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GUNS 'N ROSES
APPETITE
FOR DESTRUCTION
(1987)
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, IT'S SO EASY, SWEET CHILD 'O MINE
SKIP THESE: none
One of my mom's favorite metal albums, Appetite For Destruction was basically my personal soundtrack during eighth grade, and nearly twenty years on it still sounds pretty darn good. Led by volatile lead "singer" Axl Rose, GNR were pretty shocking back in the day, as their pro-drugs, violence, and misogyny schtick raised quite a few eyebrows at Evangelical Free Churches across the land. Yes, this band was pretty disturbing for a lot of people, but that's one of the main reasons why Guns 'n Roses was so wildly popular. The other big reason, of course, was the fact that these guys rocked. Hard. Led by guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, few bands in the history of rock have come up with as many great guitar riffs, and the rhythm section (bassist Duff Mckagen and drummer Steven Adler) was explosive at times. Not only that, but Axl was the best front man of his generation, and his distinctive screechy, chip-on-shoulder vocals are both disturbing and mesmerizing. GNR's influences are clearly bands like AC/DC (great!), The Rolling Stones (even better!), and Aerosmith (pfffft!), but there is something truly original in their sleazy, volatile sound that is gripping. A great band. They were idiots, but they were good.
So what rocks here? Well, basically everything. There isn't any filler to be found, and there are at least six songs that would qualify as metal classics. At the top of the list would have to be the band's first hit single 'Sweet Child 'O Mine,' with its trademark Slash riff and superb dynamics. The song is also special in that it shows Axl's gentler, cuddlier side for the first time - the guy is such a sweetheart. 'Welcome to the Jungle' lives up to its title, with a great Slash-played guitar intro, and some memorable "small town boy in the city" lyrics that paint a vivid picture of the deplorable hellhole that is inner city Los Angeles. The trashy 'It's So Easy' is also excellent, although it's lyrics are so confrontational that I won't repeat them here lest my mom reads this review. The frank anti-heroin rant 'Mr. Brownstone' is also quite good, as is 'Paradise City,' which starts off as a made-for-arena power ballad, but quickly escalates into a go-for-broke, double-time rocker. I'm also pretty fond of 'My Michelle,' which has a great riff and some disturbing Axl lyrics, as well as 'Nighttrain,' which is a charming tribute to the band's favorite brand of cheap vodka. All in all, this is the best metal album of the 1980's, and still stands up as one of the most important records of all-time.
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: PATIENCE, USED TO LOVE HER, YOU'RE CRAZY
SKIP THESE: MAMA KIN
A stop-gap release intended to buy the Gunners some extra time between 1987's Appetite For Destruction and 1991's Use Your Illusion, GNR Lies can be summarized as an "EP, padded." Consisting of four live tracks originally issued on the band's 1986 debut live EP Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide, as well as four new acoustic guitar-based tunes, the album was designed to tide over Guns 'n Roses fans starving for new material. The live tracks, while nothing special, are pretty solid, although the needless cover of Aerosmith's crappy 'Mama Kin' does little to add to either band's legacy. The other three live songs are all GNR originals, and all are basically interchangeable with one another, although I suppose 'Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock and Roll)' is probably the best of the bunch. Basically, the live selections show a young band poised for a major breakthrough, but still not able to deliver the goods in terms of songwriting just yet.
The four "new" studio-recorded songs, on the other hand, are all quite memorable, with the uber-power ballad 'Patience' leading the pack in terms of sheer excellence. Sure, it's pretty sappy by GNR standards, but its well-written, well-sung, and has some balls going for it - especially when the song breaks down into that Stones-sounding coda at the end. The remake of 'You're Crazy' (from Appetite) is also stellar, eclipsing the louder, faster original version by a wide margin. The song also boasts a slow, menacing groove, and there's some really tasty guitar work going on between Slash and Izzy on the track. The half-jokey, half-serious 'Used To Love Her (But I Had To Kill Her)' is also excellent, a tongue-in-cheek (or is it?) tale of a man who kills his girlfriend, with an old-time rock 'n roll feel and a genuinely fun vibe going on. Last but not least, the infamous 'One In A Million' closes the album. It's not hard to see why the song was so controversial, as the lyrics are, err, more than just a little bit politically incorrect ("immigrants and faggots/ they make no sense to me/ they come to our country/ and think they do as they please/ like start some mini Iran/ or spread some f***in' disease"). Regardless of the controversy, the track is a good one, although I must admit I feel a tad guilty for admitting that I like the music.
So what to make of all of this? In essence, GNR Lies is a decent record company cash-in that should be a part of any self-respecting GNR fan's record collection. The live songs are kind of iffy, but the acoustic side alone makes it worth the price of admission.
Just as an aside, I was busted for shoplifting this cassette when I was thirteen. It would prove to be my first - and last - attempt at using the five finger discount technique of shopping.
RATING: 8
PLAY THESE: DON'T CRY, NOVEMBER RAIN, DEAD HORSE
SKIP THESE: BACK OFF BITCH, THE GARDEN, BAD APPLES
You know, it's pretty hard to know what to make of the whole Use Your Illusion thing. On one hand, it's hard not to admire Guns 'n Roses for having the balls to release two sixty minute-plus albums on the same day, and for having the ambition to tackle so many different styles of music in spite of the fact their fan base is generally close-minded and meat headed. That being said, Use Your Illusion also represents the perils of rock and roll excess, a flawed musical portrait of a band so massively popular that they became blinded to their own musical limitations (i.e. lacking the talent to write lengthy epics), and ignorant of its strengths (i.e. kick ass hard rock). Even the biggest of GNR fans would admit that there is a lot of crap on both of the Use Your Illusion albums, and that the band may have been better off selecting fourteen or so of the strongest tracks, and left the rest for the bootleggers. Taken on their own, both of these CDs are so lengthy that they could almost be considered "double albums" in their own right, which means that in reality the Use Your Illusion set can be considered to be a triple album collection. There's just way too much material here - it's too much for anyone to absorb, let alone enjoy. Even just the simple act of shaving off four of the weaker selections on both of the CDs would have done the band a world of good.
In terms of Use Your Illusion 1, it is quite clearly the better of the two albums. To be sure, there is some garbage to be found, but on the whole its a pretty solid listen from start to finish. There are more straight ahead rock songs than on Use Your Illusion 2, and the lengthy epics ('November Rain' and 'Coma') are more convincing than those found on the second album. There are really only two completely shit songs here: 'The Garden' and 'Back Off Bitch.' The former track is tuneless duet between Axl Rose and shock rocker Alice Cooper that just doesn't go anywhere, while the latter is probably the most pointlessly misogynist song I've ever heard (that isn't a rap song, that is). The lyrics are just deplorable ("back off bitch, lying in the gutter, dying in the ditch"), and as such represent one of several moments on the Use Your Illusion collection where the band simply takes things too far. I know that they were probably joking, but sorry, I ain't laughing at that one.
However, these two musical missteps are atoned for by most of the other tracks which generally range from good to excellent. If you like classic-style GNR rockers than you'll love the album opener 'Right Next Door To Hell,' which sounds a lot like the more famous hit single 'You Could Be Mine' but is actually better,' as well as the ferocious 'Garden Of Eden' and the menacing, obscenity-laced 'Perfect Crime.' The band also explores its Aerosmith/Rolling Stones influences on rockin' tracks like 'Dead Horse,' 'Dust 'n Bones,' 'Don't Damn me,' and 'Bad Obsession,' the latter of which seems to indicate that Axl's relationship with his mother is, err, a bit "strained."
There are also a couple of great ballads, my favorite of which is 'Don't Cry,' an "old" song that apparently dates back to the band's days as a bar band. It's got great dynamics, surprisingly heartfelt lyrics, a classic Slash guitar solo, and some of Axl's better singing - the over-the-top video is fantastic too. The epic nine minute ballad 'November Rain' is also excellent, and the simple fact that radio still played the song in spite of its length demonstrates just how good the song is (the classic video helped matters though). It's strange to hear an orchestra on a GNR song, but it works pretty well, and the piano-based song has enough interesting musical tidbits to keep things moving along nicely. Also interesting is the cover of Paul McCartney's 'Live And Let Die,' which is surprisingly good. Sure, it sounds like the original recording with overdubbed Axl screeching, but its hard to ruin this great song, and the Gunners don't even come close to screwing it up.
My favorite moments on the whole album, though, are Izzy Stradlin's two solo spots, 'You Ain't The First' and 'Double Talkin' Jive.' 'You Ain't The First' is a Stonesy-sounding gem, while 'Double Talkin' Jive' is an aggressive rocker with hilarious lyrics and some great guitar work from Izzy. Stradlin has a pleasant two-packs-a-day, Keith-Richards-style voice - a welcome relief from fifty minutes of Axl screaming, to be sure. Apart from Axl, I would argue that Izzy was the most important member of Guns 'n Roses. I mean, just look at the songwriting credits - Izzy co-wrote almost all of the band's best songs. As a result, it's not difficult to see why the band started falling apart when Izzy left before the tour. You just don't lose songwriting talent like that and expect to carry on like before, Mr. Rose.
Overall, Use Your Illusion 1 is a strong album, although it would have been more consistent if the band had dropped the crappier tunes like 'The Garden,' 'Back Off Bitch,' and 'Bad Apples,' and possibly even shaved a couple of minutes off of the album-closing epic 'Coma,' which starts off promising enough but loses steam towards the end. If you're going to buy any of the Use Your Illusion albums, make it this one.
RATING: 6
PLAY THESE: CIVIL WAR, YESTERDAYS, KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
SKIP THESE: GET IN THE RING, BREAKDOWN, MY WORLD (to name but a few...)
It's hard to believe that Guns 'n Roses were so enamored with themselves and their ideas that they decided to release two albums in a single day (and put most of the good songs on the first one), but that is exactly what happened back in September 1991. In fact, Use Your Illusion 2 is so much weaker than the first CD that it's practically unlistenable in parts - brutal, sometimes. When the two album set came out I was under the illusion (heheh) that Use Your Illusion 2 was the better of the two, but fifteen years on it just doesn't hold up very well. I can also understand now why I was mistaken in my initial assessment of the second disc. You see, Use Your Illusion 2 contains three of the band's biggest and most accessible hit singles (including the massively popular cover of Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' which had previously appeared on the Days of Thunder soundtrack), so it isn't surprising that I returned to this CD a lot in the early days. Actually, the first four songs ('Civil War,' '14 Years,' 'Yesterdays,' are 'Knockin On Heavens Door') are quite possibly the best sequence of tracks on any GNR album, so Use Your Illusion 2 starts off with a false impression of strength. Unfortunately, the next five songs are putrid piles of donkey poop so nauseating that even the most ardent Guns 'n Roses fans would have trouble stomaching them.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that Use Your Illusion 2 is the "epic song album" of the collection, meaning that there are seven songs that clock in at over five minutes in length, and three of these are over seven minutes in length! Unfortunately, of these tracks only 'Civil War' and 'Estranged' are any good, which means that about twenty five minutes of the album is blotted up by pure, unfettered excrement. That's too much by anyone's standards, let alone a supposed edgy rock 'n roll band like GNR. By my count there are only three tracks on the album that are actually rock songs ('Shotgun Blues,' 'Pretty Tied Up' and 'You Could Be Mine'), and the fact that only one of them ('You Could Be Mine') is any good is pretty much disgusting. This album (or most of it, anyway) represents corporate rock at its most bloated and insincere, and such its not difficult to see why hard rock fans started looking elsewhere for a more honest brand of music (i.e. Nirvana) by the end of the year 1991.
Nevertheless, Use Your Illusion 2 does have its share of classic moments. As previously mentioned, the album kicks off in strong fashion with four kick arse tunes, including the epic ballad 'Civil War,' the final GNR song to feature original drummer Steven Adler. (I suppose I should mention that former Cult drummer Matt Sorum plays skins on the rest of the album, but then again his drumming is so unremarkable that it doesn't really matter anyway). The song makes excellent use of power ballad dynamics, it boasts insightful lyrics, and Axl puts in one of his best vocal performances of all time, although I could probably do without his Dixie whistlin' at the end of the track. Also good is the Stradllin rocker '14 Years,' which has a great groove going, and the mid-tempo ballad 'Yesterdays,' which is probably my favorite track on the album. it features some unusually wistful Axl Rose lyrics, a distinctive melody, and a powerful hook of a chorus - a great song by anyone's standards. The band's cover of 'Knockin' On Heavens Door' is also enjoyable, as Guns 'n Roses adds its name to the lengthy list of groups who do Dylan better than Bob does. Duff McKagen's songwriting/vocal debut on 'So Fine' is also a highlight, as the bassist turns in an endearingly honest tribute to the recently deceased New York Dolls icon Johnny Thunders. It's a ballad, but it rocks, and Duff has a surprisingly effective voice to boot. The other major track of note is 'Estranged,' which is almost nine minutes long, but the song has enough interesting musical parts to make it a great track, and you don't really notice just how long it is. I love the last musical section, that "I jumped into the river too many times to make it home" part - very cool.
Unfortunately, not all of the band's attempts to write "epics" work as well as 'Estranged' does. Have you ever heard 'Breakdown'? If not, consider yourself lucky not to have wasted seven minutes of your life, and move along. I've rarely heard such an awkward, drug-addled attempted to fuse so many unrelated musical parts together, and whoever sings in that stupid lower register voice during the so-called "chorus" need to be beaten unmercifully. Ditto for 'Locomotive,' which is essentially just another excuse for Axl to coddle his gigantic ego. Equally abominable is 'Get In The Ring,' during which Axl personally attacks writers from major music magazines for giving Guns 'n Roses bad reviews. Essentially, its just another excuse for the angry young man from Indiana to swear his head off, although I will admit that the line about Bob Guccioni is pretty hilarious. Also useless is the second take of 'Don't Cry,' with alternate, crappier lyrics, and 'Pretty Tied Up' is pure filler. Worst of all, though, is the disturbing glimpse into Axl's mind entitled 'My World,' which goes a long way in explaining his increasingly odd behavior over the past fifteen years. The dude has some major problems, that's for certain.
All in all, most listeners would be well advised to stay clear of Use Your Illusion 2. Most of it has not stood the test of time, and it's easy enough to find the best songs on the internet for free, so my advice would be to not even bother unless you're a big GNR fan. And even if you are, you may be in for a nasty shock at times.
For the record, here's my selections for a 14 track "best of" Use Your Illusion CD (feel free to email me your picks):
1. Civil War
2. Dust 'n Bones
3. Dead Horse
4. November Rain
5. Garden of Eden
6. Don't Cry
7. Yesterdays
8. Right Next Door To Hell
9. 14 Years
10. You Ain't The First
11. Knockin' On Heavens Door
12. You Could Be Mine
13. So Fine
14. Estranged
Pretty good little album, doncha think? Too bad Axl Rose was too busy congratulating himself on releasing two albums on the same day to realize that almost half of the tracks were sub-par....
RATING: 5
PLAY THESE: AIN'T IT FUN, HUMAN BEING, ATTITUDE
SKIP THESE: SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU, HAIR OF THE DOG, LOOK AT YOUR GAME GIRL
I'm going to be honest here: I hate all-covers albums. When a group like Guns 'n Roses decides to "return to their roots" and "pay tribute to the bands that made them want to be musicians in the first place," this usually indicates one of two things: (1) the group members have collectively lost sight of who they are, and (2) the band can't come up with enough good material to fill up an entire CD. In the case of The Spaghetti Incident, I would say that both situations apply here. The Use Your Illusion set, while ambitious and interesting in spots, was awash in bloated rock 'n roll excess, as the band veered away from the relentless, guitar-driven attack that had served them so well in the beginning toward a more measured MOR approach. To make matters worse, they used up most of their backlog of tunes on Use Your Illusion, so the band's well of tunes had run almost completely dry. It also didn't help matters that one of the band's primary songwriters, Izzy Stradin, had left the group, so it is clear the group was struggling to deliver the goods in terms of songwriting. The addition of two new group members in Gilby Clarke (guitar) and Dizzy Reed (keyboards) did give the group a much-needed shot in the arm, but try as they might, the group just can't duplicate the energy they had in the early days. Granted, the group does a good job of choosing relatively obscure covers, but Guns 'n Roses was by this time a sinking ship, and this album is "exhibit A" for anyone in doubt of this fact,
In terms of standout tracks, only a few spring to mind. The Dead Boys' 'Ain't It Fun' sounds both menacing and tuneful, and it almost sounds like it could be a Gunners original composition. The Stooges 'Raw Power' is garage rock at its best, and the cover of The Misfits' 'Attitude' is a minute and a half-long underground rock gem. I suppose that the group's version of The New York Dolls' 'Human Being' is also pretty good, an energetic clues rock track that really cooks, and the unlikely cover of T. Rex's 'Buick Makane' merges into Soundgarden's tongue-in-cheek 'Big Dumb Sex' in hilarious fashion. The hit single, of course, was 'Since I Don't Have You,' a 50's doo-wop cover that for some inexplicable reason got a lot of airplay back in 1993. To me, it's a lame novelty single that shows just how far Guns 'n Roses had strayed from their roots. In a word, pathetic. All of the rest of the songs are mediocre - not bad, but nothing worth getting too excited about. The tacky cover of the Charles Manson composition 'Look at Your Game Girl' may have attracted a lot of controversy back in 1993, but the passage of time has rendered it a lame gimmick, and the song itself is a waste of space. Just like most of the album. Five out of ten.