Slash’s Previously Unreleased Demo “Crazy” Featuring Chester Bennington Shared

According to loudwire.com, before Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators became his solo band, guitarist Slash was working on his first solo album by recruiting some musicians to sing record. The one such vocalist who ended up not being on the record was the late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington. And 13 years later, the song Bennington worked on with Slash has been revealed exclusively through the Appetite for Distortion podcast and it is titled “Crazy.”

As mentioned by producer Big Chris Flores in the episode, Slash called Bennington into his studio to work on demo of the song “Crazy.” But after that, Bennington learned that he would not be able to give permission for its usage because the record label had balked at having Bennington on a song that might compete for attention while Linkin Park was releasing a new album. Slash‘s solo record came out in March of 2010, while Linkin Park’s A Thousand Suns later arrived in September.

While Bennington’s demo with Slash had to be shelved, Slash’s guitar work was put to use in a different way because the song eventually became “Doctor Alibi,” which is a track recorded with the late Lemmy Kilmister on the Slash’s 2010 solo album. The lyrics and song title changed by the time the album was released but there is guitar similarity between the two tracks.

Flores mentioned that the demo with Bennington had mostly been forgotten about because Slash moved forward with the music for his solo set. But years later, the producer was clearing out some space when he came across a file titled “Demo Fast No. 15.” Unsure of what it was, Flores revealed it was the Bennington demo from their early album sessions.

After sharing the song with Slash, they agreed to reach out to Bennington’s widow Talinda about the possibility of doing something with the song. Talinda initially asked for the tune to be released in its original form but after some encouragement from Flores, they were able to add live drums and bass to the song. Flores reached out to drummer Matt Starr, who then recommended King’s X’s Dug Pinnick to lay down the bass that now exists on the track.

Photo Credit: Shareef Ellis