GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist SLASH: 'I Don't Think I've Ever Owned The 'Appetite For Destruction' Record'

In a new interview with Goldmine, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash was asked if he still has the original cover from the band's classic debut album, "Appetite For Destruction", on vinyl. He responded: "Well, you have to understand — I mean, it's like this for all the records I do — I don't collect any of it. If you were to come to my house, you'd be hard pressed to know I was in a band. Or at least any band you had heard of. I mean there's instruments around, but I don't have any, like, souvenirs or anything special from the releases over the years. I don't think I've ever owned the 'Appetite For Destruction' record. And even if I did, I didn't live anywhere, so I wouldn't have any place to put it. Granted, I did have a lot of records I've kept. But I just never was one to sort of really collect records of the bands that I'm actually in. Does that make sense?"

He continued: "I mean, you make a record, you go through this whole process of creating the music and working on it with the guys and developing it. Then you go into the studio and you record it, then go in and mix it. And then the final process is mastering. And once that's done and it's off to be released, you've moved on. You know what I mean? It's like you've gone through everything you need to on that material, and the only thing you have to look forward to at that point is going out and performing it. And, so, I don't really get in my car and listen to it eight million times when you're mixing and mastering. [Laughs] Yeah, you play it every night, so the material's always there. And it's exciting if you hear it on the radio or something. But I don't listen to it otherwise."

Slash added: "And then there's ... and other musicians can attest to this... if you put on music in general you kind of get sucked into it. But if it's your own material... it's like if you're at a gathering or something and they were to put your record on, it's sort of funny. You don't really want to walk in somewhere and they're playing it."

GUNS N' ROSES' spring/summer 2022 European tour wrapped on July 15 in Hanover, Germany. The band will pick up again in September in South America.

GUNS N' ROSES launched its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour with an April 2016 club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California's Coachella festival.

GUNS N' ROSES' reunion tour features classic-lineup members Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and singer Axl Rose backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

GUNS N' ROSES released a new four-song EP, "Hard Skool", in February. The effort, which is exclusive to the GUNS N' ROSES' official store, contains the two new songs the band released last year — the title track and "Absurd" (stylized as "ABSUЯD") — as well as live versions of "Don't Cry" and "You're Crazy".

The band is now reportedly working on a new studio album — the first under the GUNS banner since 2008's "Chinese Democracy" and the first to feature Rose, Slash and McKagan since 1993.

Photo credit: Austin Nelson / Gibson