Slash's new version of Paradise City

[Binnerscot]

Nope, didn't like it - not one bit.

[Animal]

Random youtube comment:

"Man this version wasn't about selling out or trying to make the song better. It was about trying to bring a new artistic light to it and see how Slash has evolved since recording Appetite.

Yep, what better way to make yourself relevant today than by rehashing a 22+ year old song by adding NOTHING new to it.

[misterwhizzy]

I grew up idolizing Slash. I still listen to Appetite. I even saw Snakepit live, and it was a fantastic show. (That may be because they opened for AC/DC, but that's neither here nor there.) Then came Velvet Revolver, and I think I've seen the beginning of the end. In fact, I think the downward slide may have come with the Use Your Illusion set. Maybe it was just Izzy. Maybe it was the drugs.

But his record with finding decent rhythm riffs after the Use Your Illusion set stinks. Mr. Brownstone is probably the pinnacle of blues-based rock as we know it. Locomotive had a fantastic backing track, especially when the two combined the rhythm tracks. But after that, things are a bit slim. Mean Bone was a stupid song, but some of the breaks were reminiscent of Appetite rhythms. Then Velvet Revolver came along, and the only song I liked was Headspace, even though I bought both albums.

I understand he's a great lead player, and I still idolize him for that, but that's less than a third of the song. I think he needs to reassess his rhythm guitarist situation.

[Jay 77]

When Fergie sings her part, it sounds just like any bar band with a female singer and a guitar player that's tired of playing Pink and wants to rock out for at least one song.

[That90'sGuy]

What the hell, I'll bite - I actually enjoyed it (quite a lot). I get it, "Appetite For Destruction" is one of the greatest albums of all time and it shouldn't be touched, blah blah blah. These days there is a lot more interaction between hip hop, rock and pop and that's what they were shooting for with this one. Cypress Hill is one of the better hip hop acts out there (and they've been around, so they're classics in the hip hop community) and while she's not Axl, Fergie did a better job than easily 90% of the people that try to cover Guns 'N Roses. Music is about evolving and Slash is collaborating with hip hop and pop with this remix.

[Animal]

Music is about evolving and Slash is collaborating with hip hop and pop with this remix.

I can't really see how merely collaborating with already successful artists could contribute to anything but musical entropy. Couldn't they have at least wrote something new with all the collective "talent" they have or was it just much easier to capitalise on repackaging a tired Guns N' Roses track?

[That90'sGuy]

I can't really see how merely collaborating with already successful artists could contribute to anything but musical entropy. Couldn't they have at least wrote something new with all the collective "talent" they have or was it just much easier to capitalise on repackaging a tired Guns N' Roses track?

Well, if you know hip hop then you know that there is a lot of emphasis on remixes of well known material. Samples are shared by lots of artists, always has been since the start of it. To re-do a rock song is nothing new or different. For whatever reason, people seem to gravitate it. While the guitar players on this forum may not like it, I can guarantee you if marketed well, this remix will be playing on a wide variety of stations and net Slash some solid money (like he needs it, but you still get my point).

We're dealing with different times these days. Rock is no longer the forefront of music community. Different rules apply with hip hop and pop than they do with rock. The smart rock artists have already picked up on this and started capitalizing on it. I am surprised to hear Cypress Hill on this song though, I thought those guys broke up a long time ago.

[Animal]

I can see your point, it will sell, but it just sounds like a remix of half-ass hip-hop, pop, and rock put in a blender and sold to the unthinking masses. IMO, the whole pimpin' oneself out to the industry is destroying any shred of credibility that people involved popular music ever had. Why create when you can just give the appearance of being important by appearing with other important artists? The only rules these "artists" are guided by is how much money they will generate. They're *******s.

And Hip-hop has mostly now become another form of pop music and doesn't represent anything to do with the legitimacy of the old movements. It went from expressing street-life culture and struggle to self-aggrandizement despite all the problems that still remain. Glam-rock in disguise.

[KoreanGuitarMan]

When Fergie sings her part, it sounds just like any bar band with a female singer and a guitar player that's tired of playing Pink and wants to rock out for at least one song.

Pretty much sums up what I didn't like about Fergie's lead vocal.

[arellanon]

Nothing like the original.

Definitely different!

Fergie actually does not sound bad!

[Zerberus]

Well, here's a close second place version: LINK

That was actually pretty **** cool

[tenniso]

he's either broke or bored. that was pathetic. but then again, if it even remotely resembles hip hop or rap i get irritated.

[misterwhizzy]

I can see your point, it will sell

I was much more likely to buy the album BEFORE I heard that song. And I think Cypress Hill is great, and I hate hip hop.

I heard Henry Rollins doing some spoken word bit where he was talking about touring with Cypress Hill. He explained that in his band, there were a lot of instruments, so if something went wrong, they could usually cover it up and keep playing without the audience noticing.

Well, for Cypress Hill, it was not that way. One night, something went out in Cypress Hill's rig, so everyone stopped while they fixed the problem, then Senn Dog says, "WE F*#@ED UUUUP!" in his Hispanic rapper voice and picked up the song exactly where they left off. I'm sure he told it better, but it's still an entertaining story.

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Didn't like it at all to be honest

[MikeS]

You know... I didn't think it was that bad. Was it the original? No. Then again, I didn't expect it to be. As soon as I saw it involved Fergie my expectations were instantly in the basement, and there was only only going up from there.

[philthis]

That just bought his wife another $100,000 necklace. That makes her happy. She in turn makes him a very happy man.

100,000! and to think, he could given her a pearl necklace for free

[Wattage]

Hmm I kind of liked it

[idsnowdog]

Putrid tripe.

[TimmyPage]

Kind of.. liked it more than the original...

[Wattage]

Kind of.. liked it more than the original...

I can't listen to the original anymore, Axl's voice drives me up a freaking wall on that tune.