4 GIBSON RECORDS/BMG
A word of advice: don’t listen to this album through laptop speakers, and for god’s sake don’t play it through your phone (or at least not the first time). These days that’s a less common prerequisite than you may think – even ‘proper rock records’ are now usually mixed with lo-fi, portable platforms in mind. Which is perfectly fine. Being a music fan isn’t always about spinning deluxe editions on high-spec equipment.
That said, there’s something very appealing about 4’s old-school values. All rich, roomy tones, captured live in Nashville’s RCA Studios, it benefits from being listened to on a decent sound system or headphones. Lovingly analogue, hotoff-the-floor records are what 4’s producer Dave Cobb does, and it shows.
Where the previous two Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators albums carried more Alter Bridge DNA (both produced by AB’s go-to guy ‘Elvis’ Baskette), 4 leans further into Slash’s box of Guns N’ Roses tricks. It doesn’t create the bright-eyed punch of its predecessors, but for live atmosphere Cobb’s approach pairs brilliantly with Appetite For Destruction-era dirt.
It’s also arguably the first sounded like a band affair, as opposed to the Slash ’n’ Myles show backed by drummer Brent Fitz, bassist Todd Kerns and rhythm guitarist Frank Sidoris. On all their parts are tangible, while Kennedy’s vocals are less polished, a little lower in the mix; less precisionhoned wailer, more rock star.
