Lords of Metal
Arrow Lords of Metal

SLASH releases making of 'Orgy Of The Damned' album episode one

Photocredit: Gene Kirkland

17-06-2024

GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash has released the first in a series of webisodes featuring footage from the making of his star-studded new album “Orgy Of The Damned”, which came out on May 17 via Gibson Records. The LP features guest appearances by AC/DC‘s Brian JohnsonAEROSMITH‘s Steven TylerIggy PopChris StapletonTHE BLACK CROWES‘ Chris RobinsonZZ TOP‘s Billy F. GibbonsBAD COMPANY‘s Paul RodgersDemi Lovato and Gary Clark Jr.Slash is backed on the album by prior collaborators Johnny Griparic (bass) and Teddy Andreadis (keyboards),as well as drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.

Regarding the inspiration for the “Orgy Of The Damned” album title, Slash told Germany’s Rock Antenne: “It’s the only title I came up with. It was just because blues and rock and roll have always been considered taboo and devil’s music and all that kind of stuff. And it’s ‘hide your kids from that.’ And I wasn’t raised to think that, but I know society at large has always had that kind of attitude towards it, but of blues especially. And so when I thought about having a collaborative thing with all these different artists doing a blues record — ‘Orgy Of The Damned’, right? It seems so obvious to me, and I actually Googled it to see if somebody else had already used it, but they hadn’t.”

When the interviewer suggested that it must have been a “logistical nightmare” getting all those guest musicians to appear on the LP, Slash said: “It’s difficult. I mean, you basically just have to get on the phone, and if they say ‘yes’, then okay. So that’s really the hardest part, is calling people up and asking the question and seeing if they’ll do it. And I was fortunate doing this, because I picked songs that… What I would do is I’d have the song and then go, ‘Okay, who should sing this?’ And whoever came to mind as being the appropriate singer, I would call them up. But, fortunately, I picked the right song for them to sing and so they would identify with it automatically. And so then that would make them feel more obligated to get involved and sing it properly or whatever goes through one’s mind. But it was great because all the different artists were so open to the material and it really meant something to them. So, what happened was the vocal delivery really came from the heart; they were really singing from a place of connecting with the material.”

Asked if there was anybody he wanted to get to appear on the album but couldn’t, Slash said: “Well, the biggest one, really, the one that bums me out was([late MOTÖRHEAD leader) Lemmy. That was because there was a moment there where [I thought], ‘Fuck, man, Lemmy would be great.’ And I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that he’s not here, ’cause I’m so used to him being there. So that was the big one. I try not to make a big deal out of it. There’s some people that I couldn’t contact until after the record was done. And then they showed up, and I would tell them the record’s done already. But other than that, everybody that I thought of were there.”

In reflection of the album process, Slash now released the first episode of the making of the album.

Although he grew up in England, Slash‘s American grandmother turned him on to the blues early on and he was immediately taken with B.B. King. At the same time, his parents raised him on a healthy diet of ’60s British rock ‘n’ roll, from THE WHO to THE KINKS. Once he moved to Laurel Canyon, Slash found himself surrounded by rock and folk singers like Joni MitchellCROSBY, STILLS & NASH and Neil Young — all of whom eventually inspired his playing and songwriting. It wasn’t until he began playing guitar himself that Slash realized all of his favorite musicians had been influenced by the same B.B. King blues records he’d listened to as a young kid.

Slash has recently released his sixth solo album titled “Orgy Of The Damned”, released on May 17 via Gibson Records.  A collection of 12 songs that shakes up and revitalizes blues classics with a stripped-down, instinctive approach, “Orgy Of The Damned” creates a singular expression that pays homage to the blues. The second single “Oh Well” — which features guitarist / producer Chris Stapleton on vocals can be seen below.  The song was originally written by Peter Alan Green for Fleetwood Mac

Stream “Oh Well”  below.

Watch the previously released “Killing Floor”, featuring AC/DC singer Brian Johnson below.

Slash spoke to Steve Migs of Audacy Check In about his upcoming solo album called “Orgy Of The Damned”, a collection of 12 songs that shakes up and revitalizes blues classics with a stripped-down, instinctive approach. Due out May 17 via Gibson Records, the LP features such guest vocalists as AC/DC‘s Brian JohnsonIggy PopTHE BLACK CROWES‘ Chris RobinsonGary Clark Jr.ZZ TOP‘s Billy F GibbonsDorothyBAD COMPANY‘s Paul Rodgers, pop star Demi Lovato and country artist Chris Stapleton. The first track to be released is a rendition of Howlin’ Wolf‘s “Killing Floor”, with Johnson on vocals and AEROSMITH‘s Steven Tyler on harmonica.

Regarding why he chose to record a blues album at this point of his career, Slash told Audacy Check In: “When I was a kid, I got turned on to a lot of blues music coming up. But then, as a guitar player, I was turned on by Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton and all those sort of guys that came out of the U.K. And I quickly found out that their particular styles were all rooted in that music that I grew up listening to previously. So it was a full-circle thing for me. But those original musicians, when you listen to the original tracks, like Eric Clapton and Rory Gallagher and all these great guitar players and also singers that have come along that came out of the sort of English explosion there, British, whatever you call it… And they’re so phenomenal, but when you listen to those original guys, man, it’s some serious fucking shit. The feel and just the natural kind of cadence and just the delivery of those songs from those original artists is something that you really can’t touch. Even some of the best blues guys around can only barely scratch the surface on how great some of that original stuff was.”

As for how he got Johnson and Tyler to appear on “Killing Floor”Slash said: “That’s a good question. I had the song and I was trying to think who would be great to do it. And Brian came to mind. And I’ve known Brian for a pretty long time now. And he just has that great kind of grit to his voice. And I called him up and it turns out that he’s a huge fuckin Howlin’ Wolf protégé. And so he had been in cover bands before AC/DC and even before GEORDIE. And also, he was telling me that he’s doing something at present where he’s putting together sort of a blues-orchestra thing. Don’t quote me on that, but something to that effect. Anyway, and so he was excited to do that particular song anyway. And that’s the key thing that you’re looking for, is that when you call any of these great artists up and you have a cover song that you want to attack and if they would be willing to participate, that the song speaks to them, that it has meaning to them too, not just me. And that’s how it was with Brian. He was, like, ‘Oh, fucking great. Yeah, let’s do this.’ And then Steven Tyler came in. He came to my studio after Brian had already done the vocal. And I’m trying to remember exactly… I mean, he came in to do the harmonica or he just happened to have a harmonica with him. I can’t remember, but I played him the track. It was, like, ‘This is great.’ So it was very spontaneous. It was very just sort of inspired in the moment, which is a great thing to be able to capture, especially nowadays because people just, by and large, don’t make records like that now. Everything is very well thought out and cultivated and homogenized and produced, and this was just very, very off the cuff.”

On the topic of Pop‘s contribution to “Orgy Of The Damned”Slash said: “The Iggy Pop thing, that recording was actually very special because it was something that — it was the only song on the record that was delivered to me as an idea from the singer. In other words, I already had the songs and I went to them, but in Iggy‘s case, I found out through the grapevine — actually from our bass player — that we’d read somewhere that Iggy would always wanna do a blues thing, but he’s just never done it. So I called Iggy — I’ve worked with Iggy a lot over the years, and I called him up and I said, ‘Well, if there was a track that you would wanna do, what would it be?’ And it was Lightnin’ Hopkins‘s ‘Awful Dream’, which is such a left-field, obscure track. And when you listen to it, I’m pretty sure it’s an outtake that was done between takes or at the end of the session. You have to hear it. It’s not really put together; it’s just sort of like a loose jam. But Iggy is pretty profound, and there was a lyrical content in there that he really fuckin related to. Anyway, so when we did the song, we just sat in the lounge at my studio, which is really just one room — just a tiny little room — and he sat on a stool and I sat on a stool and Michael Jerome played drums right next to us and we just did it live right there. And it was something that meant a lot to Iggy, so the way that he sang it was very, very emotionally effective.”

“Orgy Of The Damned” track listing:
01. The Pusher (feat. Chris Robinson)
02. Crossroads (feat. Gary Clark Jr.)
03. Hoochie Coochie Man (feat. Billy Gibbons)
04. Oh Well (feat. Chris Stapleton)
05. Key To The Highway (feat. Dorothy)
06. Awful Dream (feat. Iggy Pop)
07. Born Under A Bad Sign (feat. Paul Rodgers)
08. Papa Was A Rolling Stone (feat. Demi Lovato)
09. Killing Floor (feat. Brian Johnson)
10. Living For The City (feat. Tash Neal)
11. Stormy Day (feat. Beth Hart)
12. Metal Chestnut

Last July, Slash revealed to Yahoo! Entertainment that he was working on his second “solo” album. The follow-up to 2010’s “Slash” was described by the now-58-year-old axeman as having “a bunch of different singers” and being “sort of similar to my first solo record, which featured FergieAdam LevineOzzy OsbourneDave GrohlLemmy KilmisterChris CornellNicole Scherzinger and other vocalists, but “more blues-oriented.”

According to Slash, the upcoming LP, which will “definitely” come out in 2024, will include a guest appearance by pop superstar Demi Lovato.

“There’s not really much more to tell you at this point, but Lovato and I definitely recorded something,” he said.

In addition to their collaboration for Slash‘s next solo album, the GN’R guitarist guested on Lovato‘s rock version of her 2017 song “Sorry Not Sorry”, which appeared on her “Revamped” LP, released last September.

“I told her, Hey, if you ever need me to put some guitar on something, just let me know and I’ll do it,” he said. “And so she hit me back about two weeks, three weeks later, and said she’s got this song that she’s doing a remake of and asked if I’d put some guitar on that. GUNS N’ ROSES did a show in Norway and I had a day off, so I found a cool engineer and studio in Norway and just put the guitars on there. It’s amazing how fast it came out.”

Slash added that the two tracks sound “completely different” from each other. “So it’s interesting how diverse her voice can be,” he said.

Although Slash‘s upcoming LP will be his second under the “Slash” banner, he has released a handful of albums with his long-running band SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, in which he is joined by ALTER BRIDGE frontman Myles Kennedy.

Last month, Slash resumed touring with SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS.

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS‘ latest album, “4”, was released in February 2022 via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG.

“4” was Slash‘s fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring KennedyBrent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).

Photocredit: Gene Kirkland

Social media