Guns n Roses: Critical Rehab

aero, do you think "Appetite" is vastly overrated? Because I'm with you on "UYI" (obv.), but that first album is zeitgeist in the a bottle. Or something.

he's definitely irreverent about GNR in the book but to me it didn't come across as dismissive or superior -- UYI is more fun to talk about if you acknowledge its flaws and ridiculousness from the start, and if you're not constantly saying Appetite was the greatest thing ever and comparing it to that. also i didn't get a "i wouldn't normally listen to this" sense, if anything it was that he'd listened to it so much in the '90s that he could actually write the majority of the book from memory w/o relistening to it.

btw i apologize if my platform itt has become 'i will read any and all books about guns n roses and so should you'

i'll pass on adler's, though, it was depressing enough seeing him on celebrity rehab

wait doesn't he explicitly say he's never listened to the albums before writing the book?

no, he was definitely very familiar w/ the albums beforehand but only listened to them again while writing the last chapter.

if it WAS a total intellectual exercise of "let's see how much i can write 'about' an album without engaging with the album on any level" like the Celine book that would be total bullshit but don't even get me started on that

What's the gist with the UYI book and Izzy or his role in GNR?

mainly he just hates on all the songs w/ Izzy writing credits and thinks his Stones vibe was unwelcome

btw for your edification my 3 favorite things i learned from the Slash book: 1) he was given the nickname Slash by actor Seymour Cassel, 2) he was really disappointed when he met Alice Cooper and found out that Alice just used snakes as stage props and wasn't super into them like he was, 3) he owned a mountain lion named Curtis.

yeah, sorry, aero, I never got the impression that Weisbard was holding his nose.

also i get what you're saying about them being a subcult band to some extent but any sunset strip sleaze metal band that could also be a 10 year old suburban pennsylvania nerd's favorite band has graduated to the arena where a multiplicity of takes is probably not just appropriate but should be encouraged.

fyi I used to buy frogs scorpions etc at the same store in Lakewood where Slash got his snakes

the Frogs, Scorpions Et Cetera on Del Amo Boulevard!?!? get right outta town. do you know if Howard is still the manager over there?

I used to buy frogs scorpions etc at the same store in Lakewood where Slash got his snakes

The first sentence of the third chapter of your memoir.

frogbs, scorpions, etc

looking forward to the "steven tyler's frogpit" solo album btw

definitely wanna read the duff book, and i've stayed away from the other two autobios even though i used to be a diehard gunshead. i haven't read the UYI book but i think i'd like it -- while i have feelings of affection for the music and the group, i'm as critical/mocking of their flaws as anyone.

i watched the live stream of this year's rock in rio (w/ axl + "new" guns). interesting experience. following the hashtags was also a telling experience.

(the hashtaggers were particularly critical about axl's weight gain. i didn't think he looked too bad for a guy about to turn 50.)

The first sentence of the third chapter of your memoir.

actually it's my entire memoir, sorta jumped the gun by posting it here

the Frogs, Scorpions Et Cetera on Del Amo Boulevard!?!? get right outta town. do you know if Howard is still the manager over there?

no loyd's pets and reptiles. now closed evidently but it was the best place if frogs scorpions etc were yr deal

Loyd's are a bunch of fucking bums, Howard just told me to post

At the time Weisbard surprised me by not relating the story of Axl, after sending champagne and roses, showed up backstage at a Pet Shop Boys show in 1991.

He proceeds to rave about the show -- "that was so cool, `My October Symphony,' when tye dont' even sing" -- and say that liking them is becoming a shared secret in the world. "I phone dup the singer of Nine Inch Nails and I said "'What's that you're listening to?" and he said, "'Oh, er, it's the Pet Shop boys.'" He tells me he plays Behaviour in the car and his friends say, 'What are you trying to make me like NOW...?"

Then he tells me that there's something in common between "My October Symphony" and this song he's struggling with in the studio at the moment, a song called "November Rain."

Howard is bummed that Slash didn't recognize him when he came in for feeder mice

is it overreaching to make a "thing" of how many gay artists axl is a huge fan of (psb, freddie mercury, elton john)? i remember an interview where he said his classmates in the '70s made fun of him for liking the stones because they were "considered fags" at that point.

i tend to think that whole "i'm ineruditely homophobic yet deeply enamoured and respectful of gay icons like elton john and freddy mercury" is just a fragment of a broader dichotomy that sums up w. axl rose. i mean, the guy is inscrutable and ridiculous on just about every front.

He's an outsider just like them

Or was when he stepped off the Greyhound

i mean, the guy is inscrutable and ridiculous on just about every front.

well, yes, but.

to me there's always been a sense of axl diffusing his introspecive, thoughtful side ("estranged", "november rain") with a more small-minded, belligerent approach ("one in a million", "back off bitch"). i also sense a bit of a running theme throughout the cavalier illusion records of a "small town white boy" trying to reconcile himself with the opportunistic and complex world that fame and rock stardom brings.

and of course you also hear the byproducts of fame and rock stardom on those albums, ie. a right-of-way to channel inner thoughts and insecurities in a bloated and self-important manner.

i think the mystery of axl stems from his curious ability to offset his predominantly selfish and reckless personality with atypical bouts of tenderness and complex thinking.

my favorite bit of trivia about Axl is that one of his favorite songs to get 'fired up' to was WASP's "I Wanna Be Somebody". But I think that Axl is looooooong gone.

Hmm, where to put this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XUKRZGVW6Q

In which Axl reveals that the original cover of "Appetite" was intended to be a photograph of the Challenger explosion (!!!!!!).

So it went from Challenger explosion -> robot rape scene -> awesome skull cross?

i heart bumblefoot

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-guns-roses-at-allstate-arena-pg,0,2045814.photogallery

Caption on this one:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-guns-roses-at-allstate-arena-pg,0,2045814.photogallery?index=chi-ct-roses0120111115230310

fuck, Viacom asserted copyright on that Axl interview with a quickness. can someone summarize?

(the Trib fixed the caption, which when I posted had said the band name was "Enough is Enough.")

He said the rant in "Get In The Ring" was Duff's idea because there was a space in the song.

I don't remember the rest.

there was an uncomfortable amount of ass-licking in that interview.

Short form: original idea for the cover was the Challenger explosion; only reason they toured in '92 was because their manager booked them without his consent and there was some concern that leaving the group idle would lead to Slash OD'ing on heroin; Tommy seems to be, maybe, the band- leader, or at least Axl's closest band member?; reason Axl goes on so late often is just because things are going wrong and they need time to work them out, whatever that means. Also, Axl thinks people really like Chinese Democracy and its legacy is a work in progress.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" was written in response to someone "doing donuts."

They were too lame to ask him about One In A Million.

stinson's official title in gnr is 'musical director'

i have a copy of Chinese Democracy on vinyl.

i mostly use it as a tray to serve hors d'oeuvres off of

someday i'm going to talk into a Best Buy that's selling it on vinyl for 50 cents each, and i'm going to buy them all and build a great wall of Chinese Democracy

Is it still a Best Buy exclusive?

Caption on this one:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-guns-roses-at-allstate-arena-pg,0,2045814.photogallery?index=chi-ct-roses0120111115230310

― Love stream of mic checking (Eazy), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:06 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^this dude peed in Madonna iirc