave_Rose]

Yes Slash is the reason why I play guitar still learning and Slash just makes my jaw drop about his playing I love the guy.

[tomass74]

Awesome post.  

[Rebecca Duff Rose]

Awesome post.  

I love ya avatar!