Friday, September 2, 2011
Slash: ‘Bag / Nottabag via the Rockstar Leniency Rule
Here’s an interesting test of the Rockstar Leniency Rule.
This pic is from Slash’s recent wedding. While no one denies Slash’s impact on music and talents as a guitarist, his style has always been part of the dress up performativity from his GnR days. Thus the hat, hair, etc. are a sort of costume likened to a fictional presence, and therefore performative.
That being said, it’s hard not to find Slash pretty damn douchey, as many have debated.
I’m on the fence. Certainly the top hat look was RLR, just as it was for Axl Rose’s mandana thing.
But twenty five years later? Middle age? David Lee Roth knew when to give up the spandex and rocker hair.
Does Slash’s ‘tude cross over and earn ‘bag status? Or does RLR continue?
His Saul Hudson, he’s almost 50, he’s giving the middle finger in his wedding photo, he hasn’t been relevant in almost 20 years and on his recent solo album he collaborated with some questionable “artists.” Douche.
Should read, his real name is Saul Hudson….
All we’ve learned here is that the people at alcapella are morons.
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Slash is the fuccen man, Man. Nottadouche. He is the poster boy for RLR. Get over yourselves.
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If this is Saul’s wedding, where’s the Chuppah and how the hell are they gonna break a glass wearing those shoes?
@Vin – Slash is indeed the poster child for lifetime RLR, and is one of my favorite rock guitarists of all time, but he may deserve temporary RLR suspension for playing a pointless self-indulgent “blues” solo, accompanied by dinky electronic keys, through a chorus pedal.
I just hope a huge rain storm hit in the middle of his reception and people started freaking out, dumping tables and shit, just total chaos
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or at least a killer solo all by himself in front of the church (synagogue?)
1. GnR were one of the most over-rated bands, ever.
2. Slash is an *adequate* rock/blues guitarist – hardly brilliant – for that, please check Danny Gatton who could play circles around Slash – in this short video he has more musical ideas about guitar playing than slash did in his entire career…
and Gatton even gives lessons, even though he’s been dead for like 15 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRnDMPbtUSM
3. GnR was part of the media circus from the gitgo, and they were largely uncritical of that system. Which shows a serious lack of perspective, which is very douchey.
4. he’s flippin the bird in a wedding picture. Here, before the universe and with significant decorum, where he has vowed eternal devotion to another human being, he’s flippin the bird. Asshole. Douche.
So, no, he’s a douchebag. He’s not the best at anything except stroking his own… ego.
@ Memphis- True that’s what that was and he is known for the tremendous tones he gets out of that Les Paul, however, I liked that one because it had less overdrive than his usual stuff.
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Better blues player here:
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Total douche. Always was, always will be.
Thread closed.
He’s no Johnny Cash. Wedding camera flip off and the bride to be is one click away from doing ducklips=douche and bleeth. For me its all about the now. And right now he’s douchin’ it up at his own wedding.Maybe he was awesome in the 80s but c’mon you can’t coast on that for the rest of your life. Well at least not with me. Rockstar leniency is for pussies who can’t handle the truth.
Slash circa 1988- Appetite for Destruction=Notta! Slash 1992-1996=Questionable
Slash since Snake Pit, Velvet Revolver and public asshattery= 100% Genuine November Rain Scented Douche. With gentle glide Douchenozzle.
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“Even David Lee Roth” knew when the jig was up…
Referencing Diamond Dave as knowing when to hang it up proves why he was the greatest rock and roll frontman ever. Gene Simmons would do well to take note of his example. Slash is a ‘bag. He should’ve parlayed his royalties into a line of energy drinks or something instead of wearing leather pants after inhabiting this planet for a half century.
Though I have never been a fan of GnR in general, or Slash (and his twin brother Burn) in particular, I have to say that his general go-out at this point is probably force of habit or a shrewd mechanism for economic self-preservation…aside from Huey Lewis, Paul McCartney, the Stones and those of their stature, it is hard to find once-rich rockers who still have any money. The highway is littered with these morons who at some point had the world by the ass, hotts by the thousands, and burned through $$ millions in months, only to find themselves middle aged, burned out, used up and useless, without even the skills to hold a minimum wage job (whoring themselves out to reality TV abortions notwithstanding). So if the Slashmeister has determined that it is in his pecuniary interest to keep up the act, which in turn keeps up the following (and hence keeps the green rolling in), then more power to him. If spending 20+ years dressed up like some nightmare from a Charles Dickens novel gets you all of that, I would say that a pass for RLR is most certainly warranted.
what am i seeing here? Have I stepped into BIZARRO WORLD?! are we talking about SLASH here or the fuckin guitar player for Celine Dion? This is SLASH! RLR! Have we become this cold and cynical? Who’s next to be denied RLR? Oh, that Jimmy Page is such a douche, I mean just cut your damn hair! Amiright?
@Chris in Baghdad, your theory has some merit. He’s not douchin it up just to attract women hed doing it to stay present in the collective consciousness a la Gene Simmons to continue to capitalize on his yesteryear fame. Fine with me. Everybody has got to make money somehow. If there are idiots out there who will buy into it that’s not his fault. Like Ed Hardy before him, he just has to find the right sheeple fan base. Doesn’t make him any less of a douchebag though.
And is the Acapella forum run by ChestBrah?
If every day were Halloween, there would be a lotta notta passes.
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Every day IS Halloween in the Slash family. It’s the opposite of the pitchfork traditional American image. Douchey.
Sorry, but I must have missed the memo that says the RLR only applies to “the best” musicians and Celebs. Whether you like his music or not, the guy was a huge impact on modern rock music. Whether it was through GNR music or that up and coming band that he influenced. It’s Godamn SLASH bitches.
Unless cuts his hair into a faux hawk and turns orange, I say lifetime RLR.
TT: comparing Danny Gatton to Slash is apples and oranges. Very different styles of music.
I’m gonna say he’s tottering very close to D-Bag status. Musically he no longer relevant and more noted for his attire then any music he’s put out in the past 15 years. He is still coasting on the early success but now is a caricature of what he once was.
Why didn’t Gaddhafi come out of whatever hole he’s hiding in, and attend the wedding? He was invited, I’m sure.
So who’s next? Clapton? Was it douchey that he did an album of nothing but covers? Robert Johnson? Stevie Ray Vaughn? Saul/Slash never claimed to be great. He always went out and “rocked out with his cocck out” very time I saw him perform. Tha’s what rock n’ roll is about. (Shit, Motely Crue are “musicians only in the loosest of terms but some of their songs rock.) Sure some of his stuff sucked (I HATED all the Velvet Revolver stuff. Sounded like a bad mix of STP and GnR) but not everything is going to be great. Permanent RLR for him.
I think Slash is the greatest guitarist to play the same three chords in a long time. His solo was marvellous in how it fit into each song and had various notes in it’s composition. The whole fucking band were douchebags except for Duff.
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Now that Lenny Kravitz. That’s a big black Jew douche.
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On an unrelated note, an old Bruins defenceman just dropped past my office window screaming, “Nobody cares about me anymore!”
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Suicidists
DOUCHE! does every asshat from a hair band 80’s deserve a pass? I say no. You are not in the mainstream music scene anymore, you are a has been. Was your music indicative of the time yes, did you make a shitload of money? yes. Move on. Just like Tommy Lee, was he a good drummer? yes. Is he a douche now? hell yes!
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Hell even Bret Michaels dresses like it’s the 80’s let it go, move on.
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Take the path of all your fellow 80’s hair rockers, prove the world is flat and fall off the edge.
Which one of them is Slash?
Perhaps theres something else at play, here. I am reminded of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” If one has lived in doucheosity under the RLR, and has been justified in doing so by being a true rocker, for as long as Saul, here, then maybe this is all he knows. The average old-bag, 40-plus douche still trying to chase 20-something hotts does not get the same sympathy, because his entry into the “cave” of douchehood is not justified. But perhaps the illusion of RLR lifestyle has become Saul’s justifiable reality? DB1?
Out here in Australia and not so long ago Slash did a TV advert for a radio station. Douche station to be sure, but those I know in the advertising lark who worked on the vision have mentioned that any contact with Slash or any of his people was extremely courteous. I, too, think the comment about David Lee Roth was noteworthy. Knowing when to give the game away is always the problem with anyone in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, not everyone is Frank Sinatra – and I’m also cynical enough to assume some would say that’s a good thing. On first impressions, Slash=douche. Unquestionably, in my opinion. Delve into his backstory, though, and we find another semi-tragic case of one who believed his own bullshit for far too long; which in quantifiable terms means he’ll be spending the rest of his days being another puppet for the system his highly groomed and engineered rebel rocker image seemingly once fought against. From me, more pity than censure, although ceaseless monitoring for future displays of arrogance strongly recommended.
I have to tentatively lean toward RLR right now…
We as an Internet collective know him as Slash. Not as Saul. Even the comments refer to him in such manner. He is in our consciousness as a public figure, one who at least through Generation Y and most of Z will still remain relevant for his contributions to our formative years. Otherwise, we would be saying “who is that?”
But this photo dangles precipitously on the edge of douchosity. Again, I am willing to give minor RLR because we don’t know the context. Perhaps they were taking a series of sweet photos and the photog said, “and now a fun one!” If your go-to move for a fun-one is flying the bird, unless you’re a war vet missing all the other digits of your hand = autodouche.
But maybe it was a promotional photo. While many of us would see pimping out your own wedding as a means of monetary gain as douche, it is generally accepted as the way of the celebrity world (and possibly a means of affording said wedding). So unless a clear understanding of the man or the situation is brought to light, I say RLR — but that the leniency is waning.
…Or simply put: he’s sticking to his schtick. Proving he knows which side his bread is buttered on. Even ex-hair band (possible) douches gotta eat.
The key word is leniency. It means to cut some slack for a minor indiscretion or infraction. Of course he’s a douchebag. But let’s face it, pretty much all Rockstars, Actors, WWE Wrestlers and Alpaca Supply Sales Reps are douchebags. Chris in Baghdad is right though, dude’s got to make a living. We’d all douche it up to pull down the kind of jack they make.
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I give him a pass for having his wedding reception in front of a huge fiberglass rock.
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I’d also like to wipe the sweat off his blushing bride’s chiseled calves with a roll of toilet paper and some Windex®.
I gotta go with Troy on this one. Adequate guitarist at best, decreasing relevance, and some pretty bad choices in terms of collaborators, all of which puts him on pretty shaky grounds in terms of RLR.
Axl Rose, douche.
Slash, douche
Eddy Vedder, uber-douche
Justin Bieber, douche-in-training.
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.i.e., there should be no rock star leniency rule.
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Zeus hath spoken.
Gene Simmons, douche
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.Robert Plant, the father of all douches.
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.Shall I continue?
^Robert Plant? I must be stoned. Are we still talking about RUSH or what?
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Balladeers
Simon Le Bon, douche.
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.Gary Glitter, douche.
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.Motley Crue, douche.
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.Bret Michaels, douche.
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.Billy Idol, uber-douche
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.Grace Slick, the mother of all douches
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.David St. Hubbins, uber-douche
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.shall I continue?
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.And why exactly is there a rock star leniency rule?
Slouche
There. I said it.
If his shtick is that he’s a douchebag, and said shtick is used to feed him/his family/his alimony payments/ he gets the notta. If he hasn’t worked in years, and is tending bar in Cousinscrew, WV while dressed like that, no RLR.
Kudos to TRCK^
“His solo (sic) was marvelous in how it fit into each song and had various notes in its composition…”
In other words:
HE PLAYED THE SAME SOLO IN EVERY SONG
Squiddly -squah shove yer wah
straight (ha ha) up Kirk Hammett’ ass
fumble fingered fux
Douche with fuzzy hair.Fuck why give everyone the finger when you have nothing to be mad about? Living in the suburbs or downtown in the finest parts of LA must be a tough fucking life huh? The privileged, these people make me sick. Don’t be a celebrity sucker.
I didn’t know they made mullet wedding dresses.
If it weren’t for a bunch of bored west-coast kiddies, there would be no G-n-R (overrated-band).
And without G-N-R, this punk Slash, would be a virgin.
Maybe the finger is his calling card?
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http://tinyurl.com/3ev2ygg
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http://tinyurl.com/3scug3n
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http://tinyurl.com/3z9jaf9
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http://tinyurl.com/3qqow6u
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http://tinyurl.com/3mlg24f
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I wish those took me more than 3 minutes to find….DOUCHE FTW!
Stop hatin’ on Cousin Itt.
i grew up listening to Guns N Roses. therefore, the guys who create the music i grew up listening to must be douchebags.
Listen to the solo, don’t watch it. Take away the fuccen stupid hat and the ridiculous hair and there is nothing noteworthy about the chops. There are thousands of studio dudes who could play the same riffs and you would never know. GNR was great at the time but they were the beneficiaries of the time. Pop music sucked and GNR offered a breath of fresh air from the coke-riddled/addled music of the 80s and a welcome relief from the grunge craze. I like GNR and Slash was good at the time but historically cannot hold a candle to the real axe men of fame, and didn’t have the staying power. Don’t do duets with the guy from Maroon 5. And he’s a douchebag.
I hated G-N-R at the time. As I’ve aged, I can look back and appreciate what they did a little more. And that is only because I now live in the age of crap like Justin Bieber, Passion Pit and Crappy Screamo Band With Too Many Words In Their Name And They Should Have Used It For An Album Title, so I miss generic guitar rock for headbangers being on the radio all the damn time. What I don’t miss is legions of ugly girls in pleather pants, shredded T-shirts over black bras and huge hair. I also don’t miss Frat assholes thinking they’re ‘hardcore’ for listening to G-N-R. Slash was pretty much the pied piper of that whole thing. I don’t resent the guy for doing what most of us wish we could, instead of suffering the lamefuck wastes of time our real jobs are.
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What I do mind is dragging it on to become an overpaid shadow of one’s former self. Guitar Hero? Commercials? I understand, a brotha’s gotta make a living, but damn. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I never saw Lemmy doing a commercial. And he’s 60, still doing what he always did, taking the opening spot for shit has-been bands like WASP and Black Sabbath with Dio at the helm. Sorry, kids, saw that tour and I would wipe my ass with the ticket if I still had it. Slash has gone from star to curiosity to kitsch and is verging on throwback. Nuisance is not far behind.
I forgot about the collaboration with the guy from Maroon 5. That’s almost grounds for full RLR revocation. That’s even worse than than the time Carlos Santana teamed up with the guy from Matchbox 20, not that Slash and Carlos are even in the same league.
Still, although Slash is certainly not an elite guitar player, his work on Appetite for Destruction was pretty fucking good and way more original than any of the other MTV hair assclowns of the day. Douche or not, you have to at least give him that.
bird flipping bag…fer the bagwin!
One big hair rock star that gets leniency from me is Steve Tyler from Aerosmith, and that’s in part because I want to hook up with his daughter. Liv free and die with a hard on!
just a kook…notta bag
btw…spot on assessment MO!
btw 2… MO if Mr. Biscotti were not in the picture & you were in SoCal, I would marry you…jus sayin’
Are you kidding me? NOT A DOUCHE
Notta even close to a douche. The RLR was made for guys like Slash.
Lenny Kravitz is the most overrated, non – due paying douchebag ever,,,,ripping off Hendrix riffs, hair extensions, wealthy – TV Producer Father, successful Actress Mother – he is the luckiest db in Rock and Roll.
Cant deny Slash’s GnR work, but he is totally overrated.
Dave Mustaine blows Slash’s balls off with one hand. Gatton, etc.