Guns N’ Roses icon Slash recently spoke to Revolver about how he felt when he first heard Axl Rose’s voice and stated that he is the only vocalist whose voice affected him emotionally.
Before joining one of the most acclaimed rock and roll bands of all time, Slash started his music career by playing his guitar in minor bands. He first joined Tidus Sloan, in 1981, formed Road Crew in 1983 with Steven Adler, however, he disbanded the band in a year because they weren’t happy with singers for the band. Slash and Adler met Axl Rose and joined his and Izzy Stradlin’s band Hollywood Rose which later became Guns N’ Roses.
The band earned its fame during its formation years when they released their iconic songs ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine,’ and ‘Paradise City.’ After two years of their formation, they released their first album ‘Appetite for Destruction,’ which was sold over 28 million copies worldwide.
Even though Slash found himself in other bands, including his solo project ‘Slash’s Snakepit,’ Axl Rose’s voice was pretty special to him. He stated in his recent interview that every singer he had worked with before Axl ‘sucked,’ and when he heard his voice, it affected him on an ’emotional’ and ‘energy’ level. He then found out that Axl had the feeling of connection between the lyrics, the vocals, and the music.
Here is what Slash stated about hearing Axl’s voice for the first time:
“I worked with different singers on and off for a while. When I met Axl, and we started jamming together, he was the only singer that ever brought an emotional content to it that affected me on an emotional level, on an energy level. Like a song, all of a sudden went to a whole new level, and I felt it.
That’s when I realized where music and vocals really meet. Because prior to that, everybody I worked with sucked. I’ve had no use for it, and I would just play instrumentally but, that’s when I first really arrived at that poignant feeling that you get when things connect on a lyrical, vocal, and music level.”
You can watch the interview below.
