It’s just my opinion. I remember when they first got famous and i saw no menace at all. Might just be an age thing, as i’m older. The biggest thing about them has always been their make up and wardrobe department. No one will ever convince me they were anything other than a middle of the road, commercial band. I do agree with your views on Grohl.
FWIW i like a few songs by all the bands discussed, just don’t think of any of them as highly as others do. I’d dread the day we were all in agreement. That would be the death of individuality and invention, so happy to be told i’m wrong(by people that are, in my opinion, obviously wrong themselves).
My missus makes the argument that it’s all personal taste, largely when referencing the dreck she used to listen to.
Thing is, she never listens to that music these days. Hangin’ Tough ain’t getting no playtime.
Appetite for Destruction was a whirlwind tour through an America most other bands didn’t bother to illustrate. They didn’t give a fuck about Johnny’s job at the docks or Gina working a diner all day. Appetite was a dizzying descent into a word of vicarious addiction and law breaking.
The original album artwork had to be replaced because retailers would not stock it, and as the great Ian Faith once said of a Tap album, “you should have seen the one they _wanted _to do”. Axl wanted an image of the exploding Challenger shuttle.
Slash wanted the chorus of Paradise City to be “where the girls are fat and they got big titties”, but was overruled by the rest of the band
Welcome to the Jungle, the track that drops you in the shit and leaves you there, still fucking rocks at 29 years old, and was apparently written in three hours flat. They had so much material in '87 that they were deciding what to leave off. Plenty of it resurfaced on the Use Your Illusion albums.
Famously inconsistent live, gloriously self-destructive and self-indulgent, profligate wasters of all that stored up talent. A unique sound, with guitar riffs that sounded like someone was dragging a rusty hook through them. I agree that it’s all personal taste, but their particular gruel was tasty to millions that couldn’t get on with Bon Jovi, Def Leppard or any of the other soft hair rock bands of the day.
Appetite was the fastest selling debut album in history at the time. Whatever else they were, GnR were at the peak of their creative powers in that period, and at their peak, none of their peers could touch them.
Disagree on the Foos. If you’d stuck to their set list or greatest hits, I’d agree they’re open to charges of being MOR. Like GnR, a lot of people like their music that wouldn’t have necessarily gotten into rock music. Textbook definition of MOR, init?
Except I do think the Foos retain an authenticity that other MOR acts do not. Coldplay are your ultimate MOR band, and get disliked for that reason. Guitar music with stabilisers on it.
Yes they do. Not to you maybe but they were the perfect choice to headline Glastonbury. They have great tunes and Grohl is an excellent front man. If you dont like them (and people will probably quibble over your idea of who good bands are) listen to something else. Simples.
I was referring to the audience, not some lame let’s go wild once a year shite, 25% of the elderly still get a shot at going, I include myself in this.
Or the grime act Boy Better Know on the Other Stage when Ed was playing. Surely that’s youthful and edgy?
@pap I did listen to NKOTB a while back. Makes me chuckle. Anyway next time they come to these shores (they’re still touring in the USA to 40 something women) I’ll see if Mrs Pap wants to go.
