By Josh 
In 1987, rock music had become bloated with flashy, style-over-substance acts that were more about image than attitude. Enter Guns N’ Roses—a band that didn’t just bring danger back to rock but embodied it. While their music sounded fresh and rebellious, Slash himself has often pointed out that they weren’t inventing anything new; they were just bringing back what bands like Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones had already perfected.
Slash’s blues-infused playing was deeply rooted in classic rock, drawing inspiration from the likes of Mick Taylor and Joe Walsh. But it was Joe Perry and Aerosmith that had the biggest impact on him. Their raw, swaggering energy and tight-but-loose grooves laid the foundation for GNR’s sound. You can hear it in the way Slash structured his solos, blending Perry’s bluesy phrasing with his own technical precision.
He’s even admitted that Aerosmith was the key reason for his success, once saying:
“I don’t think this generation has a clue what classic Aerosmith was all about. But they were the template for what I do, as well as plenty of bands that came after Guns N’ Roses: Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam.”
While grunge took rock in a different direction, the DNA of Aerosmith and GNR was still there—whether in Kim Thayil’s Zeppelin-esque riffing or the groovy attack of Pearl Jam’s Even Flow. Even as Slash’s brand of rock became less mainstream in the ‘90s, Aerosmith continued evolving, pivoting into power ballads and commercial success.
But no amount of late-career pop balladry could erase the influence of Toys in the Attic or Rocks. And when GNR exploded onto the scene, they weren’t just the biggest band of their era—they were proof that real rock and roll never dies.