Guns N' Roses

The mid-'80s Los Angeles rock scene that gave birth to Guns n' Roses was a curious thing,
neither quite punk scruffy nor given to glam excess, largely populated by hip kids who
were too young to remember that Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith had long been completely
passé. In retrospect, the original Guns n' Roses formula seems obvious enough, but no one
had ever before successfully crossed the grungy street attitude of the undergro... More >

Talk about your anxiety of influence. As someone who never thought punk had much to do with musicianship or musicianship much to do with GN'R, I remain impressed even with the excitement worn off. I mean, Axl Rose damn near stealing "Human Being" from David Johansen? Because his drummer is so fierce? Fear and UK Subs (!) and Nazareth (!!) tunes that belong on the same record? What would Harold Bloom say? Something about Axl being a sh*tty songwriter, I hope. Which wouldn't be altogether fair. But hey--criticism is unfair. (Grade: A-)