Slash's Snakepit

Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of: Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and former Jellyfish guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.

Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.

Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer Matt Sorum, and bassist Duff McKagan, both fellow former-Guns N' Roses members.

History

Formation (1993–1994)

Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by fellow Guns N' Roses bandmate Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus. later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover. while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.

Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.

The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band through Koch The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)".

Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol.

Post–breakup activities

Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.

Musical style

Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing."

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|AUS

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|AUT

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|CAN

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|GER

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|NED

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|NOR

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|SWE

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|SWI

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|UK

!scope="row"|It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Released: February 14, 1995
Label: Geffen
Formats: CD, LP, CS

| 70 || 26 || 15 || 19 || 19 || 19 || 27 || 11 || 15 || 15

!scope="row"|Ain't Life Grand

Released: October 10, 2000
Label: Koch
Format: CD

| — || 56 || — || — || 58 || — || — || — || 96 || 146

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions

!rowspan="2"|Title

!rowspan="2"|Year

!colspan="2"|Peak chart positions

!rowspan="2"|Album

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|US Main.

!scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|AUS