Margaret recently asked me for New Year's songs, and there are always two I can think of--young U2's still-thrilling "New Year's Day" and the Breeders' sleek "New Year." But for 2014 especially, I'll be blasting "14 Years."
Use Your Illusion I & II is the closest that metal comes to the White Album, a sprawling, double disc mess of ragers, ballads, studio experiments and enough curveballs to get more dizzying with every listen. But on "14 Years," GNR sounded more like rock music's other great classic double album, Exile on Main St. Perhaps that was a conscious move on Izzy Stradlin's part, letting the world know that he (and not Slash) was the band's Keith Richards, the indispensable songwriter who could drop a hook as well as the frontman. Axl steals the chorus, but it's Izzy's song, a perfect barrelhouse rocker that conjures up the Mick and Keith's chemistry, if not their ability to put aside their differences.
Showing posts with label izzy stradlin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label izzy stradlin. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Appetite for Destruction: "Anything Goes"
"Anything Goes" is the second valley on Appetite for Destruction, after "Out ta Get Me." It's no "Mr. Brownstone," yet it's indispensable to the song cycle. I bet that the decision-makers in GNR can make killer mix tapes.
"Anything Goes" was written in 1981, when Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were both 19, for their band Hollywood Rose. Here's a demo version:
Would you believe that this is the first available sign of the greatest metal album in history? It sounds almost tossed-off on Appetite, but listen to how much more confident and less derivative it became over the years. The ZZ Top-esque breakdowns are gone, the harmonies are much tighter and aimless shredding has been ditched for punk ferocity. Patience has always been Axl and Izzy's best virtue.
Music critics fetishize Nirvana as the band that put a stake through the collective glam metal heart, but GNR did something much harder. On "Anything Goes," they beat glam on its own turf, with Slash exhibiting talk box solos that sounded more like someone (and at one point, a rooster) being strangled than Peter Frampton. "Anything Goes" even steals glam metal's (well, all of music's) favorite theme and takes away the safety net. There's no assurance that anything goes as long as it works out in the end, or as long as we stay together. Just as long as Axl says it does.
"Anything Goes" was written in 1981, when Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were both 19, for their band Hollywood Rose. Here's a demo version:
Would you believe that this is the first available sign of the greatest metal album in history? It sounds almost tossed-off on Appetite, but listen to how much more confident and less derivative it became over the years. The ZZ Top-esque breakdowns are gone, the harmonies are much tighter and aimless shredding has been ditched for punk ferocity. Patience has always been Axl and Izzy's best virtue.
Music critics fetishize Nirvana as the band that put a stake through the collective glam metal heart, but GNR did something much harder. On "Anything Goes," they beat glam on its own turf, with Slash exhibiting talk box solos that sounded more like someone (and at one point, a rooster) being strangled than Peter Frampton. "Anything Goes" even steals glam metal's (well, all of music's) favorite theme and takes away the safety net. There's no assurance that anything goes as long as it works out in the end, or as long as we stay together. Just as long as Axl says it does.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Appetite for Destruction: "Think About You"
How is it that "Think About You" didn't hit? If Guns N' Roses didn't alrady have six other singles to push, "Think About You" could've landed on the charts. Instead, it's the crème de la deep cuts, a reminder that for a few years, Izzy Stradlin wrote better rock songs than all but maybe about six people in the world.
It's a sweet, catchy song with a danceable rhythm, which is probably why it wasn't a single. "Think About You" is the nicest song that GNR ever wrote, and when you're playing hard rock's Jerry Lee Lewis, you don't give us the nice songs. As John Lydon, one of GNR's heroes, tells us, "'Nice' is the worst insult you could pay anybody. It means you are utterly without threat, without values. Nice is a cup of tea."
But even at their nicest, GNR's music is no cup of tea. The hand claps, cowbell and declarations of love come with a few meaty solos and some awesome plugged vs. unplugged guitarmonies. Best of all is the finale, where Axl tops off some of his greatest melismas with an ominous "only you," set to a haunting Stradlin arpeggio that demolishes the song's pace in a matter of seconds. Only a few metal musicians have ever matched Stradlin's songbook, but one of them shared a band with him.
If Ozzy Osbourne or Judas Priest had written "Think About You," it'd be a staple of their tours and compilations. But on Appetite for Destruction, it's just track eight.
It's a sweet, catchy song with a danceable rhythm, which is probably why it wasn't a single. "Think About You" is the nicest song that GNR ever wrote, and when you're playing hard rock's Jerry Lee Lewis, you don't give us the nice songs. As John Lydon, one of GNR's heroes, tells us, "'Nice' is the worst insult you could pay anybody. It means you are utterly without threat, without values. Nice is a cup of tea."
But even at their nicest, GNR's music is no cup of tea. The hand claps, cowbell and declarations of love come with a few meaty solos and some awesome plugged vs. unplugged guitarmonies. Best of all is the finale, where Axl tops off some of his greatest melismas with an ominous "only you," set to a haunting Stradlin arpeggio that demolishes the song's pace in a matter of seconds. Only a few metal musicians have ever matched Stradlin's songbook, but one of them shared a band with him.
If Ozzy Osbourne or Judas Priest had written "Think About You," it'd be a staple of their tours and compilations. But on Appetite for Destruction, it's just track eight.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Appetite for Destruction: "My Michelle"
Everybody has a Michelle.
Maybe her dad isn't a pornographer, and maybe she isn't balancing schoolwork with cocaine and easy virtue, but everybody has someone that they think they can save. A friend, partner or relative who is loved not too wisely but too well. F. Scott Fitzgerald had Zelda and Johnny Rotten had Sid Vicious. Axl Rose had Michelle.
Michelle's story is immortalized by Axl's reaction to it. No matter what or who she does in the verses, Axl goes back to assuring her that things will work out. "Someday you'll find someone that'll fall in love with you," goes the bridge. "Honey, don't stop trying and you'll get what you deserve," ends the final stanza.
The contrast of her lifestyle and his outlook is reflected in the music. "My Michelle" pairs aggressive verses with a melodic chorus, inverting the more famous "quiet verses/loud chorus" structure defined by the Pixies and popularized by Nirvana. This paved the way for the sonic extremities of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, who covered "My Michelle" for a tribute album.
Who knows what Axl saw in Michelle Young. I can't pretend to have an answer, but I wonder if it was anything like what Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour saw in him.
In memory of Lauren.
Maybe her dad isn't a pornographer, and maybe she isn't balancing schoolwork with cocaine and easy virtue, but everybody has someone that they think they can save. A friend, partner or relative who is loved not too wisely but too well. F. Scott Fitzgerald had Zelda and Johnny Rotten had Sid Vicious. Axl Rose had Michelle.
Michelle's story is immortalized by Axl's reaction to it. No matter what or who she does in the verses, Axl goes back to assuring her that things will work out. "Someday you'll find someone that'll fall in love with you," goes the bridge. "Honey, don't stop trying and you'll get what you deserve," ends the final stanza.
The contrast of her lifestyle and his outlook is reflected in the music. "My Michelle" pairs aggressive verses with a melodic chorus, inverting the more famous "quiet verses/loud chorus" structure defined by the Pixies and popularized by Nirvana. This paved the way for the sonic extremities of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, who covered "My Michelle" for a tribute album.
Who knows what Axl saw in Michelle Young. I can't pretend to have an answer, but I wonder if it was anything like what Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour saw in him.
In memory of Lauren.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Appetite for Destruction: "Mr. Browsntone"
What is the secret to Guns N' Roses?
Answer: Izzy Stradlin.
Sure, Axl and Slash are the icons, Duff is the anchor and Steve Adler is the Ringo. But outside of the redhead, Izzy is the best writer. He also was the first to leave the band intentionally, but he left them with one of the best songwriting records in rock history--"Patience," "Think About You," "Pretty Tied Up," "14 Years," "Bad Obssesion" and even "Mr. Brownstone." Want to know how a band with three ex-Gunners could be as boring as Velvet Revolver? Because they don't have Izzy Stradlin.
"Mr. Brownstone" rides a Bo Diddley beat into an enticingly strange riff that sounds even more stoned than its narrator. It's a fabulous blend of the most-copied rhythm in rock music and an otherworldly Stradlin phrase, weirder than anything that The Clash, Stooges, Hüsker Dü or Led Zeppelin ever did with the Diddley measure.
The lyrics are a day-in-the-life-of-GNR story that probably left a few casualties. "Mr. Brownstone" is slang for heroin, although everyone that I've met who knows that learned about it from GNR. The chorus ("I used to do a little but a little wouldn't do it, so the little got more and more/I just keep trying to get a little better, said a little better than before") may be the definitive lyric for anyone who has ever lost self control.
Yowza, indeed.
Three years ago, my roommate and I saw a death metal show at Europa, with about five other attendees. The first act, Revocation, were months away from being America's best new metal band, as we learned while watching them honor "Mr. Brownstone" at the tail of their own terrific "Exhumed Identity." Kind of like how Bo Diddley surfaces on Appetite for Destruction.
Answer: Izzy Stradlin.
Sure, Axl and Slash are the icons, Duff is the anchor and Steve Adler is the Ringo. But outside of the redhead, Izzy is the best writer. He also was the first to leave the band intentionally, but he left them with one of the best songwriting records in rock history--"Patience," "Think About You," "Pretty Tied Up," "14 Years," "Bad Obssesion" and even "Mr. Brownstone." Want to know how a band with three ex-Gunners could be as boring as Velvet Revolver? Because they don't have Izzy Stradlin.
"Mr. Brownstone" rides a Bo Diddley beat into an enticingly strange riff that sounds even more stoned than its narrator. It's a fabulous blend of the most-copied rhythm in rock music and an otherworldly Stradlin phrase, weirder than anything that The Clash, Stooges, Hüsker Dü or Led Zeppelin ever did with the Diddley measure.
The lyrics are a day-in-the-life-of-GNR story that probably left a few casualties. "Mr. Brownstone" is slang for heroin, although everyone that I've met who knows that learned about it from GNR. The chorus ("I used to do a little but a little wouldn't do it, so the little got more and more/I just keep trying to get a little better, said a little better than before") may be the definitive lyric for anyone who has ever lost self control.
Yowza, indeed.
Three years ago, my roommate and I saw a death metal show at Europa, with about five other attendees. The first act, Revocation, were months away from being America's best new metal band, as we learned while watching them honor "Mr. Brownstone" at the tail of their own terrific "Exhumed Identity." Kind of like how Bo Diddley surfaces on Appetite for Destruction.
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