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"Bored in the U.S.A."


jack99

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Interesting read... :)

Bored in the U.S.A.

Axl Rose's refusal to release a new record is a powerful work of art all its own.

Hardly anyone believes in Axl Rose anymore, but I do. The paranoid Guns N' Roses frontman—who's burned

through $13 million and well over a full decade tweaking his quagmire of a comeback album, Chinese

Democracy—does whatever he pleases, even if that means doing nothing at all.

In the late '80s, Rose's wedding of classic-rock fantasy and urban realism produced the Sunset Strip's

definitive perversion of the American Dream, Appetite for Destruction. Onstage, his hypnotic snake dance

seduced legions of landlocked Middle American prisoners. I fell for Axl too. My Indian parents had left

Bombay for Los Angeles in 1967 (long before Rose would arrive from Indiana), but his stories of urban

survival seemed to echo their own cautionary tales. If Axl taunted Iranians on the admittedly repellent "One

in a Million," maybe it was because he felt like a foreigner too.

But not long after 1991's messy Appetite follow-up double album Use Your Illusion I and II, GNR imploded,

and Rose retired to his Malibu estate, trailed by a trickle of "What Happened to Axl?" articles that questioned

his sanity. An endless stream of New Year's Eve shows (often in Vegas) and quickly, disastrously canceled

comeback tours has plagued loyal fans ever since. At 2002's MTV Video Music Awards, Rose seemed out of

tune, out of breath, and out of time, resplendent in an oversize sports jersey and cornrows. Chinese

Democracy, meanwhile, remains a legendary nonentity, the modern age's all-purpose synonym for "broken

record."

Well, get ready to protect your ears, because it's Axl-shooting season again. GNR is playing four sold-out

shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom starting Friday night, before kicking off a European tour later this

month. There's even chatter that Chinese Democracy will finally see release this fall. In January, Rose told

Rolling Stone that fans would hear new music this year, and indeed, four demos have already

leaked: "I.R.S.," "Catcher in the Rye," "There Was a Time," and the best of the bunch, "Better." While the

songs could use an infusion of lyrical depth and tighter arrangements, they're proof that Axl's pop instincts

are intact.

Of course, anyone expecting Chinese Democracy to resurrect classic shit-kicking GNR will be disappointed.

This is an Axl Rose solo album, and it showcases Rose's contributions to the old band: anger, melodrama,

melody. If the danceable grunge of "Better" is any indication of Axl's intentions, this will merely be an

enjoyable pop album—GNR without the grit. The bigger problem, however, is that Axl's genre splicing can

often feel forced and choppy.

But before you write off Rose for all these optimistic announcements and subsequent, crushing delays, let

me say this: Rock 'n' roll isn't about productivity. It's about doing whatever you want, whenever you want.

Otherwise, it ceases to be a form of rebellion. Axl's idiosyncratic career confronts us with a kind of paradox:

If being a rebel is your job, why work when you don't want to?

Consider the derided Use Your Illusion records. The accepted wisdom is they scatter three or four solid

gems among reams of tossed-off studio jams and overproduced pop-metal. But Appetite and Illusion are

two halves of a deeply American story. If Bruce Springsteen embodies the stoic working-class hero (happily

serenading his wife as the factory closes), Axl plays the Boss's dysfunctional son, an angry runaway who

refuses to work at all. Long overdue and wildly overbudget, the Illusions rejected the rock business as well,

alienat- ing critics, fans, and even, ultimately, Axl's bandmates with an indictment of the very rags-to-riches

dream that'd fascinated him on Appetite. It's as if Axl suddenly realized that his "Paradise City" was "Right

Next Door to Hell," that fame was only a facade concealing heartbreak, emptiness, and disappointment. The

vicious bite of the one-minute industrial set-closer "My World" reveals that at the very moment we sought to

enter Axl's world, he basically wanted to throw us out. The Illusions hated us, so we hated them too.

Still, unlike Springsteen and Kurt Cobain (who both pretended to be anti-commercial), Rose has always

strived to be as crassly commercial as possible while still pissing everyone off, showing up late to concerts

and instigating riots when he arrives, assuming he shows up for "work" at all. "They don't like it when I let

them know they don't own me," Axl told Rolling Stone in 1992. Chinese Democracy's maddeningly epic

delay is the most "punk" gesture in the decade it's lasted.

So who cares if he breaks our hearts again? Axl Rose is still a rerun worth watching. Whether rock deity,

psychological case study, or reality show–worthy disaster, he nonetheless gives his audience what it craves

most: authenticity.

Source: http://villagevoice.com/music/0619,shah,73131,22.html

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Guest Ohdistortedsmile1789
Thanks for the read. I didn't hate the Illusions.

Me neither, but I understood his meaning, it was a very good point.

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So who cares if he breaks our hearts again? Axl Rose is still a rerun worth watching. Whether rock deity,

psychological case study, or reality show–worthy disaster, he nonetheless gives his audience what it craves

most: authenticity.

....

That's the part i liked...

Authenticity is not a nice-to-have..... it's a leadership imperative

L.

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So who cares if he breaks our hearts again? Axl Rose is still a rerun worth watching. Whether rock deity,

psychological case study, or reality show–worthy disaster, he nonetheless gives his audience what it craves

most: authenticity.

....

That's the part i liked...

Authenticity is not a nice-to-have..... it's a leadership imperative

L.

Well said.

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Axl has always been about himself and no one else, which is probably why i still remain intrigued with him.

No matter how many times he has ever shit on anyone or any fan, millions still remain loyal to him. Axl Rose IS Rock N' Roll.

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Axl has always been about himself and no one else, which is probably why i still remain intrigued with him.

No matter how many times he has ever shit on anyone or any fan, millions still remain loyal to him. Axl Rose IS Rock N' Roll.

aren't we over-doing this a little? lol

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Rose told Rolling Stone that fans would hear new music this year, and indeed, four demos have already leaked: "I.R.S.," "Catcher in the Rye," "There Was a Time," and the best of the bunch, "Better." While the songs could use an infusion of lyrical depth and tighter arrangements, they're proof that Axl's pop instincts are intact.

loved the article. i really think he summed Axl up accurately. however, i didn't like the "tossing aside" of the UYI albums. he made them sound like they sucked. i mean, yes there was filler, but more often than not the songs were strong.

what's his point about the lyrics to the new songs? i think they're fantastic lyrics. that's one of the most luring parts of the new stuff, to me at least.

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great article,agreed wholeheartedly

As hard as it might be for some people to see...it doesn't get much more punk rock than Axl.

...and I respect him for it!

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Can't say I liked this article.

Although he did gave an interesting point of view about Axl Rose, it seemed that in the entire article, this person was just trying to sound too intellectual, like his intelligence was above ours, the readers...

One of the parts I didn't agree with was his take on the demos. He could've picked on anything... like the guitars, the drums - the actual music - but he decided to pick on the lack of lyrical depth?! That's probably the best thing on those songs: the lyrics, and the message and emotions they possess while Axl is singing them.

But the absolute worse part was his take on the Illusion albums... pop-metal?!... 4 good songs?!

Anyway, it's just his opinion. And one I happen, for the most part, to disagree with.

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I disagree with the illusion part as well... he was speaking like the records were a disaster or a failure, not multi-million selling, only albums to be number 1 and 2 in the charts in the US and the UK simultaneously etc...

He raised some good points though.

LP

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