Slash’s new blues album ‘Orgy of the Damned’ features guest appearances from stars including Brian Johnson, Steven Tyler, Iggy Pop and Demi Lovato.
The Guns N’ Roses guitarist has released the lead single – a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Killing Floor’ with AC/DC star Johnson on vocals and Aerosmith’s Tyler playing harmonica – and confirmed the new album’s starry line-up also includes veteran rocker Iggy Pop and pop star Demi Lovato as well as ZZ Top star Billy F Gibbons, Queen collaborator Paul Rodgers, blues star Gary Clark Jr and The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson.
Guests also include Dorothy, Chris Stapleton, Tash Neal and Beth Hart.
Tracks featured on the album include covers of ‘Oh Well’ by Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living for the City’ as well as ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’, ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ and ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’.
Slash said of ‘Killing Floor’: “‘Killing Floor’ is one of my favorite Howlin’ Wolf songs, but also one of the iconic blues riffs that turned me on as a young guitar player.
“I’ve always wanted to cover it in some capacity and this record was the perfect vehicle. But playing it with this band, and with Brian Johnson singing, it was an achievement I would never have imagined back then. Let alone Steven Tyler providing the harp.”
Johnson added: “When Slash asked me to sing on ‘Killing Floor,’ I said yes immediately. It was one of the first songs I learned in my very first band, and when he played me the backing track it was a no-brainer, and Steven’s harmonica is so bloody hot. I had a ball with Slash in the studio, and I think we did this great old song justice. Rock on.”
A summary of Orgy of the Damned reads: “A great cover takes something old and makes it new again. This is the philosophy behind Slash’s new album, ‘Orgy Of The Damned’, a collection of 12 dynamic songs that shakes up and revitalised blues classics with a stripped down, instinctive approach.”
‘Orgy of the Damned’ is released on May 17.