It's been years and years since rock music was still important and had great relevance. Artists were not pop bunnies who sang with computer voices, but stars with guitars, poets, explainers of the world.
Today we let hard rockers play punk and listen to Guns N' Roses and "The Spaghetti Invident"
When punk took off in the late 1970s, the budding gunslingers around Axl Rose first discovered the noise potential of amplified guitars.
With "The Spaghetti Incident?" Guns N' Roses pay a late tribute to their “Art Nouveau”; the 12 songs, all foreign compositions, appeared between 1973 and 1981, with the exception of the hysterical Fifties ballad “Since I Don't Have You”. Whether the one sung by bassist Duff McKagan The Damned remake "New Rose", "Human Being" by the New York Dolls or Iggy Pop's "Raw Power" - GN' R organized a tour de punk that impresses with its tasteful song selection and powerful interpretation. Prime example: “Down On The Farm” by the UK Subs, where Axl practices the stylish Cockney idiom to Slash's brilliant guitar broadsides.
After the end of a long world tour, the Gunners' engines are still running at full speed. The right recovery from travel stress is a new album, this time only with cover versions. Like bassist Duff McKagan on his solo trip “Believe In Me”, the band is into crazy numbers from the punk rock era. She blasts Iggy Pop's "Raw Power" through the speakers, brings out the glam rock side in the Damned song "New Rose" and cuts off old sound braids from Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog".
After the monumental works "Use Your Illusions", the punk pasta seems refreshingly straightforward and uncomplicated. Guns N' Roses respond to the need to desperately wring new facets from well-known material with respectful faithfulness to the work and a contemporary sound. The cover footnote also shows a modest self-assessment: "Do yourself a favor," advise GN' R, and listen to the originals."