SLASH Says 'Chinese Democracy' Was 'The Perfect AXL Record'

SLASH Says 'Chinese Democracy' Was 'The Perfect AXL Record' - Apr. 4, 2010

Larry Getlen of the New York Post recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES). An excerpt from the chat follows below.

New York Post: When Axl [Rose] finally released "Chinese Democracy" in 2008, What did you think?

Slash: It was the perfect Axl record — exactly what I would have expected from the final years of us working together, and seeing where he was headed musically. It's very heavy; sort of a dark, depressing record. He's fucking phenomenal.

New York Post: But the two of you haven't spoken in years. Would you be open to speaking again?

Slash: I'm more standoffish because I know how vehemently he hates me. So that sort of makes me doubt it. But if we ran into each other and all that animosity were to pass for a second, then I'm sure we could have an interesting conversation.

New York Post: Axl Rose and Scott Weiland are great vocalists, but not so stable. Is that why you worked with so many guests on your new record?

Slash: Now you're getting into the deeper psychological aspect of it, which I hadn't really taken into consideration. Maybe a couple of hours on the couch might pull that one out! I think the whole thing was just inspired by great singers that I wanted to work with. I didn't think about other aspects of it. But the one cool thing that did come out of this was that it gave me a whole new respect for singers, and changed my attitude toward them given the last couple of guys that I've worked with. These people were all amazingly gracious and professional. I've done so much session work where I write or play with somebody, and it's an empty feeling when you're done because they take off with the material — it's like being a surrogate. So this time, I had all these people play on my record.