1994.12.22 - Detroit Free Press - Guns N’ Roses follows Stones’ lead (Slash)

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Guns N’ Roses follows Stones’ lead

That new version of the Rolling Stones' “Sympathy for the Devil” — cut for “Interview with the Vampire” — was a devilish experience for the members of volatile hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

The band’s guitarist Slash, no fan of “Vampire” star Tom Cruise, says he wasn’t interested at first. “The movie is about a subject matter I’m very romantic about,” he says. “It was like this gothic brat pack thing. I like Brad Pitt, but I like him better as a hick.”

Slash thinks the Stones' original was “a song that didn’t need to be copied.” But when Guns singer Axl Rose said he wanted to do it, the guitarist saw it as an opportunity to “get the band into one room and get die wheels rolling for what would be pre-production for the next Guns album.”

Then things got tough. Rose didn’t show up, leaving Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum to puzzle out their parts. Rose came in later to perform his vocals and, says Slash, “brought with him a guitar player from Indiana he used to hang with, and that helped ruin what I thought was going to be a cool version of the song. In other words, it didn’t provide any vehicle for getting the band back together.” Guns still plans to record another album, though Slash doesn’t know when.

His side project, Slash’s Snakepit, releases an album Feb. 14 and will tour from April to July.

By Gary Graff