Product Description

From one of the greatest rock guitarists of our era comes a memoir that redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll

He was born in England but reared in L.A., surrounded by the leading artists of the day amidst the vibrant hotbed of music and culture that was the early seventies. Slash spent his adolescence on the streets of Hollywood, discovering drugs, drinking, rock music, and girls, all while achieving notable status as a BMX rider. But everything changed in his world the day he first held the beat-up one-string guitar his grandmother had discarded in a closet.

The instrument became his voice and it triggered a lifelong passion that made everything else irrelevant. As soon as he could string chords and a solo together, Slash wanted to be in a band and sought out friends with similar interests. His closest friend, Steven Adler, proved to be a conspirator for the long haul. As hairmetal bands exploded onto the L.A. scene and topped the charts, Slash sought his niche and a band that suited his raw and gritty sensibility.

He found salvation in the form of four young men of equal mind: Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, and Duff McKagan. Together they became Guns N' Roses, one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time. Dirty, volatile, and as authentic as the streets that weaned them, they fought their way to the top with groundbreaking albums such as the iconic Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion I and II.

Here, for the first time ever, Slash tells the tale that has yet to be told from the inside: how the band came together, how they wrote the music that defined an era, how they survived insane, never-ending tours, how they survived themselves, and, ultimately, how it all fell apart. This is a window onto the world of the notoriously private guitarist and a seat on the roller-coaster ride that was one of history's greatest rock 'n' roll machines, always on the edge of self-destruction, even at the pinnacle of its success. This is a candid recollection and reflection of Slash's friendships past and present, from easygoing Izzy to ever-steady Duff to wild-child Steven and complicated Axl.

It is also an intensely personal account of struggle and triumph: as Guns N' Roses journeyed to the top, Slash battled his demons, escaping the overwhelming reality with women, heroin, coke, crack, vodka, and whatever else came along.

He survived it all: lawsuits, rehab, riots, notoriety, debauchery, and destruction, and ultimately found his creative evolution. From Slash's Snakepit to his current band, the massively successful Velvet Revolver, Slash found an even keel by sticking to his guns.

Slash is everything the man, the myth, the legend, inspires: it's funny, honest, inspiring, jaw-dropping . . . and, in a word, excessive.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29360 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Review
"Entertaining and educational...a crash course for aspiring rock gods."" -- Spin magazine

"Wonderfully frank." -- Entertainment Weekly

Review
"Entertaining and educational...a crash course for aspiring rock gods."" (Spin magazine )

"Wonderfully frank." (Entertainment Weekly )

About the Author

Slash lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Perla, and their two sons, London and Cash.

Former Rolling Stone staff writer Anthony Bozza is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem and Tommyland, the autobiography of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. He lives in New York City.

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Customer Reviews

Dual purposes: introspective memoir and the definitive insider GNR history
The story of Guns N' Roses is one of the most controversial in rock n' roll history. GNR has had a famously terse relationship with journalists and authors, and in recent years, former band members have publicly disagreed about the "real story" in the press. The band even threatened bodily harm to journalists in the lyrics of the Use Your Illusion albums! For the first time ever, someone on the inside has gone on record with to describe the genesis of the band, how they wrote and performed one of the most definitive rock albums of all time, the changes in the band's lineup, and finally, the implosion of all things GNR related. Who knew it would be the notoriously private lead guitarist, a soft-spoken man hidden behind a famous mop of hair, who would step up and tell the story?

Slash's memoir is the diary of a dope fiend (released a month after the autobiography of his friend and former heroin-buddy Nikki Sixx). Well, the diary of a dope-, and women- and coke- and crack- and alcohol-fiend. Have anything else debaucherous? The late 1980's and 1990's Slash would have tried it for sure. During one cocaine-induced hallucination of an attack by blue-gray Predator-like creatures with machine guns, Slash punched out his glass shower door and ran naked into the streets in terror. The incident got Slash into rehab, but no sooner than his limo driver picked up the "cured" ax man, he was downing half a liter of vodka in the backseat.

What doesn't Slash want to talk about? Well, don't bother asking if GNR is getting back together (I'm not even going to acknowledge the current faux-lineup). Slash says it won't happen, ever. The ten-years-delayed release of Axl's Chinese Democracy album? Slash gets asked that question in every interview, and he leaves it out of his memoir. In an interview about the book, Slash stated "Axl works in a different time zone than I do. So what may seem like a long time to other people is a tick of the clock to him. It'll come out, though. It will." Even Axl's famous tour cancellations and delays are treated matter-of-factly--Slash doesn't attempt to analyze or explain the behavior of his bandmate, nor does he seethe with anger or resentment.

Others have tried to write the history of the band, but most are hacks or fanboys who strung together quotes from numerous previously published sources. Before Slash spoke up, the only other worthwhile title was rock journalist Mick Wall's The Most Dangerous Band in the World (1992), and the VH1 Behind the Music production (2004). Thank you, Slash, for letting all rock fans into the inner world of GNR, featuring your toxic twin Steven, current bandmate and forever friend Duff, the laid-back and gifted Izzy, and the enigmatic Axl. You've treated the story with humor, candor, honesty, self-reflection, and respect, even for those from whom you are currently estranged.

The world of excess through the hazy eyes of Slash
If you dig reading about rock 'n' roll excess and the Guns n' Roses years as they really happened, then you won't be able to put this book down. While I read "Slash," I couldn't help but compare his exploits to Anthony Kiedis's in the book Scar Tissue. Kiedis probably has Slash beat in the debauchery department -- but only just slightly. As advertised, Slash's tales of excessive drugs, drinking, sexual conquests and all-around craziness are shared in the book big-time. What starts as a tale of a sweet but troubled young kid turns into a monstrous, muddled life of dangerous drug use and plans gone awry. What's interesting is that the tone and writing style of the book is actually quite close to Kiedis's. And of course the tales Slash tells are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend, either a total cliche or riveting reading, depending on your point of view.

Guns n' Roses deserved someone who could tell the band's story as it truly happened, and who better to do that than Slash or one of the guys in the band? Save for Axl Rose, whose words one might not be able to fully trust (especially as the band evolved), the rest of G n' R were pretty down-to-earth fellows who just loved recording and playing music -- when they could stay sober and on top of things. For me, it was very interesting reading about original Guns drummer Steven Adler, whose major drug problem over the years has been worse than even Slash's (that's saying a lot). Adler was a happy-go-lucky guy who just couldn't control his habit for a long time, and sadly, the band was probably right to kick him out. Still, as Slash mentions in the book, Steven's drums lent an enthusiastic and almost adolecsent feel to Appetite for Destruction that, in my view, Matt Sorum never matched.

It should be noted that Slash's knowledge of what makes a good music recording is pretty astounding. For instance, as a lead guitarist, he knows how the value of how a great rhythm guitarist, such as Izzy Stradlin, can enhance how his own lead playing sounds. The solid and tuneful texture of Izzy's rhythm work on "Appetite," for instance, and the way it naturally interwove with Slash's lead, was classic and made for complex guitar-driven music. In the book, Slash also talks about other elements of what goes on in the recording studio, which I found fascinating.

This book also revved up my appetite for Velvet Revolver's past and future work. After reading about how much VR means to Slash, I hope the band at least makes a few more albums. Slash's desire to simply write, record and play music live on the road is insatiable; besides being a good father, it seems that's all the guy wants to do. If Revolver ever broke up permanently, I think it would be a bad blow for Slash.

On a closing note, though Slash's words get a tad repetitive and overly woe-is-me toward the end -- and much of this book was horribly edited -- this is still a must-read for fans of Slash, G n' R, Velvet Revolver and whatever other music Slash has lended his formidable guitar-playing hand to over the years.

Guitar God tells some but probably not all
Better written than I would have expected, interesting and informative about GNR and his life. What really makes this so much different from Eric Clapton's book or Nikki Sixx's trip through the hell of his own mind is that Slash never seems to have been unhappy or angry to have regrets. He did all the drugs, alcohol and sex for fun and because he is easily bored. This makes the book much more fun for the reader. Is he being truthful, private or shallow? Hard to say, but you can also see how he must have helped drive Axl crazy. On the other hand you can see that Slash would have been happier if he had a front man who wanted to tour all the time.