Slash thinks music has ”lost its magic”.
The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist thinks the modern popularity for purchasing albums through downloads lead to the listener missing out because they don’t get a complete package that includes the visuals of artwork.
He said: ”There was a certain excitement that came with the release of a new record, and a lot of it was just the package itself, and it was something that you milled over while you were listening to the record.
”It was sad to see them sort of get phased out, but, you know, with CDs at least you still had the booklets, but now, when you look at the digital situation, you’re like ‘There’s nothing in it’, you know. It’s not even tangible any more. It’s convenient, but you lose the magic of it.”
The 46-year-old star is renowned for his musicianship yet he believes playing guitar well is a ”never-ending process” and he practices every day.
He told Absolute Radio’s Pete Mitchell: ”The funny thing for me, obviously I think it’s well known that I quit drinking a few years ago, and so instead of picking up some other bad habit I just put it all back into the guitar playing, so I probably play guitar more now than when I first started.
”You never totally get the hang of it, guitar playing is a never-ending process. I think Jeff Beck is a good indicator of that, he’s been progressing as a guitar player since the 60s, and we’re now 2012 and he’s still stretching the guitar, you know. So it just goes to show you how it’s a never-ending thing, there’s just always somewhere you can go with it.”
Slash’s full interview will broadcast on Absolute Classic Rock on May 20 at 7pm.