Huge fan Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/gene-simmons-says-guns-n-roses-appetite-for-destruction-had-an-honesty-that-rock-and-roll-had-been-missing/KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons recently selected GUNS N' ROSES' debut album, 1987's "Appetite For Destruction", as one of his thirteen favorite LPs of all time. Speaking to The Quietus about the effort, Gene said: "The thing about that record is that it had an honesty that rock and roll had been missing. The '80s were a terrible time when guitars didn't sound like guitars and there were drum machines, but then all of a sudden here comes this group, Guns N' Roses, who plug in their guitars and just didn't mess around with any fancy stuff. And the songs were undeniable!" He continued: " 'Welcome To The Jungle' is an undeniable song in the same way that The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction' has that great riff with the lyrics on top of it. Great lyrics, great imagery, and as soon as you heard that high-pitched voice that harkened back to a Robert Plant-ish approach to singing, which hadn't been heard in quite a while… Well, it still works today. That's got to be coming up to 30 years old, but you put that on today if it was a brand new band, I would say, 'Who's that?' That intro is almost symphonic, and it just defined the band. You hear that song, and then the rest of the album follows through. 'Welcome To The Jungle' is head, hands and feet above the other material." Edited March 7, 2015 by Huge fan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durruti column Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 he's right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Gene sure knows a lot about honesty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Lol, honesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Gene is right but it does then raise the question, why Kiss adopted and vehemently stuck with the 80s cheese sound for so long, even following Appetite's release? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Broue Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) Gene is right but it does then raise the question, why Kiss adopted and vehemently stuck with the 80s cheese sound for so long, even following Appetite's release?Cuz they were always there for the money (maybe in the early days they honestly believe about musical integrity but at the end of the 70's they become corporate whores totally)They are the most money hungry band in the world Edited March 7, 2015 by Motivation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtle Signs Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I have to laugh when people say KISS should hang it up. Why? Because some dorks on the Interwebz say so? People still pay money to see scab-KISS so why shouldn't they keep touring? AFD is great but I didn't need Simmons to tell me that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Gene sure knows a lot about honesty.He sure knows something.ZING! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Gene sure knows a lot about honesty. He sure knows something.ZING!Oh man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downzy Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 A bit ironic of Gene praising Jungle seeing how his bandmate Paul wanted the band to essentially rewrite the song by including another or different chorus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Jungles up there with Satisfaction? Never. First of all Satisfaction is as fresh sounding today as it was the day it came out, Satisfaction, to this day, despite being one of the most played songs of all time, doesn't actually sound corny. Jungle does. Jungle is something only a teenager could really buy into. Satisfaction, shit, everybody understands that. No way, no way on earth does Jungle touch Satisfaction...and I ain't even that big a Stones fan. SCOM more fits the bill than Jungle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Gene is right but it does then raise the question, why Kiss adopted and vehemently stuck with the 80s cheese sound for so long, even following Appetite's release?Cuz they were always there for the money (maybe in the early days they honestly believe about musical integrity but at the end of the 70's they become corporate whores totally)They are the most money hungry band in the worldI agree. It is just here he is admiring a band for doing the exact reverse of Kiss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) Instead of reading Blabbermouth's take, here's Gene's review. He's saying this is one of his favorite albums, so there's no real reason to debate what he's saying (for once). He wasn't heavily involved in 80s KISS and has owned up to it. http://thequietus.com/articles/17362-gene-simmons-kiss-favourite-albums-interview?page=3 The thing about that record is that it had an honesty that rock & roll had been missing. The 80s were a terrible time when guitars didn't sound like guitars and there were drum machines, but then all of a sudden here comes this group, Guns N' Roses who plug in their guitars and just didn't mess around with any fancy stuff. And the songs were undeniable! 'Welcome To The Jungle' is an undeniable song in the same way that 'Satisfaction' has that great riff with the lyrics on top of it. Great lyrics, great imagery, and as soon as you heard that high-pitched voice that harkened back to a Robert Plant-ish approach to singing, which hadn't been heard in quite a while… Well, it still works today. That's got to be coming up to 30 years old, but you put that on today if it was a brand new band, I would say, 'Who's that?' That intro is almost symphonic, and it just defined the band. You hear that song, and then the rest of the album follows through. 'Welcome To The Jungle' is head, hands and feet above the other material. Bands have a few songs that just stand up, you know? You think Thin Lizzy, you think 'The Boys Are Back In Town'. You think the Stones, you think 'Satisfaction'. You think Led Zeppelin, you think 'Stairway To Heaven'. There are just certain songs that, either because of the melody or lyric or the sound of the song, intrinsically say, "This is what that is". The only band who doesn't have that thing, just because they have so many god damn good songs, is The Beatles. I don't know if [us influencing them] is the case. We never paid attention to anything. There can be scenes or not and people can be influenced or not, but at the end of the day you are left to your own devices. When you think about it, The Beatles were influenced by Motown, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, etc. but then when you hear The Beatles, it's their own stuff. It's like cooks. Everybody uses salt, everybody uses vegetables, there is nothing unique, but how you mix up those elements makes it yours or not. If you can grab a style, I think it has to do with talent. Everybody cooks, but few people are cooks. He also picks Satanic Majesties Request as his favorite Stones album, Mountain, Jeff Beck "Truth", McCartney, Chubby Checker, and For Those About To Rock..Hysteria is the only "questionable" one on his list but millions sold. http://thequietus.com/articles/17362-gene-simmons-kiss-favourite-albums-interview?page=7 Edited March 7, 2015 by dalsh327 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val22 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 so very true, but none of us needed to hear it from Gene.Everyone in music knew when AFD hit the airwaves and the record stores, that this band called GunsNRoses brought back the dirty sound of rock and roll. I loved all the 80's bands, but yeah, GNR sounded like no other band at that time and had the look and attitude that rock was missing since the 60's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 That is exactly my point. Gene is probably the worst person to be making this point, however true in its essential detail. Gene would sell his granny if the price looked right enough. If you look up 'sell out' in a dictionary, there is a picture of Gene. He has basically invented the rule book on selling out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbhutto Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Always liked Kiss. Family Jewels is a great show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gackt Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) 'Welcome To The Jungle' is head, hands and feet above the other material.Unless I'm misreading it, he calls Appetite a favorite album, but completely buries every song on the album past Jungle I like KISS, but Simmons is a cock Edited March 8, 2015 by Gackt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I like KISS, but Simmons is a cockI do not think there is a single Kiss fan who would disagree with that statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Love KISS. I don't mind Gene at all. Not keen on Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downzy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Jungles up there with Satisfaction? Never. First of all Satisfaction is as fresh sounding today as it was the day it came out, Satisfaction, to this day, despite being one of the most played songs of all time, doesn't actually sound corny. Jungle does. Jungle is something only a teenager could really buy into. Satisfaction, shit, everybody understands that. No way, no way on earth does Jungle touch Satisfaction...and I ain't even that big a Stones fan. SCOM more fits the bill than Jungle.Absolutely disagree. Gene's argument here is that it's an honest portrayal. I don't see how you disagree with such a statement. At a time when Hollywood and the Sunset Strip were being glamorized by hair metal bands, here was a band that told the darker side of the scene. And I'm not speaking from a lyrical perspective (though I think my argument still applies lyrically), but from a sonic perspective. Jungle is the one song that justifies the band's "dangerous" reputation. Guns could have easily piled on with what was already being built by bands like Poison and Motley Crue. But it didn't. It was the counterpoint to the dominant narrative at the time. Put this song into context and there's absolutely no way one could argue that it doesn't belong in the annals of rock n' roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Absolutely disagree. Gene's argument here is that it's an honest portrayal. Not with the Satisfaction comparison he's not, that was a seperate part of the point be appeared to be making, the Satisfaction bit appeared to be him attempting to flesh out a parrallel between those songs in terms of what they were and the space they occupy in our culture...and it's nothing comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bono Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) Jungles up there with Satisfaction? Never. First of all Satisfaction is as fresh sounding today as it was the day it came out, Satisfaction, to this day, despite being one of the most played songs of all time, doesn't actually sound corny. Jungle does. Jungle is something only a teenager could really buy into. Satisfaction, shit, everybody understands that. No way, no way on earth does Jungle touch Satisfaction...and I ain't even that big a Stones fan. SCOM more fits the bill than Jungle. Satisfaction is undeniably one of, maybe the greatest rock song of all time but so is Jungle. You sit there and try to say Jungle has lyrics that only teenagers can buy into, yet praise Satisfactions lyrical genius? Tell me who's buying into "I can't get no girly action but I try and I try...." Seriously you're trying way to hard here. Welcome to the Jungle is arguably the greatest rock song of all time and in fact was ranked by VH1 as the best hard rock song of all time. Jungle sounds just as fresh now as it did the day it was released and it more than any other song in history whips sports arenas into a frenzy. When it comes to Jungle you are 100% completely wrong. 'Welcome To The Jungle' is head, hands and feet above the other material.Unless I'm misreading it, he calls Appetite a favorite album, but completely buries every song on the album past Jungle I like KISS, but Simmons is a cockYou're misreading it. He says all that about Jungle and then says the rest of the album follows through. Meaning Jungle sets the bar and the rest of the album lives up to the opening. Edited March 8, 2015 by Bono Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downzy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Absolutely disagree. Gene's argument here is that it's an honest portrayal. Not with the Satisfaction comparison he's not, that was a seperate part of the point be appeared to be making, the Satisfaction bit appeared to be him attempting to flesh out a parrallel between those songs in terms of what they were and the space they occupy in our culture...and it's nothing comparable.I agree that it's not comparable, in the sense that Jungle owns a far larger space in our current culture than Satisfaction. Walk into any sports event/arena and you'll hear Jungle used as a menacing, snarling fuck you to the opposing team. The song, in real life, has played a role in combat missions and wars in a way that no Rolling Stone song, save for Gimme Shelter, has. I can't think of another song that has been more present in the past 25-30 years with respect to cultural and combat maintains than Jungle. It has been the theme song for battle and sports field alike. How you dismiss it so casually relative to a song like Satisfaction is beyond my understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardNixon Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Gene is right but it does then raise the question, why Kiss adopted and vehemently stuck with the 80s cheese sound for so long, even following Appetite's release?Say what you will about 80's-era KISS, but you can't deny the hook in this song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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