Can't Get THIS Out of My Head
I had a very Slashy year. Not in a Jame Gumm way, mind you. But a Saul Hudson way. Not only did I get to interview the former Guns N' Roses guitar god, but I dressed up like Slash for Halloween.
Lately, I've been mainlining Slash's tremendous solo on this cover of ELO's Can't Get It Out of My Head. Here's the song and an unintentionally humorous (and pretty lame) Velvet Revolver slideshow. The solo kicks in at the 2:11 mark. It's a monster (even if Scott Weiland's vocal is a bit cloying). Wait for it...wait for it...
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
Not a huge Slash/VR fan. However, I heard an interview with Slash on the Jim Rome show a few weeks ago. He was pimping his new book. I was very, very impressed with Slash. He spoke of his days with GnR, drugs, Axle (sp?) and VR.
I can't get the vision of you and the Christmas outfit out of my head. Only kidding brother!
Posted by: Mike in Austin | December 28, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Drop the vocals, crank up the slash guitar melodies and leave it as an instrumental!!! Now, I'd like to see VR cover Xanadu. I think Weiland could rock those vocals.
Posted by: scooterbucs | December 28, 2007 at 12:49 PM
Cloying vocal indeed -- great descriptor here. After hearing the Slash segment, I'm off to dig up some GnR on ye olde iTunes. Nothing like the original recipe.
Posted by: jane | December 28, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Before I interviewed Slash, I was expecting a burnout poet, a smart dude whose wisdom came in loopy bursts. But over the course of a half-hour, he came off more like a really cool English teacher. Love that guy.
Posted by: Sean Daly | December 28, 2007 at 12:58 PM
As for "Can't Get It Out of My Head," this is what Slash told me:
Slash wanted no part of the ELO song for the VR album. It just didn't feel right. But Weiland eventually talked him into it. After the album came out, Jeff Lynne came up to Slash in a restaurant (Slash was worried he was gonna catch s---) and complimented him on the solos. No word, however, on what Lynne thought of the vocals...
Posted by: Sean Daly | December 28, 2007 at 01:03 PM
I nominate Jeff Lynne for a slot on an upcoming Stuck in the 80s podcast. Just uploaded "getting to the Point" from ELO's Balance of Power into the iPod and ... wow.
Posted by: Guy | December 28, 2007 at 01:30 PM
Spears and I have been talking about trying to book Jeff Lynne on the show. That'd be a helluva sweet get.
Reason #4567 Why My Job Rocks: The good folks at Epic/Legacy have been sending me all the ELO remasters. When you said "Balance of Power," I looked to my left and -- voila -- there it was, waiting for me in the stacks.
I don't know "Getting to the Point." But I'm cueing it up now...
Posted by: Sean Daly | December 28, 2007 at 01:44 PM
Oh Sean! Did I mention how much I totally dig ELO? Who's your buddy? Who's your pal? lol
Posted by: Marissa | December 28, 2007 at 07:51 PM
Amazing guitar solo. I am interested as to who you think is the better guitarist: Slash or the other former GNR guitarist Buckethead? I've heard some of the leaks from Chinese Democracy and think his work is amazing. Do you think that it's close to being complete, or do you think it's going to be our age's Smile album?
Posted by: Jeremy | December 29, 2007 at 11:46 AM
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "Chinese Democracy" will be released sometime this century. Oy, with that thing. If I were Axl, I'd NEVER release it. After all, with all the mystery, he's retained a strange sort of relevance. But if he releases it, and it's not perfection...
As for Buckethead, "Democracy" has been remixed and re-recorded so many times, who knows whose licks you're hearing? Slash is a golden god. I'd go with him 10 times out of 10.
Posted by: Sean Daly | December 29, 2007 at 11:59 AM
So, a hypothetical for you... Say he releases the album and it's strong. Not perfect, but Appetitite for Destruction strong. As a music critic, do you listen to the album and grade it as good as Appetite, or is the twelve years of production and all of the mystery and hooplah surrounding the album taken into account and it downgraded into something that, while strong, just isn't strong enough?
Posted by: Jeremy | December 29, 2007 at 01:13 PM
Great question. My kneejerk reaction to that was not how good "Democracy" would be, but how iconic (and effing awesome) "Appetite" is. "Democracy" might be a killer album, and being a fan of Rose, I really hope it is.
But I'll never hear it when I'm 17 years old, you know?
Posted by: Sean Daly | December 29, 2007 at 04:04 PM
Sean, you were 17 when "Appetite" came out? Ugh! I feel much older now. I was in a bar playing it ad nauseam on the jukebox, slinging back Vodka and Lemonade.
Posted by: Marissa | December 29, 2007 at 06:12 PM