Although it will
probably be a considerable period of time before I get around to actually
reading Wall’s book, just looking at the cover was sufficient to remind me of
the one time I saw the band play live.
It turned out to be their infamous gig at the Calder Speedway on the
outskirts of Melbourne in 1993. For
once, the infamy wasn’t caused by either Rose or the band but for the appalling
suffering imposed on most of the estimated 75,000 crowd. On an incredibly hot and humid 38 degree
celsius day in a venue utterly devoid of shade, punters were forbidden from
bringing in their own food or drink into the venue only for organisers to
charge exorbitant prices for junk food and water. To make things worse, an afternoon storm
drenched everyone and there was a nasty surprise for those who went by public
transport who found themselves stranded in the city at midnight when the trains
stopped for the night because the transport authorities refused to put on extra
services. When asked about it
afterwards, I remember transport authorities blaming the fans for not leaving
the show early and arguing that it was not their role to put on extra services for
a rock concert. (It led to an Ombudsman's inquiry which was quite critical of the transport authorities.) Fortunately, I was one
of the lucky first 20,000 to who bought tickets which put me in the specially designed
and spacious mosh pit. This meant I
could arrive later in the day (I was able to park my car at a colleague's
place a few hundred metres from the venue), miss the downpour, and still not
miss out on either Rose Tattoo or Skid Row’s set. I also found that mosh pit holders were able
to obtain free water provided you purchased a bottle of something else and kept
the empty container.
Three things
redeemed the day. One was Rose Tattoo’s
blistering set to an indifferent audience largely ignorant of their influence on the headliners, the second was seeing Skid
Row’s Sebastian Bach slipping on the wet stage and landing on his arse and the
third was the Gunners’ over the top performance which showcased their then
recent twin releases;
(# 711) Guns ‘n Roses - Use Your Illusion I (1991)
(#712) Guns ‘n Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)
These two albums
were released on the same day and, it’s fair, to say weren’t all that
enthusiastically received at the time.
They certainly were not what the audience, primed for more of the hard
rock mayhem of Appetite For Destruction, wanted. Instead they got Dylan and McCartney covers,
piano based ballads and even industrial metal spread out on albums that each
was over 75 minutes long. In retrospect
it was simply too much music of a challenging nature (at least for Gunners’
fans) to absorb at once and the overblown video clip for November Rain added to
the sense of a band that seemed to have lost its way.
And yet, this is
not how I see these albums 20 years later.
Certainly, there is too much material here; 30 minutes could have been
easily cut out of the combined releases but there is plenty to admire. Illusuion I starts off magnificently. Right Next Door To Hell is a blistering
opener, Dust N’Bones a fine Izzy Stradlin contribution with some honky tonk
sounding piano, a cover of McCartney’s Live And Let Die is suitably bombastic
and the original version of Don’t Cry is an underrated ballad. The rest of this disc is the most problematical
of the two discs. Some tracks, notably,
You Ain’t the First and Bad Obsession sound like conscious attempts to copy the
Stones circa Exile on Main Street, Back Off Bitch wastes strong music on stupid
lyrics, The Garden is a solid enough ballad and the closing trio of Bad Apples,
Dead Horse and Coma is pretty good. And
then there’s November Rain, a song that appears to be universally hated by fans
and critics alike. Personally, I think
most people have reacted negatively to the video more than the song itself;
stay away from it and the bloated live versions and what you have is a grand
ballad with an epic sweep that incorporates and culminates in some of the most
incredibly fluid soloing in Slash’s career.
It also would have benefitted from being placed at the end of the disc
rather than at its midway point.
Illusion II is
the better of the two albums. It starts
with the band’s undisputed high water mark.
Civil War is a magnificent tune incorporating inspired soundbites from
the movie Cool Hand Luke, more impressive work from Slash and lyrics which, for
once, actually meant something. Little
wonder that Rose’s vocals had never sounded so natural or committed. 14 Years gamely takes up the challenge of
following it; Yesterdays is quite effective but their cover of Dylan’s Knockin’
On Heaven’s Door lacks the subtlety I heard in other versions. Get In The Ring is notable for the band’s
attack on a number of muso journalists (including Wall, I think) and Shotgun
Blues is an exhilarating blast. The
final four tracks are uniformly brilliant.
Estranged justifies its length and unorthodox approach and acts as a
superb introduction for the locomotive thrills of You Could Be Mine. The alternative version of Don’t Cry improves
on the original and the industrial sounds of My World just about signals the
eventual dissolution of the band and the long, long wait until Chinese
Democracy. All in all these are albums
worth revisiting.
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