Slash with Anthony Bozza (2007) – Book Review

Author: Slash with Anthony Bozza
Published: 2007
Genre: Autobiography / Hard Rock / Guns N’ Roses / Music Memoir
Riff Report Rating: 🎸🎸🎸🎸½ – 4.5/5

Top hat.

Les Paul.

Cigarette hanging from the mouth.

Massive curly hair.

And a guitar tone recognisable within about three bloody seconds.

There aren’t many guitarists whose silhouette alone could identify them to millions of rock fans.

Slash is one of them.

But behind one of rock’s most recognisable images is a story considerably messier than the poster on your bedroom wall.

Published in 2007 and written with Anthony Bozza, Slash takes us from Saul Hudson’s unconventional childhood through the chaos of Los Angeles, the formation and spectacular rise of Guns N’ Roses, addiction, arguments, the collapse of the classic band, Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver and the guitarist’s attempts to figure out what the hell had just happened.

And right on the cover came one of the finest autobiography taglines ever printed:

β€œIt seems excessive… but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

That basically tells you everything you need to know.

Grab the imaginary Les Paul, put Appetite for Destruction on at an antisocial volume and prepare yourself.

We’re heading to the Jungle. 🌹πŸ”₯🎸

🎸 BEFORE SLASH

Before Slash became Slash, he was Saul Hudson.

Born in London in 1965, he spent part of his childhood in Britain before moving to Los Angeles.

And his upbringing was anything but conventional.

His mother, Ola Hudson, worked as a costume designer whose clients included major figures from the entertainment world, while his father, Anthony Hudson, was an artist who created album artwork.

So music, fashion, art and celebrity weren’t distant concepts.

They were part of the environment.

But young Saul wasn’t exactly strolling towards a sensible nine-to-five existence.

Thank God.

Imagine Slash working in accounts.

β€œMorning, Saul. Have you finished those spreadsheets?”

Guitar solo erupts from photocopier.

πŸŽΈπŸ˜‚

🚲 BMX BEFORE GUITARS

One of the entertaining parts of Slash’s early story is that guitar wasn’t initially the entire universe.

He was heavily into BMX riding.

Then music properly arrived.

And once it did?

Game over.

Slash initially had ideas about playing bass before discovering the guitar was where he belonged.

The instrument consumed him.

Practice.

Records.

Riffs.

Players.

Tone.

He became obsessive.

And that’s worth remembering whenever we discuss apparently effortless rock stars.

That effortless look?

Usually built on thousands upon thousands of hours of playing.

Slash didn’t wake up one morning knowing the β€œSweet Child O’ Mine” solo.

He worked at it.

Constantly.

🀝 ENTER STEVEN ADLER

An important early friendship was with Steven Adler.

The pair played music together before either became famous, and their paths would eventually lead towards one of rock history’s most volatile bands.

Los Angeles in the early 1980s was overflowing with musicians.

Hair metal was developing.

Clubs were packed.

Bands were handing out flyers everywhere.

Everyone wanted a record deal.

Everyone wanted to become the next Van Halen.

And somewhere in all that hairspray, leather and Sunset Strip madness, the ingredients of Guns N’ Roses started coming together.

🌹 GUNS N’ ROSES

Eventually the classic line-up emerged:

Axl Rose – vocals

Slash – lead guitar

Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar

Duff McKagan – bass

Steven Adler – drums

Look at that line-up.

Five completely different personalities.

Five enormous talents.

And apparently approximately zero ability to live peacefully together.

Perfect rock band. πŸ˜‚

What Guns N’ Roses possessed was chemistry.

Not manufactured chemistry.

Dangerous chemistry.

The kind where you’re never entirely certain whether you’re about to hear an incredible song or witness an argument that ends with somebody leaving the building.

🏚️ THE EARLY DAYS WERE NOT GLAMOROUS

Before the stadiums, private jets and enormous record sales came poverty.

The band lived rough.

Rehearsal spaces doubled as accommodation.

Money was scarce.

Food could be scarce.

Equipment mattered more than comfort.

The famous Hell House period became part of GN’R mythology.

This wasn’t the polished Sunset Strip glamour being sold by parts of the LA rock scene.

Guns N’ Roses looked like they might genuinely steal your wallet.

And possibly your girlfriend.

And then sell your wallet to buy guitar strings.

There was something authentically dangerous about them.

That danger would become their greatest selling point.

It would also nearly destroy them.

🚐 THE HELL TOUR

The band’s infamous early trip to Seattle became known as the Hell Tour.

And the name wasn’t marketing.

Their vehicle broke down.

Money was practically nonexistent.

Things went catastrophically wrong.

They had to find their way back to Los Angeles under miserable circumstances.

Most normal people would’ve returned home and thought:

β€œPerhaps this music career isn’t for us.”

Guns N’ Roses apparently thought:

β€œAgain?”

That’s commitment, mun. πŸ€˜πŸ˜‚

πŸ’£ APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Then came 1987.

And:

APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

One of the greatest debut albums in rock history.

No argument.

Well, you can argue.

You’ll just be wrong.

πŸ”₯🌹

β€œWelcome to the Jungle.”

β€œIt’s So Easy.”

β€œNightrain.”

β€œParadise City.”

β€œMy Michelle.”

β€œSweet Child O’ Mine.”

β€œRocket Queen.”

Absolutely ridiculous.

The album didn’t explode instantly, but once Guns N’ Roses broke through, the thing became unstoppable.

And Slash’s guitar was fundamental to it.

🎩 THE SLASH SOUND

Slash arrived at exactly the right moment.

By the late ’80s, guitar playing had become increasingly technical.

Shredders were everywhere.

Everybody wanted to play faster.

More notes.

More tapping.

More gymnastics.

Slash could absolutely play.

But his strength was something different.

Feel.

Tone.

Phrasing.

Melody.

Blues.

His playing sounded human.

And paired with Axl Rose’s extraordinary voice, it created one of rock’s great combinations.

Axl could scream into the heavens.

Slash could answer with the guitar.

Sometimes the communication between those two sounded almost telepathic.

Offstage?

Erm…

Slightly more complicated.

❀️ SWEET CHILD O’ MINE

And then there’s that riff.

You know it.

Your neighbour knows it.

Your nan probably knows it.

Some bloke testing guitars in Cardiff definitely knows it.

β€œSweet Child O’ Mine” became one of Guns N’ Roses’ biggest songs and contains one of Slash’s most famous performances.

Ironically, the opening figure began as something Slash was playing around with rather than some grand attempt to create an immortal guitar riff.

Rock history loves doing that.

Spend three weeks deliberately trying to write a masterpiece?

Nothing.

Mess about during rehearsal?

Congratulations. You’ve written something people will play for the next 50 years.

πŸ˜‚πŸŽΈ

🌍 SUDDENLY… MASSIVE

The transition from struggling LA band to global phenomenon happened incredibly quickly.

And Slash captures how disorientating that became.

Suddenly there was money.

Hotels.

Huge tours.

Fans everywhere.

Media attention.

Expectations.

Access to practically anything.

And Guns N’ Roses were not exactly five people famous for moderation.

If anything, success poured petrol onto an already blazing fire.

πŸ’‰ DRUGS, BOOZE AND THE DARKER SIDE

This is where the autobiography becomes considerably darker.

Slash writes openly about his substance use and addiction.

Heroin.

Alcohol.

Cocaine.

The rock ’n’ roll lifestyle stopped being a party and became dependency.

And that’s an important distinction.

At first, excess can sound funny.

Then you reach the point where people aren’t getting wrecked because it’s entertaining.

They’re getting wrecked because their bodies and minds demand it.

Slash doesn’t emerge from these sections looking glamorous.

Nor should he.

There are hospitalisations.

Health scares.

Rehab.

Relapses.

Relationships damaged.

Years disappearing into a haze.

The fact that Slash survived some of it feels genuinely remarkable.

πŸ₯ STEVEN ADLER LEAVES

Addiction also devastated Steven Adler.

By 1990, his drug problems had seriously affected his ability to function within Guns N’ Roses, and he was ultimately removed from the band.

His departure changed something fundamental.

Matt Sorum would become GN’R’s drummer during the enormous Use Your Illusion era.

Technically, the band remained formidable.

Commercially, they became bigger than ever.

But that scrappy gang chemistry from Appetite was changing.

The machine was getting enormous.

And increasingly difficult to control.

πŸ’Ώ USE YOUR ILLUSION

Then Guns N’ Roses did something spectacularly ambitious.

They released:

Use Your Illusion I

and

Use Your Illusion II

on the same day in 1991.

Two massive albums.

Ballads.

Hard rock.

Punk covers.

Piano.

Orchestration.

Epic song structures.

And Slash absolutely everywhere.

β€œNovember Rain.”

β€œEstranged.”

β€œCivil War.”

β€œYou Could Be Mine.”

β€œDon’t Cry.”

The scrappy Sunset Strip band had evolved into something enormous and cinematic.

And Slash’s playing expanded alongside it.

The solo in β€œNovember Rain” alone probably convinced an entire generation that standing outside a tiny church in the desert while playing a Les Paul was a perfectly normal lifestyle choice.

πŸŽΈπŸœοΈπŸ˜‚

🌧️ NOVEMBER RAIN

Let’s give that solo its moment.

Actually…

those solos.

Slash’s work on β€œNovember Rain” is a masterclass in melodic guitar playing.

He doesn’t need to play 900 notes.

Every phrase feels purposeful.

Every bend matters.

You could practically sing the guitar parts.

That’s the magic of Slash at his best.

Technical ability serving emotion.

Not the other way around.

And that’s why those solos remain so beloved.

πŸ’₯ THE USE YOUR ILLUSION TOUR: ABSOLUTE CHAOS

The Use Your Illusion Tour became one of the biggest rock tours of its era.

It was also frequently chaotic.

Shows started late.

Shows became unpredictable.

Axl’s behaviour attracted headlines.

There were riots.

Arguments.

Tension.

And behind everything was a band increasingly struggling to function as a unified group.

This is where Slash becomes especially compelling.

Because you’re hearing one side of a relationship that fascinated rock fans for decades:

Slash and Axl Rose.

🌹 AXL AND SLASH

They needed each other.

They frustrated each other.

Together, they created incredible music.

Eventually, they couldn’t continue working together.

Slash’s account naturally comes from Slash’s perspective, and that’s important to remember.

Autobiographies aren’t court transcripts.

Everyone remembers relationships differently.

But it’s fascinating hearing Slash describe the increasing tension surrounding Guns N’ Roses.

Control.

Musical direction.

Touring.

Communication.

Contracts.

Personnel.

Everything became complicated.

And eventually the classic Guns N’ Roses machine collapsed.

πŸšͺ SLASH WALKS AWAY

By the mid-1990s, Slash’s relationship with Guns N’ Roses had deteriorated beyond repair.

He officially left the band in 1996.

Think about how enormous that was.

Slash wasn’t simply leaving a successful band.

He was walking away from Guns N’ Roses.

One of the biggest bands on Earth.

And the image of Axl and Slash together had become almost inseparable from rock culture.

But sometimes staying becomes more destructive than leaving.

So Slash moved on.

🐍 SLASH’S SNAKEPIT

Enter Slash’s Snakepit.

The project gave Slash an opportunity to return to something looser and more guitar-driven outside the gigantic expectations surrounding Guns N’ Roses.

Snakepit never became GN’R-sized.

Realistically, almost nothing could.

But that’s not really the point.

It allowed Slash to keep playing.

And one thing becomes abundantly clear throughout this autobiography:

Slash needs to play guitar.

Fame is secondary.

Celebrity is secondary.

The bloke simply loves the instrument.

Take away the stadium and he’d probably still be somewhere playing blues licks through an amp.

πŸ”₯ VELVET REVOLVER

Then came one of the great rock supergroups of the 2000s.

Velvet Revolver.

Slash.

Duff McKagan.

Matt Sorum.

Dave Kushner.

And former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland.

Bloody hell.

That’s a line-up.

Their debut album Contraband arrived in 2004 and proved Slash hadn’t disappeared into classic-rock nostalgia.

Songs like β€œSlither” sounded dangerous, modern and unmistakably powered by that Les Paul.

Velvet Revolver gave Slash another major band.

Not Guns N’ Roses Mark II.

Something different.

And importantly, something successful in its own right.

🎀 SCOTT WEILAND

Reading the Velvet Revolver sections today carries additional sadness.

Scott Weiland died in 2015.

Like Slash, Weiland had long struggled with addiction.

That makes parts of their shared story especially poignant now.

The chemistry was undeniable.

So were the difficulties.

Again, rock history delivers that frustrating combination:

Brilliant music created by people fighting enormous personal battles.

πŸ’€ SLASH’S HEALTH SCARES

Years of substance abuse inevitably took a toll.

Slash recounts serious health problems, including heart issues that eventually required medical intervention.

There comes a point where the mythology crashes into biology.

Your body doesn’t care how many millions of records you’ve sold.

Eventually it sends the bill.

And Slash’s survival becomes one of the quieter extraordinary elements of the book.

He pushed himself astonishingly hard.

Yet somehow he came through the other side.

πŸ˜‚ AND YES… THERE’S PLENTY OF MADNESS

Don’t worry.

This isn’t 400 pages of sombre reflection.

There are loads of completely ridiculous stories.

Touring.

Sex.

Drugs.

Arguments.

Animals.

Hotels.

Cars.

Guitars.

People appearing in situations where absolutely nobody involved seems to understand what’s happening.

At various points, Slash feels like you’re listening to a bloke calmly describe something completely insane before adding:

β€œYeah… probably wasn’t a great idea.”

No kidding, mate. πŸ˜‚

That’s part of Slash’s charm as a narrator.

He’s surprisingly matter-of-fact.

πŸ“– ANTHONY BOZZA KEEPS IT MOVING

Working with writer Anthony Bozza, Slash tells the story in an accessible, conversational style.

It doesn’t feel like some grand literary exercise.

Good.

It shouldn’t.

This is Slash.

You want stories.

You want guitars.

You want Guns N’ Roses history.

You want chaos.

And you want enough reflection to understand what was happening underneath it.

The book delivers.

⚠️ THE BIG LIMITATION: 2007

Here’s the really fascinating thing about reading Slash now.

It ends in 2007.

And anyone familiar with what happened afterwards is currently grinning.

Because the story became considerably bigger.

Slash went on to establish an enormously successful solo career.

His collaboration with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators became a major part of his musical life.

And then came something that, when this book appeared, many fans thought might never happen.

🌹 SLASH RETURNED TO GUNS N’ ROSES

Yep.

After years of bitterness, arguments and endless speculation…

Slash and Duff McKagan returned to Guns N’ Roses alongside Axl Rose in 2016.

The Not in This Lifetime… Tour became enormous.

Axl and Slash were sharing stages again.

For anyone who lived through the years when reconciliation seemed utterly impossible, seeing those two standing together was surreal.

And that’s what makes the autobiography such an interesting time capsule.

You’re reading Slash discussing relationships without knowing how dramatically the next chapter will change them.

History hadn’t finished yet.

🎸 DOES IT STILL HOLD UP?

Absolutely.

In fact, knowing what happened later arguably makes it even more fascinating.

This is Slash telling his story before reconciliation.

Before the Guns N’ Roses reunion.

Before years of solo albums with Myles Kennedy.

Before the later chapters of his career.

That gives the book a specific historical perspective.

It captures where Slash’s head was at in 2007.

And for Guns N’ Roses fans, that’s invaluable.

🀘 THE MUSICIAN BEHIND THE IMAGE

Perhaps the best thing about Slash is that underneath all the mythology, you come away appreciating the musician.

Because the image is enormous.

🎩 Top hat.

😎 Sunglasses.

🚬 Cigarette.

🎸 Les Paul.

But none of that would matter if the bloke couldn’t play.

Slash has spent decades creating riffs and solos people can remember.

That’s harder than shredding.

Anyone can practise until they become technically impressive.

Writing a guitar part millions of people recognise after three notes?

That’s different.

β€œSweet Child O’ Mine.”

β€œParadise City.”

β€œWelcome to the Jungle.”

β€œNovember Rain.”

β€œEstranged.”

β€œSlither.”

There’s your evidence.

🎸 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT

Slash is exactly the kind of rock autobiography you hope Slash would write.

It’s messy.

Funny.

Honest.

Occasionally horrifying.

Packed with Guns N’ Roses history.

And absolutely soaked in rock ’n’ roll.

But underneath the debauchery is a surprisingly straightforward story:

A kid fell completely in love with guitar and never really stopped.

Everything else β€” fame, money, addiction, stadiums, arguments, supergroups and top hats β€” happened around that obsession.

The book isn’t perfect.

It’s one person’s perspective, particularly when discussing the collapse of Guns N’ Roses.

And because it was published in 2007, an enormous chunk of Slash’s later career is naturally absent.

That’s the only thing keeping us from the full five guitars.

But as a document of the journey from Saul Hudson to one of the most recognisable guitarists in history?

Absolute belter.

⭐ RIFF REPORT RATING: 🎸🎸🎸🎸½ – 4.5/5

Wild, funny, surprisingly reflective and overflowing with riffs.

Read it for Guns N’ Roses.

Read it for Velvet Revolver.

Read it for the Sunset Strip madness.

Read it for the guitar stories.

And read it because somewhere beneath that giant pile of hair is one of the greatest rock guitarists of his generation.

Now excuse us.

We’ve got to go stand outside a tiny desert church and attempt the β€œNovember Rain” solo.

We’ve only got three problems:

We don’t have a Les Paul.

We don’t have a desert.

And we can’t play the bloody solo.

Other than that?

Nailed it. 🎩🎸πŸ”₯

πŸ’¬ OVER TO YOU, RIFFERS!

Have you read Slash?

What’s the greatest Slash guitar solo ever recorded?

β€œNovember Rain”? β€œSweet Child O’ Mine”? β€œEstranged”? β€œParadise City”? β€œSlither”?

And where does Slash rank among your all-time guitar heroes?

Get stuck into the comments, butt. πŸ‘‡πŸ€˜

Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. πŸ‰πŸ€˜

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