THE KINGS OF THE CASTLE
As Guns N’ Roses return to Slane Castle long-time fan BRIAN CARROLL wanders down memory lane
IT was a chilly spring Saturday in 1990 and the bootleggers were out in force on O’Connell Bridge, in Dublin. I began to browse through the contents of a box that was laid out before me. The tapes were neatly lined up, the covers a garish assortment of green and yellow. I noticed one and took it out to examine it.
‘Guns N’ Roses new album demos’ it said, and my eyes grew wider than the Liffey. The bootlegger told me this was basically an advance copy of the band’s new album, which wouldn’t even be out for another few months (little did he know).
As I searched in my pocket for a couple of quid, I heard a shout of ‘Cops! Run!’ before the bootlegger slammed his case shut and ran for his life.
I slinked away, disappointed but hoping that my new friend would return. Sure enough, he did, back in the same spot.
I duly handed over a couple of punts and a few minutes later I was on the number 83 bus back to Crumlin, reflecting on my scrape with the law.
A quiver of excitement ran through me. Here was this band from thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, tagged in the press as ‘The most dangerous band in the world’….and here I was, a naïve 16-year-old in Dublin just buying one of their tapes from a fella in town, yet feeling like I had been involved in something illegal. Of course, the fact I was irrelevant to the chasing gardai never entered my head.
I was reminded of this little episode in my life while recently listening to the band’s Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 albums, i.e. the finished version of those demos. And as I count the days towards the band’s 25th anniversary appearance at Slane Castle, I’ve found myself looking back and wondering what it was about Guns N’ Roses that made me hang out in town on a cold day looking to buy dodgy tapes.
I had been mildly interested in bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, but their music seemed so contrived…it had a polished sheen to it which gradually lost its lustre. I needed something real. Then, along came Guns N’ Roses, kicking the door down and seemingly the perfect antidote to everything.
Even looking at the band would tell you they were different.
There was Axl Rose, a volatile, tattooed ‘head the ball’ with a ferocious, lungbursting scream that sounded like it would flatten the nearest tall building, but his vocal range was such that he also sang in a menacing growl, or a softer tone for the ballads; next came talented lead guitarist Slash, a man who looked like he could barely see what he was doing on stage, as his long black curls snaked out from under his trademark top hat.
Stage left was Duff ‘Rose’ McKagan, a skinny beanpole with long bleached blonde hair who played his bass in that effortlessly cool low-slung style; beside Duff was rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, the ‘quiet one’ who stood in the shadows, keeping it all ticking away, pumping the band’s lifeblood; finally, there was Steven Adler, the boyish drummer with the most regular name in the band, but who enjoyed far from a regular lifestyle.
Having got together on the mean streets of Los Angeles in 1985, the band released their debut album Appetite For Destruction in July 1987 and it began a slow but steady rise to the top of the charts.
Although their image was undeniably in the hard rock/metal category, Axl and co were able to pick up millions of casual fans who may not have had any previous interest at all in loud guitars but heard something in the songs that resonated with them, be it the melodic Sweet Child O’Mine, the explosive and menacing Welcome To The Jungle, or the headbanger’s choice, Paradise City,
Appetite would go on to sell 30 million copies worldwide and when you examine its template it’s easy to see why. A layer of classic Aerosmith-style bluesy
rock n’roll, sprinkled with a liberal dose of Sex Pistols attitude and topped off with the swagger of the Rolling Stones. The songs may have been laced with profanities, as they spun sordid tales about the old staple of sex, drugs and rock n’roll — but it was the 80s and excess ruled.
They earned a reputation as a brilliant live band — Axl’s confrontationary style endeared him to the fans as he engaged in lengthy onstage rants against the authorities, creating an outlaw image for the band. The shows were unpredictable and often Axl would leave the rest of the band waiting backstage, only to show up with minutes to spare.
Stories of in-fighting, drug and alcohol abuse became rife but none of this seemed to have any negative effect on their success, as Guns N’ Roses became one of the biggest bands on the planet.
But as they barged their way to the top it began to turn into a bit of a circus. In October 1989, on the first night of four supporting the Rolling Stones at the LA Coliseum, Axl told the crowd that unless certain members of the band (meaning Slash, Izzy and Steven) cleaned up their act, those shows would be the last for Guns N’ Roses.
While unhappy with Axl’s intervention, the message seemed to get through to Slash and Izzy, who sorted themselves out.
HOWEVER, Steven only got worse and he was fired in the summer of 1990 for excessive drug use, his heroin addiction crippling him to the point where he simply couldn’t function as a musician anymore. Matt Sorum was recruited from The Cult ( keyboardist Dizzy Reed also joined) and the band regrouped to try and complete their new album. Never ones to do things the ‘right’ way, GnR went out on tour in the summer of 1991 to promote an album that had yet to be released. Then, in a massive blow, Izzy decided to quit. He had successfully battled his own addictions but realised travelling around the world with a band this big was not going to help him maintain his new-found sobriety. Plus, there was the small matter of Axl constantly turning up late for gigs and then getting into fights with fans, with one infamous incident in St Louis resulting in a riot which left several fans injured, the band’s equipment being trashed and the members forced to flee across state lines to avoid arrest. Axl was charged and eventually sentenced to two years’ probation.
The Use Your Illusion albums were finally released in September 1991 and were warmly received, even if the overwrought production resulted in that gritty sound being watered down. It was clear by now that Axl was moulding the band’s sound in the way he wanted and if the others didn’t like it, well, they knew where the door was…
An assortment of backing singers, keyboardists and a horn section, as well as Izzy’s replacement, Gilby Clarke, joined the band for the next leg of their world tour and by the time they arrived at Slane Castle in May 1992, they were a shadow of the band I had got into just three years earlier.
Grunge and alternative music was changing the face of the rock world and Guns N’ Roses just didn’t seem to fit anymore. While the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam were adored by so-called Generation X for their brand of introspective — if sometimes dreary — anthems, GnR were drifting.
A 1993 covers album called The Spaghetti Incident was a relative flop and there were reports of ‘musical differences’ between Axl and Slash, as the singer wanted to update the band’s sound to reflect current trends, while his old school guitarist wanted to get back to basics.
Slash eventually left under a cloud in 1996, with Duff hanging on for another year. Although he was by now the only original band member, Axl (who owned the rights to the band’s name) was intent on making new music with a new cast of band-mates. A revolving door policy and the singer’s perfectionist attitude meant delay after delay, though, and the album, Chinese Democracy, wouldn’t be released until 2009…18 years after their last album of original songs. While Axl was spending a fortune in the studio, Slash and Duff, with Matt Sorum on drums, had found success again with their new band Velvet Revolver. The late ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland fronted the band, although his drug abuse problems would cause familiar anguish for the other members.
The ever-loyal Guns N’ Roses fans hoped to see the original lineup back together some day and tentative rumours of a reunion began to surface around 2012. There was one problem though: Axl and Slash were embroiled in a feud so bitter that even a megabucks offer looked highly unlikely to mend any fences.
SOMETHING had gone badly wrong between Axl and Slash, and it seemed like their relationship was damaged beyond repair. While the affable, laid-back guitarist seemed to be more open to a reunion, a more pragmatic Axl took a very different view. In a 2009 interview with Billboard, he said: ‘What’s clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is.’ Three years later, when asked a similar question by TMZ, his reply was, ‘Not in this lifetime’.
However, rumblings of a reunion emerged at the end of 2015 and finally it was confirmed Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan — threefifths of the original Guns N’ Roses line-up — would be touring as Guns N’ Roses again, starting off with two dates at the Coachella Festival in California. And, in a nod to Axl’s comments from a few years back, it would be called the ‘Not In This Lifetime Tour’.
The subsequent world tour has been a wild success as fans old and new flocked to see their idols. There have been a few grumblings from die-hards about it not being a proper reunion, but it’s more than anyone thought possible. Steven has made a few guest appearances and although there has been no sign yet of Izzy, no one is ruling anything out.
For Irish fans who were at Slane in 1992, Guns N’ Roses will complete the circle tomorrow night. As for me, I might just dig that old demo out and give it a listen tonight. Cassettes are the new vinyl, don’t you know…
Guns N’ Roses play Slane Castletomorrow, with support from Royal Blood, Mark Lanegan and Otherkin. Gates open at 2pm.