Slash is predicting an April release for his next album, which he describes as "killer" and is being recorded with the same Myles Kennedy-fronted band he took on tour to promote 2010's "Slash" and with whom he recorded the upcoming live set "Made in Stoke 24/7/11."
"Based on the relationship that we've developed and the chemistry we've got going, I started writing material with Myles and the guys in the band in mind," the top-hatted guitar icon tells Billboard.com. Slash says he's accumulated "tons" of new material and has already been in the studio with the quintet to record "the first three of about 20 songs" for the as-yet-untitled set. The group will reconvene in December, after Kennedy returns from touring with Alter Bridge, and record through January.
"It's very different from the last one," says Slash, who recorded "Slash" with a variety of guest singers, including Kennedy. "There's a lot of freedom on this record; it's very diverse, but it's definitely the sound of one band with a lot of different ideas. This is probably the most 'live' recorded album I've ever done, too. The way I like to do records is rehearse, rehearse, rehears and then go in and get to know the song like the back of your hand and then go in and bang it out. That's how we're doing it."
That's not all Slash is planning to do before the end of the year, however. He says Velvet Revolver will also get together in December to "spend some time with a couple of singers -- that's all I can tell you." The group, on hiatus since frontman Scott Weiland left to rejoin Stone Temple Pilots in 2008, worked early this year with Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Hart, but that did not pan out.
While all that is going on, "Made in Stoke 24/7/11" -- due out Nov. 15 on two-CDs, with a DVD added to the Special Edition -- captures some of the chemistry that Slash has in his own band. "When I hooked up with those guys, it was really to just have a good time doing this, and everybody is doing just that, just doing what they do best," Slash says. "So it's been very cohesive. This is the most fun I've had since the early Guns (N' Roses) days."
With a healthy dose of GNR songs and even material from his previous solo band Snakepit, the live set also shows how Slash has taken ownership of all the music he's played on over the years,
"I realized that I actually have a catalog at this point. There's a body of work that I can refer to," he notes. "And I just pulled stuff that I wanted to play, a lot of stuff that I hadn't played in a really long time. Playing 'Nightrain' was a gas; that's something I hadn't done since the mid-90s. I just had this freedom to do whatever I wanted, so it was really fun and there was a lot of material to pull from."
Slash adds that he's also "honored" by Guns N' Roses nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2012. "It's become very prestigious over the years, and it's become a huge honor for anybody to be inducted into it -- or even nominated, for that matter," he says. "It's a cool accolade, I suppose. Obviously we're in really, really great company."
Slash says he hasn't spoken with any other GNR members about the nomination, and he's trying not too think too much about how the original quintet -- which hasn't played together since 1991 -- would handle its induction. "Of course, you have those thoughts of how it might work in case it does happen, but with Guns 'N Roses, there's really no guessing exactly how it will go. I suppose if it happens, everybody will get some sort of ducks in order. But I think the first thing to do is wait and see if we actually get inducted, because you know how unpredictable that is."
Slash Talks Solo 'Freedom' & GNR's Possible Rock Hall Reunion
