19 October 2018
Marco Gandolfi
Slash, of Guns N’ Roses fame, has recently confirmed a new album is on the way – 25 years after their last release. The band’s first album in two and a half decades comes on the back of a recent and highly successful world tour, which helped prove to any doubters that the rock star supremos have as great a following today as they ever had at the height of their fame.
The man who gave us one of the most memorable guitar solos in history in November Rain has shared that the album is "in good shape" and that they’re "writing all the time".
Inspired by their audience
According to the guitarist, their new music was directly inspired by their audience, with the band having such a blast on their Not In This Lifetime world tour that they were driven right back to the drawing board at its close.
Speaking to Revolver magazine, the rocker revealed: “We want to do something. We’ve been on the road this entire time, we have another leg coming up in November in Asia, then we’re going to start looking at what the next step is going to be.”
Sharing why he started to write music again, Slash (real name Saul Hudson) laid his motivation at the feet of his many fans: “I was reminded of the significance the band and the records have had for people. That is almost a surreal kind of feeling. After being away from it for so long, and going out having the enthusiasm and love that people have shown the band, it’s very humbling.”
It’s certainly true that the band’s following hasn’t waned in the intervening years. Still listened to and adored by millions of music lovers all around the world, Guns N’ Roses have spent the last two and a half decades being featured on TV and movie soundtracks as well as having their faces plastered across all sorts of merchandise. This, unusually, even includes a licensed, official slot game developed by NetEnt for online players. To suit the rock and roll theme, the game also features full songs by the band, among which are some of their biggest hits off Appetite for Destruction.
A healthy camaraderie
The popularity of the band’s music isn’t all that has endured; so too has the relationship between members Duff McKagan, Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, and Hudson himself. The guitarist shared: “There was really great camaraderie from the get go since we got back together. It’s been really healthy.”
Slash has not been the only one hard at work. The rock star revealed that Axl Rose has also been creating a lot of new material, with much of it having already been recorded. This means something seriously exciting: Fans might not have to wait long at all for the album itself to be released.
And it may not be the only one that gets made, with the musician stating: “I think we’re going to go well on into the future. I mean, Axl’s got a ton of s**t that he recorded already, so we’re going to get in there and just start getting into that thing, and then if we do a record and then do a tour, I could see that cycle going on endlessly.”
