Published on Jun 13, 2002
These days, it almost seems like having the words “former member
of Guns N’ Roses” on your resume is a death sentence. Although many
former members of the band have gone on to start solo careers, not
one of them has even come close to achieving the level of success
that even the worst Guns N’ Roses album had.
In the case of guitarist Gilby Clarke, that’s really a shame.
His latest solo effort,
Swag, has barely registered a blip on the music industry
radar. Even I sat on this disc for a while after I received it –
though I have a damn good excuse, what with having two jobs and
four-month-old twins. But once you bite the bullet and give this
disc a fair shake, Clarke and his fellow musicians prove that he’s
well worth your time.
Clarke often seems to turn down the guitar work on this disc,
instead choosing to allow the entire song to be heard on its own
terms, not just remembered for six-string frenzy. It’s an
interesting concept, and one that works well; tracks like
“Crocodile Tears,” “Judgement Day” and “Heart Of Chrome” all show
Clarke’s talents better than even his work with G N’ R did. The
de-emphasis of guitar is most evident on “Warm Country Sun” (don’t
let the name fool you, it’s still a rock-based number), which
places the highlight more on Teddy Andreadis’s harmonica than
Clarke’s guitar.
The selection of backing musicians – including such rock
veterans as Tracii Guns, Eric Singer and Derek Sherinian – help to
deliver the messages on
Swag well. For Clarke’s part, he mixes enough seriousness
with even a little sexual bragadoccio (“Margarita,” “Beware Of The
Dog”) to remind you that he’s not ashamed of his past. If Clarke
has any weakness, it would be in the vocal department; he’s a
competent enough singer, but doesn’t quite have the power needed to
fully deliver the goods.
Especially noteworthy is Clarke’s cover of David Bowie’s
“Diamond Dogs,” one which shows a powerful mixture of Clarke’s
present with his musical roots. One has to think that the “Thin
White Duke” would approve of this take on his work.
While it would be nice to say that
Swag is the album which wins Clarke back a certain level of
fame, I sadly don’t see that happening for any number of reasons.
But one could say that if
Swag wins Clarke over a new group of fans, then the whole
thing has been successful. Clarke deserves a better fate than that
which has been handed to him over the years;
Swag is a powerful statement which suggests that better
times are quickly approaching for Clarke.