A song a day: Velvet Revolver – Slither

Anyone who denies that Appetite for Destruction is one of the greatest debuts of all time is just a moron. Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Steve concocted the perfect amalgamation of blues brutality, punk knowledge and metal edges to be momentarily the most threatening band on the world. It was impossible to confuse them with hair metal – they sounded dangerous, drug fucked and ready to fight which is exactly what they were. We all know the story since then, the bloated egos, the acrimony, the ridiculous nine minute ballads and the endless bullshit but for that one album they were the perfect weapon. I can’t say I’ve heard much (if any) of Velvet Revolver’s three albums apart from this single. What is great about this song is that it sounds like Slash got his mojo back and created a snaky riff that could be off side two be off Appetite – hit the wah pedal and turn that Marshall stack to eleven, it’s Slashtastic. And if you close your eyes and think on it, you can imagine Axl singing this song and pretend that the promise of 1987 wasn’t lost before it had even begun, or at least until the November rain started to fall.

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