Slash Book Review

  â€œOne night I drove this girl home [in a Guns N’ Roses rental van], all the way up to Edinburgh and Santa Monica, thinking I was getting some for sure. The next thing I knew it was eight a.m. and I was double-parked, slumped over the wheel, with the lights on and the passenger door wide open. Apparently she’d left me there passed out at the wheel. It was hilarious – only because I didn’t get caught. I remember waking up, taking stock of the situation, and hightailing it out of there. I can’t imagine how the fuck I got away with that.” So ends one of the literally hundreds of anecdotes from Saul “Slash” Hudson’s hard-partying days with Guns N’ Roses that he chose to include in his new autobiography, conveniently entitled Slash. While the book follows his life all the way from his bohemian childhood in Los Angeles to his sober, married-man lifestyle circa 2007, it’s the chapters on Slash’s turbulent (and generally drug-ridden) years as guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snakepit and Velvet Revolver that make for the most compelling – and often downright hilarious – reading. To provide one such example, at one point in the book Slash recalls punching out a glass shower door in a hotel room and running – naked – into a crowded golf course in the middle of the afternoon because a drug-induced hallucination had convinced him that miniature copies of the alien from the Predator movies are chasing him. There are many such stories throughout the book, many of which will leave the reader unsure of whether to laugh or cry.

  The most eagerly-anticipated chapters of Slash are, of course, the ones that cover Slash’s time as the lead guitarist with the hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, which by the early 1990s had become one of the most popular rock bands in the world. For fans eager to hear Slash’s side of the story regarding his falling out with Axl Rose and subsequent departure from Guns N’ Roses in 1996, the book doesn’t disappoint; for slow learners, Slash even re-states his reasons for leaving the band – in numbered point form – in the book’s conclusion (citing, among other things, Axl’s “legal manipulation” in trying to secure ownership of the band’s name). But casting the situation as a simple clash of egos between Axl and Slash would be too simplistic, and Slash actually goes to great lengths to explain the admiration he had – and largely still has – for Axl, calling him “an amazing singer and performer” and stating “there were moments there when I loved him to death”. And one can tell that these compliments are sincere, because Slash’s descriptions throughout the book vividly illustrate how much respect and admiration he had for Axl, echoing how a boy might look up to his older brother. The book also intimately examines Slash’s often difficult friendships with the other players around him, including his childhood friend and original Guns N’ Roses drummer Stephen Adler, who was reluctantly kicked out of the band due to a crippling drug addiction. As a portrayal of both the camaraderie and strife of a young band making it big, Slash is a fantastic read.

  While the first-hand accounts of life with Guns N’ Roses are the most initially intriguing part of Slash, the personal accounts of Slash’s relationship issues and drug habits are fascinating in their own way. While Slash vividly recounts literally decades of daily drinking and drug use with the matter-of-fact tone that one might expect from a veteran rock star who’d seen it all, the heart-wrenching revelation that one of his friends died of an overdose in his arms at the ripe age of twenty-one remind the reader that such behavior comes at a price. Slash details having been at death’s door himself on more than one occasion, including getting a pacemaker installed at the age of thirty-five because his heart had been permanently damaged by twenty years of hard drinking. He also discusses the various girlfriends and flings he’s had over the years, including groupies, strippers and porn stars, but saves the most praise for his wife of 1 year, Perla.

  While some guitarists may bemoan Slash’s emphasis on storytelling rather than musical theory, that fact merely makes it more accessible to everyday people. The book is, as far as rock biographies go, in a league of its own, providing both the entertaining tales of debauchery and recklessness that one expects from the genre, as well as a sincere look at Slash’s personal life. Helped along by former Rolling Stone writer Anthony Bozza (who also helped pen Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee’s autobiography), Slash’s writing is both concise and thoughtful. Slash can be purchased from Amazon.com.

About the author:

  Curtis is a writer specializing in politics, popular media and the entertainment industry. Based out of Vancouver, Canada, he graduated from Kwantlen University College with an Arts degree in 2006 and is now a contributing editor at TrendPimp magazine. His online portfolio can be found at CurtisSpring.com.