World on Fire

Personnel: Slash (guitar); Todd Kerns (vocals); Brent Fitz (electric piano, drums, percussion).
Audio Mixer: Michael "Elvis" Baskette.
Recording information: NRG Recording, Los Angeles, CA; Studio Barbarosa, Orlando, FL.
Editor: Jef Moll.
Photographers: Travis Shinn; Scott Uchida.
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators is quite a mouthful for a band and World on Fire is quite a handful for an album. World on Fire weighs in at 17 tracks, which is just one song longer than Use Your Illusion I, but where that record gained momentum (not to mention identity) through its mess, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators gives the impression that they're just pouring out everything they have. Perhaps a good edit or two would've turned the record into something leaner, but there's no evident place to cut. Slash, naturally, stands out and his solos are nearly as pleasurable as his riffs, and the Conspirators hit their marks with aplomb, as does Myles Kennedy, who never gets in the way of songs, not even ones he's written. Such a long, hefty album may indeed be what some fans want, for there is a whole lot of bang for this buck. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine