"Truth"
This cool and catchy groove rocker was a band collaboration, and was one of the forst songs written for the album, but remained untouched wntil the final weeks of recording in Dublin. "Lyrically it needed to go somewhere else. So we all sat down in a room and we changed what it was about," says Phil, declining to get specific. He and Viv "played the same guitar at the same time. It had a twin neck. It was wild but it worked."

"Turn To Dust"
A soulful midtempo tune flavored with the exotic instruments of India, this is one of Phil's contributions. "That started with a very flowing melody, it had a very eastern feel and we put a slide solo on it," he notes, adding that subject-wise, "It's pretty obvious if you read into it." It's one of several songs that reflect his and Joe Elliott's marital breakups.

"Slang"
The anthemic, "Sugar"-like blend of rock and hip-hop on the title track will no doubt have listeners dancing. "We did that one in Spain, and we wanted to give it a flavor, we added this Latin percussion and the girl talking in the middle of it, we wanted to make it fun and up," says Phil, who names it as his favorite. "Slang with me," the chorus invites, ut Phil insists that the meaning os verbal, not sexual: "It's the spoken word." Phil came up with the title during a book-store visit. "I saw a book called American Slang and it jumped out. It's very much a part of rap, pop, rock culture," he says.

"All I Want Is Everything"
A radio-ready ballad written by Joe, this was played live acoustically on the Three Continents in a Day promotion. The opening line sets the tone: "I don't know how to leave you and I don't know how to stay."

"Work It Out"
Vivian contributed this cool, U2-ish midtempo rocker, the first U.S. single. "It went through a lot of changes stylistically, from being an unassuming little pop song to sounding like a big train wreck. It sounds great, I'm pleased with it," he says. "Ostensibly it's about a one on one relationship but in the bigger picture it always struck me as being about television and advertising and the consumer society and images coming at you. 'Buy this candy bar or that toothpaste and you can work it out.'"

"Breathe A Sigh"
Soulful and melodic, this great ballad went through a lot of changes. "Originally it sounded a bit country-ish. We tried an acoustic version, a piano version. Now it's an R&B type thing," says Phil. Another rocky relationship song, it's one of the first we wrote for Slang.

"Deliver Me"
"We finished that one off recently in Dublin," says Phil of this edgy rocker. "It was about something else originally. You know the Police song 'Bring On The Night?' It's about Gary Gilmore," he explains, referring to the infamous executed killer. "This has got a similar feel to it lyrically."

"Gift Of Flesh"
This kickin' rocker about civilization on the skids told from the p.o.v. of the perpetrator is another Collen contribution. As he puts it, "It's an updated version of 'Sympathy For the Devil' really, the atmosphere's the same."

"Blood Runs Cold"
Pretty and lyrical with some soulful background wailing from Phil ("it was just a guide vocal but it sounded really cool"), this ballad almost appeared on Vault. "We tried to get the backing track to have an early Police type feel," Phil notes. "That's something we wouldn't have done earlier."

"Where Does Love Go When It Dies"
An ethereal unplugged number, this, according to Vivian, gave them the opportunity to experiment. "We did a lot of acoustic guitars on it, we peeled some of them off but we wanted to keep it acouostic. Phil played mandolin on it, I played dulcimer, which I never played before. I played it the wrong way, you're supposed to put it on your lap. I didn't. But in a lot of ways that's fresh." Phil concurs: "It's creative, expressive, you're not following a guideline."

"Pearl Of Euphoria"
Hypnotic, edgy, and heavy, this rocker seethes ominously. "You never saw Apocalypse Now, right? It sort of reminds me of when they're on a boat going down the river, that whole time period," says Phil, who wrote it with Joe and Sav. While the latter had said in an earlier interview that it was about a drug dealer, it turned even more sinister: "It's changed. It's a lot darker than that. You can figure it out," says Phil. It's the only Slang song "that didn't go through a lot of changes. We finished recording that ages ago and didn't add anything to it for over a year," he notes, adding that the guitars on it were particularly fun to do.