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 Forn-era dirt.