It was the summer of 1992, and I was staying with my grandparents (much like being stranded on a desert island.) I think the fact that my grandparents treated me like I was still a child helped me to discover this rebel band.
Guns N' Roses came into my life via MTV. I can remember sitting down and watching the video "November Rain" and having my grandmother come in and say "Turn that trash off!" Now, if she hadn't have said that I may not have continued listening to G N' R. What a perfect way for me to show my grandparent's I was growing up...listen to one of the most controversial bands of the time. But before I shocked my grandmother I had to be prepared. I had to know what I was listening to and talking about. What better way to learn than to buy one of their albums? "November Rain" caught my eye first, so it seemed appropriate that Use Your Illusion 1 would be my first purchase.
Use Your Illusion 1 opened my eyes to a
world I had never seen or heard before. I'm not going to bore you
with the details, but basically G N' R were so shocking to me I found
it intriguing to keep listening to them. I was studying them to
understand why they were the way they were. It was like picking up a
strange object from your backyard and staring at it (Percy 47). Prior
to actually listening to them I had seen their videos. I couldn't
understand why someone would wear leather pants, have long hair, and
sing about old verities like Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll. After I
listened to all the songs on the album I realized there was a lot
more to this band. Their songs had meaning that I could relate to. By
the end of the summer listening to Guns was no longer some immature
rebellion; I had finally found my favorite band.
The release of Use Your Illusion 1 left yet another historical
mark in Guns N' Roses path. Originally meant to be a 36 song CD, it
was divided into two albums. Both albums, Use Your Illusion 1
& 2, were released on the same day. They debuted in
that order as #1 and #2 on the Billboard Charts. This was the first
time a recent band had released two separate albums on the same day.
The addition to their collection of chart topping albums proved they
had earned their place in Rock N' Roll. " They are the best American
band since the Doors," said Danny Sugerman.
Use Your Illusion 1was major turning point
for the band. Not in the superficial sense, like reviews and topping
the charts. Their previously released albums Appetite for
Destruction and Lies topped the charts with singles and as
albums. Use Your Illusion 1 did this as well but the
difference was in the sound and meaning. Since the release of
Appetite in 1987, Guns had matured as musicians and people.
Prior to Illusion they were described as "combing heavy-metal
technique with punk attitude" (Evans). In other words they had the
heavy metal sound; "standardized electroshock phrase that
incorporated both factory-approved sound effects and natural
feedback" (Christgau 136). They also had a rebellious punk attitude,
voicing their opinions in their music whether society finds it
appropriate or not. In Use Your Illusion 1 the music still
sounds like Guns N' Roses, but more elaborate. Each musician brings
talent to the surface to demonstrate skill and ability.
The sound off Use Your Illusion can be
attributed to each band member's musical background. Growing up, Axl
sang and played piano for a gospel choir. He credits this with
helping him create his many distinctive voices. One of them is his
"Jekyll and Hyde" (Sugerman 30), that like the mad man can go from
soft and sweet to loud and crazy. Bassist Duff originally learned to
play drums and then rhythm guitar. He learned bass only as a back up.
Then there is guitarist Slash. You name it, he plays it: acoustic
guitar, lead/rhythm, 6-string bass, slide guitar, he does it all.
Their ability to play a variety of instruments gives them a versatile
sound. In different songs not all of the basics; rhythm guitar, bass,
and drums are needed. In "You Ain't the First" Duff trades his bass
for an acoustic guitar, while Slash alternates to another type of
string, a slide dorbo. Izzy puts away his rhythm guitar to sing lead
vocals as Axl steps down into the background. Izzy's voice is similar
to Van Morrison's in the sense that he sings like "he's a white soul
singer with the black Irish blues" (Mark 14). This is a sharp
contrast from Axl's crying "Demon Voice" (Guns N' Roses : Don't Cry),
that can be heard echoing in every piece. The music Guns N' Roses
create isn't just words that are sung and music that is played (but
is anyone's music ever just that). As talented musicians they can
incorporate a variety of instruments and make music sound like
something worth listening to, not just a jumble of junk in the
background you can't identify.
"November Rain" demonstrates best the versatility of sound on the
album, and GN'R's musical talent. It opens with a slow melodic piano
solo, and soft strings whispering in the background. For a few
seconds it doesn't really sound like a Guns song, then as the piano
backs off Matt makes us aware of his presence with a loud "bum bum
bumbum bum" on a bass drum. The piano comes back in, playing the same
continuous chords while the strings take the foreground. Each
instrument is now starting to slowly sneak in, as if not to disturb
the music in progress. Duff echoes off the piano with his bass guitar
for a measure, while Matt follows with the same brief drum solo as
before. Duff continues to faintly strum his bass in the background
with the strings, while a flute plays a solo for a few bars. As the
flute begins to diminish Matt plays those same drumbeats and Axl
begins to softly sing. During these first few measures he is followed
by the background singers' "Ahs" creeping slightly up an octave and
then back down. Once again Matt plays his solo, but this time he
stays in with a continuous beat. As if that is the cue the rest of
the band begins to play. All three guitars play steady chords, and
the other instruments continue in the background as Axl tells us the
story through his lyrics. "November Rain" is probably the most
diverse from any Guns song. In no other song or on any other album do
they use an orchestral background. How ever "November Rain" isn't new
G N'R material. Like most of the songs on Illusion it was
written before the debut of Appetite for Destruction.
According to Axl the reason they didn't release some of the songs was
because they wanted to "wait until the time was right" (Guns
N'Roses: Don't Cry). "November Rain" was solely written by Axl:
the guitar riffs, the orchestra's part, the lyrics, all of it. He
continued to rewrite and revise it until the end of his marriage
Everly Brother, Don's daughter Erin. So basically the story is about
his previous relationships, but mainly his one to Erin. As he
describes "can't live with you, can't live without you" (Guns N'
Roses: November Rain). A friend of the band, Del James, used
"November Rain" as the basis for one of his short stories, "Without
You." Ironically even without Del knowing what the song meant, his
story directly coincided with Axl's life. In an interview, Del
explains, "the story is about how the main character has the rock n'
roll world by the balls, but can't have the girl. This song is his
damnation, Simple things like love and relationships are hardest to
keep." Axl was so amazed by the resemblance between himself and the
main character in the story, he hired Del to direct a trilogy of
videos. "Don't Cry," "November Rain," and "Estranged" are the story
"Without You."
Even though some of Guns'songs may have hidden meaning, for the most part the are straightforward and easy to understand. In some shape or form we can all relate to their songs. Everyone experiences loneliness, frustration, confusion, distress, etc. For example in "Bad Apples," Axl sings "I said the traffic is hell, can ya give me a lift?" Really no hidden meaning's involved; he's singing about living in LA. And if you can't relate to traffic then you must not be from around here. Their ability to relate to a lot of people attributes to their success. Like the Rolling Stones, "They draw on common places of community, and adolescence: easy listening, good dancing, simple emotions, and sharp images" (Frith 30). Not surprisingly The Rolling Stones were one of Guns' biggest influences. Why? They both have something that appeals to everyone, originality. "They weren't posers and they didn't hesitate to prove it" (Sugerman 82). They write their own music; nobody does it for them. In an interview, Axl explains "writing music is most important, everything else is a benefit. Compromising isn't worth it in the long run." Slash backs Axl by saying, "As soon as we have to do things the way other people tell us to or if we have to desperately hold on to what we are, then it's time to pack it in, quit and die" ("A G N'R History" 25).
Their versatility, diverse sound, and talent as musicians make them the band they are. These qualities allow them to create phenomenal albums like Use Your Illusion 1. According to co-manager Alan Niven, "It's a record that's gonna amaze and frighten at the same time" (Friend). This album opened me up to a world I had never seen and had always been taught was "trash" or "inappropriate." What was labeled as "trash" I found to be musical talent like no other. It's hard for me to put into words how much I love Guns N' Roses, and what an album like Use Your Illusion 1 means to me. Iggy Pop sums everything up in his description of Guns: "A band who can move the reality of rock n' roll beyond this MTV-era obsession with ritualized, codified bullshit, and bring it all back home and make it genuinely exciting again"(Sugerman 200).
Guns N' Roses: November Rain.
Videocassette. Compiled by Louis Marciano. Geffen Home Video,
1993.
Guns N' Roses: Don't Cry. Videocassette.
Compiled by Mark Racco. Geffen Home Video,1993.
Frank Merkin. "A G'NR History." Movie Screen
Yearbook Jul 1991 : 25-31.
Sugerman, Danny. Appetite For Destruction : The Days of Guns N'
Roses. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Frith, Simon. "Beggars Banquet." Stranded: Rock
and Roll for a Desert Island. Ed. Greil Marcus. 2nd ed. New York
: Da Capo Press, 1996.
Mark, M. " It's Too Late To Stop Now."
Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island. Ed. Greil Marcus.
2nd ed. New York : Da Capo Press,1996.
Christgau, Robert. " New York Dolls." Stranded:
Rock and Roll for a Desert Island. Ed. Greil Marcus. 2nd ed. New
York : Da Capo Press, 1996.
Friend, Lonn. "Guns N' Roses : Illusion of
Greatness." Online. Internet. 1992. Available: http://hem.passagen.se/jarmo/gnr/articles/rip-6-91.htm
Evans, Paul, et al.,eds. "Guns N' Roses." The
New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock N' Roll. Ed. Patricia
Romanowski, and Holly Warren. New York : The Rolling Stone Press
Book, 1995.
Walker, Percy. "The Loss of the Creature." The Message in the Bottle. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975: 46-63.
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