Guns N' Roses

This long-awaited follow-up to Appetite For Destruction was panned by critics for lyrics attacking African Americans, gays and women, with the cold ignorance of dehumanized teenagers. The scary thing is, tons of dehumanized teenagers immediately bought the record and memorized "One In A Million." The EP did offer one gem, the acoustic ballad "Patience."

Given that Guns N' Roses could probably release an album of Baptist hymns at this point and
go platinum, it would be all too easy to dismiss G n' R Lies as a sneaky attempt by the band
to throw together some outtakes and cash in on the busy holiday buying season. After all,
half of Lies was released in 1986 (as the EP Live Like a Suicide), and one of its four new
studio tracks is simply an acoustic version of "You're Crazy," from Appetite for D... More >

Axl's voice is a power tool with attachments, Slash's guitar a hype, the groove potent "hard rock," and the songwriting not without its virtues. So figure musical quality at around C plus and take the grade as a call to boycott, a reminder to clean livers who yearn for the wild side that the necessary link between sex-and-drugs and rock-and-roll is a Hollywood fantasy. Anyway, this band isn't even sex and drugs--it's dicking her ass before you smack up with her hatpin. (No wonder they want to do an AIDS benefit.) "One in a Million"--"Immigrants and f*gg*ts/They make no sense to me/They come to our country/And think they'll do as they please/Like start some mini-Iran/Or spread some f*cking disease/They talk so many goddamn ways/It's all Greek to me"--is disgusting because it's heartfelt and disgusting again because it's a grandstand play. It gives away the "joke" (to quote the chickensh*t "apologies" on the cover) about the offed girlfriend the way "Turn around bitch I've got a use for you" gives away "Sweet Child o' Mine." Back when they hit the racks, these posers talked a lot of guff about suicide. I'm still betting they don't have it in them to jump. (Grade - E)