Anderson - Accidental revolution: the story of grunge

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Contents

FOR LAUREN, FINALLY

INTRODUCTION

Just What the Hell Is This Stuff, Anyway?

Rock is dead, and its all Axl Roses fault.

In 1991, Axl gathered together the latest incarnation of Guns N Roses to begin the creation of what was to be their finest hour: Use Your Illusion . The songs that the Gunners were going to record were to be grandiose, epic, and unlike anything anybody had ever heard. Axl had already mapped out the interlinking videos that would be made in association with the albums multiple singles, and a massive stadium tour would be their worldwide victory lap to soak up all the glory that would rightfully be showered upon them. After all, they had given the world the greatest pair of rock-and-roll albums ever createdsurely they deserved to exploit the rich benefits of such an accomplishment.

To say the sessions did not go well is an understatement. In fact, they stalled almost immediately. Axl and virtuoso guitarist Slash could not find common ground on many of the musical decisions. Slash wanted their sound to remain gritty and raw, just like their breakthrough debut, Appetite for Destruction . Axl thought that was small-time. He wanted to think bigger, louder, and gaudier, just like his idol Freddie Mercury. Drummer Steven Adler had been replaced earlier that year, and his successor, former Cult skinsman Matt Sorum, did not mesh well with the rest of the group. In an effort to flesh out the sound, Axl hired keyboardist Dizzy Reed, further complicating the sessions and adding another personality to an already dysfunctional family. The sessions stopped and started; the album itself was delayed almost a year. Stories began to filter out of the studio about band dissension and possible departures, and rumor has it that Geffen, Guns label, insisted that the record become a double album simply because they were afraid that it was the last they were ever going to hear of the band (so far, theyve pretty much been right). It seemed like Use Your Illusion would be the undoing of Guns N Roses and the undoing of big-time rock and roll in America.

For the time being, that would be only 50 percent correct. Use Your Illusion I and II was finally released on September 21, 1991, and was met with the overwhelming fanfare one would expect for a group that was arguably the most important rock band in the world. The singles went worldwide and the videos were big, splashy hits, and the Gunners were all set to embark on their epic tour around the world. But the good times hit a snag, and as 1991 came to a close, people began coming to a realization that would spell disaster for Axl Rose and all the metalheads he represented.

Use Your Illusion sucked.

In fact, it sucked on a couple of different levels. First and foremost, it didnt rock in the way that big rock records (especially records of the metal era) were supposed to rock. All the punk energy that had made Appetite for Destruction the most refreshing, dangerous album of the 1980s had been sterilized into stately ballads and middle-of-the-road blues tunes. There were a couple of flashes of throwback brilliance, but while Use Your Illusion I opener Right Next Door to Hell is a badass tune, it couldnt sniff the supercool jockstrap of Welcome to the Jungle.

More important, Use Your Illusion I and II sucked on a grander scale in the sense that it was recorded proof that Axl Rose no longer meant anything to anybody except Axl Rose. On Appetite for Destruction (and especially on the G N R Lies EP), Rose spoke for most of his fans: the small-town boy from the Midwest who was conflicted, confused, overwhelmed, excitable, and ambitious. The 1991 version of Axl was paranoid, self-serving, solipsistic, delusional, and probably more than a little bit deranged. Theoretically, Axl should have been at his angriest, and in a way, he wasin the blustery epic Get in the Ring, Axl whaled on rock journalists and went as far as calling out several of them by name . But the rest of the lyrics were based on an interior logic that could only be decoded if your name was Axl Rose, and while theres nothing wrong with rock lyrics that dont make any sense, you had better provide some big-honking riffs to back up the absurdity of the words (Iron Maiden has made quite a long career out of this concept). Of course, its hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain. Now why were people supposed to care?

The realization was a slow processinitially, Use Your Illusion sold like gangbusters. Though the albums were sold separately, retailers reported that people were rarely buying the two volumes independently. Both discs went platinum shortly after they were released, mostly on the strength of very popular singles and videos such as Dont Cry and November Rain. The Gunners were poised to take that victory lap around the world, and despite the fact that the band (and more specifically Axl) could never be called reliable when it came to doing things as basic as showing up for tour dates, anticipation was high. As the tour plans were in motion, though, someone did something to Axl Rose that nobody had ever done before (or at least gotten away with).

The person was Kurt Cobain. And he had the gallthe audacity!to say no to Axl Rose, the reigning Coolest Motherfucker on the Planet.

Axl had been a big fan of Nirvana (he was often spotted wearing a Nirvana cap during the long lead-up to Use Your Illusion ). This may have been a machination of David Geffen (who had both acts under his watch, though on different labels), but it made sense that Rose would be drawn to Nevermind s punk attitude, huge guitars, and soft-then-loud dynamics. Since Nirvana was initially embraced by the mainstream as a metal band (though he wore a dress, Kurt still appeared on Headbangers Ball ), the Guns audience would have been onboard with an opening spot by Seattles finest, especially if they received an endorsement from Rose. But when the Guns camp approached Cobain about the slot, Cobain said no. He didnt just talk the talkhe was honestly and truly offended by metals (and specifically Roses) misogyny and love of excess. Metallica ended up touring with the Gunners, and the tour was a disaster, with missed dates, subpar shows, and at least one legendary riot in Montreal, where Metallica front man James Hetfield was burned alive by his own pyro and, not wanting to be upstaged in the stupidity department, Axl walked off the stage three songs into his bands set. Canadians are a remarkably patient people, but even they wont put up with that level of bullshit.

Meanwhile, as the tour for Use Your Illusion was imploding, that album that Axl Rose probably loved (but now publicly hated based on principle) was climbing up the charts on the strength of the airplay and video for Smells Like Teen Spirit. Nevermind became the number-one album in the country, and the last gasps of Axl and company were pathetic versions of the righteous noise they were used to producing. Axls dreams of a Use Your Illusion video trilogy (featuring the videos for Dont Cry, November Rain, and Estranged) fizzled in a sea of apathy and incoherence. Kids may be fickle, but they can spot desperationthey took one look at Axl, sitting on a seafloor with his arms wrapped around a dolphin (an unintentionally hilarious moment toward the end of the Estranged video) and realized that he was clutching at straws. Besides, their new savior was in a much cooler water-influenced video inviting them to come as they were.