Axl Rose, you had me at "I see your sister in her Sunday dress." Then you had to go ahead and ruin it with piano ballads, dictatorial purges, lavish videos, and delays, delays, delays. Read my Paradise City Lost at the American Spectator to understand why to love Guns N' Roses is to hate it in its present form.
Brilliant article! My favorite line is this: "The CD sleeve says Guns N' Roses. The play button says REO Speedwagon meets Elton John meets Nine Inch Nails."
Appetite is one of the greatest albums ever, and "It's So Easy" is arguably the best song on it (though I think a good case can be made for "Mr. Brownstone" or "Rocket Queen").
Thanks for the props. The great thing about Appetite for Destruction is that someone could say that almost any song on the album is its best song, and I wouldn't argue with it. It is the manifestation of the cliche, "All Killer, No Filler"--a normal studio album that could pass for a greatest hits album.
Dan why the hate? yea this aint no appetite but the 2 song i heard so far aint bad.
Flynn's review of the new GNR is worthless. He just plays the typical rock critic poseur: "You were once cool; now you're not; but I am." Worthless.
Flynn can play this game because he has nothing to say about the music on Chinese Democracy except that, hey, it's not Appetite for Destruction! Yeah, well, so what?
Appetite is vastly overrated, solely on the basis of rock image, which is all that Flynn has eyes and ears for. Sweet Child is a good song, but Chinese Democracy kicks ass on so many levels, and its guitar solos are better than any on Appetite.
But rock critics who insist, "This doesn't sound like the glory days of my youth!" are a bunch of stupid old farts who know nothing about rock other than that it's what they think still makes them cool.
Guess what, Flynn? Chinese Democracy is awesome whether you are open-minded or not. But your reified retro-rock ideology is as lame as all the moronic lefty ideology you rightly denounce in your books.
I'm sorry for you. I'm not sorry for me.
I give Rose credit for not wanting to re-release Appetite as it wasn’t that great of an album to begin with. G n’ R was always more image than substance but they came along at a time when image trumped songwriting and musicianship. That’s why Appetite hasn’t held up well, the image hasn’t held up well (what image does) and the music just plain sucks. Also working against him is the fact that when he was at the top of the heap he was an absolute prima donna and screwed over everyone he was involved with (fans, band mates, tour mates, etc).
Certainly he is in the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t mode in continuing G n’ R, but I at least give Rose some credit for trying to do something different.
Dan, I have to agree with Buckethead that your review left a lot to be desired. You should have given treatment to CD’s music instead of talking about Appetite over and over (6 times in a two page review). It is impossible to learn anything about CD in your review as you don’t provide any real info on the music.
I always thought the KFC bucket was a little strange but suggesting Buckethead is known more for that than his playing is silly. He is an outstanding guitarist and a great columnist. I’m a fan of yours Dan, but you could have done much better.
The past is the past!
AM
What was really lame about Flynn's reaction was that his reckless rush to judgment was based on TWO SONGS he heard on the radio.
Well, what two songs? Shouldn't any serious critic at least name the two songs that he thinks suck? (And was NOTHING any good in them?? Not even the guitar solos???)
I mean, Shackler's Revenge and Madagascar don't do it for me after two dozen repeated listenings. But they are at least interesting.
The point is this: Reasonable people can disagree about what two songs suck on any given disc. But if Flynn can't find two songs on Chinese Democracy that just blow him away then he just hasn't f**kin' listened to it yet.
Meanwhile, Street of Dreams, Riad N' The Bedouins, Scraped, and Better just keep gettin' better and better for me as I listen repeatedly.
But enough. I will let Axl rant for me now:
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/12/axl-rose-rant.html
