Slash: Live at the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival Review
Slash is back, shaking the world of blues-rock with the fury of a thundering storm.
His new album, Live at the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival, is a blistering collection of classic blues, rock and Motown, delivered through a fiery guitar and searing vocals.
Recorded at the blues music festival, S.E.R.P.E.N.T., curated by Slash, is an anagram for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N’ Tolerance.
Fifteen pieces are delivered in the live set with nine of those from his previous Orgy Of the Damned album, along with six new covers.
Included from the Orgy album are “The Pusher,” “Crossroads,” “Key To the Highway,” “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” “Killing Floor,” “Stormy Monday,” “Metal Chestnut and Peter Green’s iconic “Oh Well.”
New to this recording are “Parchman Farm Blues,” “Red House,” “Stone Free,” “Big-Legged Woman,” “Shake Your Money Maker,” and “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” For those who don’t own a copy of Orgy Of The Damned, these six will be the highlights of the live album.
Each offering is infused with a new arrangement and energy, all driven by Slash’s formidable guitar work. The collection provides definitive proof, perhaps like none before, that the blood of the blues flows through many of the modern rock and soul recordings. There is no doubt this is a scorching blues-rock album – heavy on the rock – but the backbone throughout is the original standard blues foundations.
Most are reworked vintage blues songs, but “The Pusher” is a Hoyt Axton-penned, Steppenwolf-delivered, classic rock anthem. And “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” is a funky Motown treasure from the Temptations. Added to these, from Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 album, is “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” In each case, Slash and company have exposed the vein of blues running throughout and raised them to a red-hot blues-rock boil.
The band includes Tash Neal, who has worked with The Who, Gary Clark Jr., The Black Crowes, Tedeschi-Trucks, Lenny Kravitz, and many more. Neal’s vocals are distinctive, unique and the equivalent of a shredding guitar. The rhythm section is comprised of Johnny Griparic on bass and backing vocals, with Michael Jerome on drums.
Play this album for your hard-core rock friends who have the weather-worn misconception that all blues is slow and depressing, and you’re bound to gain some new converts to the emotional and powerful world of blues-rock.
The Review: 8/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Red House
– Parchman Farm Blues
– The Pusher
– Stone Free
– Oh Well
The Big Hit
– Oh Well
