Duff McKagan, best known as the bass player for Guns N’ Roses, was considered the punk voice within the band, giving their songs a harder edge, in addition to his sublimely melodic bass playing. However, on Tenderness, working closely with country singer/songwriter Shooter Jennings, McKagan has crafted a contemporary, politically aware American version of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street.
Amazingly and improbably, the album works very well. McKagan’s found his inner Mick Jagger, singing in a voice that’s equal parts bratty and earnest. The arrangements are pure Americana ear candy, with lots of pedal steel, organ, and fiddle. None of this is what you’d expect from McKagan, given his Guns N’ Roses career, his solo work, and his other band gigs, which range from Velvet Revolver to the underrated Neurotic Outsiders, all of it much heavier than what he’s created here.
“Tenderness,” the title track, lives up to its name with a gentleness that’s almost religious. The quiet introspectiveness comes from the aforementioned organ and pedal steel, which give the track the seriousness of a church service, but also from its lyrics, which are about a need for compassion: “Darkest days, the deals we’ve made / On temple grounds, that empty sound, God’s not around.”
“Last September” is country music by way of the Stones, making for an interesting musical journey. Despite the decades-long game of telephone that seemingly has an American artist influenced by British artists who were influenced by American artists, the song is clear and cohesive. Fiddles, pedal steel, and acoustic guitars eventually give way to a beautiful piano as the song reboots itself, creating a feeling of rebirth.
Tenderness doesn’t just pull from the Stones, though. “Breaking Rocks” is folky and Celtic and “Don’t Look Behind You” is a pretty ballad that sounds very 80s, complete with a saxophone solo. “Wasted Heart” has a similarly 80s ballad sound, but it’s made contemporary, ironically, with some classic, old-fashioned pedal steel, as well as by one of McKagan’s stronger vocal performances. And “Falling Down” is trippy, with weird synth effects that give the song an awesomely weird space-age-country kind of vibe.
The lyrics are straight-forward, often leaving little to the imagination. One song, “Parkland,” is, unsurprisingly, about school shootings. “Cold Outside” is about homelessness. These are important topics, but the songs stand a greater chance of becoming classics if they’re less rooted to specific moments and more generalizable. Events, like school shootings, are ripe for artistic interpretation and commentary, but if it feels like a news alert from your phone, the song just won’t age well.
McKagan is an interesting artist. He seems to have no trouble moving between musical genres and he’s equally good at writing in different styles. His 1990s solo records had a 90s sound, but the songs were good. The strong Stones influence here is interesting because Guns N’ Roses guitarist/songwriter Izzy Stradlin was such a huge Stones fan. McKagan must have processed that style, reinforced by his collaboration with Jennings. Taken all together, this is an impressively pleasant surprise, not at all what one would expect from a guy who’s spent so much time around hard rock. Band affiliations carry a weight. It’s hard to listen to a solo album without thinking about the artist’s usual band. Tenderness isn’t just good for a hard rock guy or a member of Guns N’ Roses. It’s a good album, regardless of whomever, McKagan has played with.
