But the early support, the support that forced MTV and radio to play the Gunners, came from “the kids.” Eventually, the media caught up and helped “Sweet Child o’ Mine” become a Number One single. The album succeeded despite resistance from retail chains (some refused to stock the LP because of its gruesome cover art, which was relocated to the inner sleeve for the second cover), from album-rock radio stations and from MTV. Their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, which has sold nearly six million copies, reached Number One on the Billboard charts in early August, having been released a year before.
U2 manager Paul McGuinness has called the Gunners’ success “the most exciting new thing to happen in our business for a while.” They have been embraced by the fashionable, and their concerts are invaded by HIGs (the band’s sneering code for huge industry giants). The Gunners’ songs don’t hide the fact that they’re confused and screwed up. Axl remains obsessed with the contradictions of adolescence: the unfocused rage and pervasive doubt, the insecurity and cockiness, the horniness and fear. Guns n’ Roses are young enough to remember what it was like to be 17: Slash and Steven are 23 Duff, the only married band member, is 24 Axl and Izzy are 26. Kids may idolize or envy David Lee Roth, but they have little in common with him. They are a musical sawed-off shotgun, with great power but erratic aim - they veer from terrible to brilliant in a typical set, often within a single song.Īnd more important, Guns n’ Roses really do play for “the kids.” Metal bands base their images on a fantasy life that has no relation to the daily reality of being a teenager. They play a vicious brand of hard rock that, especially in concert, is closer to Metallica or to punk than to heavy metal. The Gunners engage in the same antics, revolving around booze, drugs and women they trumpet their music as “rebellious” and they claim to play for “the kids.”īut Guns n’ Roses don’t play heavy metal. “If we live that long.” If you don’t look any deeper than the band members’ tattoos, you might compare Guns n’ Roses to Poison, Ratt, Faster Pussycat, Mötley Crüe and any other of the dozens of nearly identical heavy-metal bands currently being pushed by the music industry. Except for Steven Adler, their happy-go-lucky drummer, they are willful and combative. “It’s cool that this tension is building up, because it’s gotta find its release in the music,” Axl says backstage. The tension that is part of the band members’ daily life compresses their moods and their music until both explode. They are young, foolhardy, stubborn, cynical, proud, uncompromising, insolent, conflicted and very candid about their faults. The agitation backstage in Detroit springs from the same hair-trigger temperament that makes the Gunners the world’s most exciting hard-rock band. For Guns n’ Roses, outbursts are not merely the traditional way for a rock star to pass the time between blow jobs. Just another rock & roll band being assholes, trashing a dressing room? “This is entertaining,” says Axl, watching and smiling.Īfter Slash and Duff have finished yelling at him, Izzy turns remorseful. Slash, too, is pissed at Izzy, who still won’t turn down the stereo.
The bottle of vodka belonged to bassist Duff “Rose” McKagan, who is now without his favorite liquor and is therefore enraged. But all that smashed glass hasn’t relieved the tension. Just as quickly, Izzy and Axl are seated again. See Guns N' Roses Bring Out Carrie Underwood at London Concert
While the band members sit in the dressing room, their sound mixer and a bus driver are being fired for alleged incompetence. And when the Gunners don’t play well, trouble ensues.
This evening’s concert, the last of three mid-August dates opening for Aerosmith at Pine Knob Music Theatre, near Detroit, went so poorly that the band left the stage five minutes early. Axl and Slash are getting increasingly angry with Izzy, who grins obliviously and cranks up the Rolling Stones’ “Stupid Girl.”Īt the base of the wall nearest the door, there is a fresh hole the exact size of Axl’s boot. Axl is wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a T-shirt that says, WELCOME TO DETROIT, MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.
Slash, whose copper skin is still wet from a post-concert shower, is wearing shorts and holding a bottle of Jack Daniels, his only constant companion. Sitting on a couch, trying to talk above the racket, are Axl Rose, the group’s singer, and Slash, the lead guitarist.
Izzy Stradlin, Guns n’ Roses’ scruffy rhythm guitarist, is slumped on a dressing-room counter, sullenly draining his second bottle of red wine and testing the wattage of a portable stereo.