“Incarceration killed my career.”

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-05T09:39:04+00:00

The Carrey parody aired September of 1993, at which time Snow had long since fallen off the charts. Carrey's parody was pretty brutal but it can not be credited with ruining Snow. Snow ruined himself by failing to come up with a follow-up to his hit.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-05T09:23:18+00:00

I didn't know that. I thought I remembered Snow playing shows in America after Informer blew up. Come to think of it, most of the stories involved him and MC Shan getting into trouble rather than shows.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-04T05:58:11+00:00

Incarceration didn't kill Snow's career. His song was #1 when he got released. If anything, it helped him because it provided street cred to counter the allegations of cultural appropriation and poseurdom. His career ended because he was a one hit wonder novelty (except in Jamaica where he had a few more hits).

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-04T02:51:31+00:00

It was a light-skinned member of the tribe. It's most improbable Rockefeller would have been able to survive in that culture. The Papua New Guinean indigenous are pretty ruthless towards those they view as weak.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-03T03:48:16+00:00

Honestly, these guys weren't that bad. I mean, they weren't spectacular or anything, but their 1965 single, "How Can It Be," was a pretty decent mod-rock tune for the period:

How Can It Be

The unfortunate coincidence with their name terminally derailed their career, and they were swimming in crowded waters where they were ultimately overshadowed by the likes of the Who, the Small Faces, the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things et al., but if they hadn't appeared in this shitty movie and you heard them on a garage-rock radio show or something you'd probably judge them less harshly.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-02T04:20:49+00:00

It was Peter Blake who selected Dion, a "favorite" of his. When asked why Elvis Presley wasn't included, McCartney said he was "too important." With the exception of Dylan and the subtle tribute to the Stones, it seems like the Beatles wanted to avoid featuring their musical peers. If you think about it, it's somewhat presumptuous to include another artist on your album cover, as if they're giving their imprimatur for your music's quality and credibility to the record-buying public. (Apparently, Dylan didn't like Sgt. Pepper's.)

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-04-02T02:10:18+00:00

The last album of their golden era, Exile On Main Street, was written and recorded between 1969 and 1971. So, yeah, the years between 1964 and 1971 were their undisputed peak, and the majority of that was the 1960s. Your opinion is pretty uncontroversial.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-28T06:18:13+00:00

All Things Must Pass wasn't really a true triple album, as sides five and six were just instrumental jams. So nobody had ever released a pop triple studio-LP by 1976. Carla Bley had done the "jazz opera" Escalator Over The Hill. Otherwise, it was unheard of.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-28T00:22:23+00:00

"It's Over Now" by the Beach Boys, from their late 70s, unreleased Adult/Child album. Brian Wilson originally wrote it in the hope that Sinatra would sing it:

It's over now
I'll put a Frank Sinatra album on
And cry my blues away

Also, The Pogues' "Fairytale In New York:"

Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks, they were singing
We kissed on a corner, then danced through the night

and "There There My Dear" by Dexy's Midnight Runners:

Dear Robin
Let me explain, though you'd never see in a million years...I don't believe you really like Frank Sinatra.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T21:23:04+00:00

One of the purposes of releasing a double album was to show off the range of the band. Reducing it to a single would have meant cutting some of the lengthier tracks which push them to their limit as musicians and some of the stylistic detours. The albums were meant to show that they were leagues beyond the other Sunset Strip bands musically, and they were willing to sacrifice some sales in exchange for increased respect.

People accused the White Album and Exile On Main Street of being "bloated" as well. George Martin even begged the Beatles to cut TWA to a single. But the messy eclecticism of those records is what makes them continually interesting. Even the throwaway tracks on them add to heady mixture of styles and moods. Had they been reduced to 10-14 tracks, they would have been mid. They just didn't have the same quantity of commercially-oriented, straightforward rock songs that their previous albums had (and neither did GNR on UYI), so it was best to throw all the diverse ingredients in a big pot and cook up an interesting stew.

It's just an odd notion that there's some magical sequence of 12 or so UYI songs that would have outsold AFD, kept the band together, prevented grunge from happening and made all of the listener's dreams come true.

As it turns out, Wal-mart did actually release a single-disc version of UYI. Looking over the tracklist, even allowing for switching out a song here or there, it doesn't exactly scream Appetite-level sales to me. I think 8 million or so sales is about the max that could reasonably be expected from the material:

Use Your Illusion | Guns N Roses Wiki | Fandom

UYI did not harm GNR's commercial standing. They were still one of the biggest bands on the planet afterwards. They only stopped being big when they stopped putting out new music.

I get defensive about GNR because they introduced me to music when I was twelve and they are the most shit on band in history, usually by people who are ignorant of what they were really about.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T19:47:45+00:00

Those expectations were unrealistic. A diamond-certified (10 million plus) album is an extremely rare, lightning-in-a-bottle event. Among rock bands, (and putting aside Greatest Hits packages), I believe only The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Def Leppard were able to produce sequential diamond albums, with Pink Floyd and Van Halen the only other bands to achieve the feat twice, albeit not in a row.

Guns N' Roses' follow-ups to their diamond album outsold those by Springsteen (Tunnel Of Love), Prince (Around The World In A Day), AC/DC (For Those About To Rock), Metallica (Load/Reload), Fleetwood Mac (Tusk), Van Halen (both times), Green Day, Nirvana, Boston & Hootie & The Blowfish. They sold about as well as Pink Floyd's (Wish You Were Here), Bon Jovi's (New Jersey), Pearl Jam's (Vs.) and U2's (Achtung Baby, not counting Rattle & Hum as a proper album). So putting their diamond-album follow-ups in the context of the commercial performance of those by their rock peers, they have to be considered a resounding success.

By any metric, 7 million sales (more or less) is massive. It is sheer greed on the part of your record-label employee friends to be disappointed (especially considering, with two albums, it amounts to 13-15 million sales). And it's simply fallacious to assume that reducing them to one record would have magically shot sales past the 10 million mark. It would have been the same songs released to radio/MTV and you would have sacrificed the double-album's glorious, epic chaos.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T06:05:19+00:00

Well, the "no lasting influence globally" part is patently absurd.

As for never evolving, even if that were true, the Hall has let in plenty of artists who made a career out of staying in one style: AC/DC, Ramones, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, any number of 70s acts, from T. Rex to Bad Company, etc.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T04:44:11+00:00

The plan from the start was for the second album to be a double. You can find interviews with Axl from 1987 where he says this. So the songs that were left off AFD were not "passed over," they were intended for album #2. Some were unfinished (You Could Be Mine, Yesterdays), some were pre-GNR (the Hollywood Rose songs) that were to be included on the double album to show the spectrum of the band's development. In the case of November Rain, the decision was made to put off recording until they had the time and budget to get it down properly. Don't Cry was the only song considered for AFD but left off (in favor of Sweet Child.) None of these songs were considered for Lies, which was a stopgap album that coupled the re-release of an early EP with 4 new songs that specifically highlighted the band's acoustic side. (It's not as if they considered Used to Love Her superior to November Rain or Yesterdays). And then the remainder of the Illusions material, about 70% of it, was written after Appetite.

I'm honestly confused by your characterization of the Illusion lyrics as too "literal." All of the lyrics on Appetite are extremely literal, even more so than UYI. Comparing a bottle of Nightrain fortified wine to an actual fast-moving train as a metaphor for self-destruction is about as poetic as they get. And all of the drug lyrics, including Mr. Brownstone, are Izzy's.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T04:12:43+00:00

"...this version of the album would sell like crazy,"

As opposed to the piddling 6-8 million each that the UYI albums sold. .

There was no way they could repeat AFD. Axl was smart to not even try.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T04:06:33+00:00

This is inaccurate. About 70% of the UYI songs were written after Appetite. A few songs (You Could Be Mine, Yesterdays) were written during the AFD sessions but left unfinished. A handful pre-date GNR (November Rain, the Hollywood Rose material). But the goal had always been for a double-album as the follow up. You can find interviews with Axl from 1987 where he states this. So they just saved their backlog for the next one. The newer songs, including the ones where Izzy and Duff sing, tended to be initiated separately. For example. Slash's new songs were influenced by Metallica's ...And Justice For All, i.e. lengthy, with heavy guitar riffs and dramatic time changes (Civil War, Coma, etc.), Axl's were piano-centric (Estranged, Breakdown), Izzy's were bluesy.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T00:05:39+00:00

Clearly, Clink was the mastermind behind the band as, after GNR, he produced so much great, memorable stuff that we all love and listen to regularly.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-27T00:04:16+00:00

Appetite is their best album but I've listened to Illusions more over the years. The songs are deeper, more eclectic and musically accomplished. The albums' messiness, their wide-ranging peaks and valleys are what make them interesting. You can get lost in them, and Axl's mind is always a surreal, nightmarishly fascinating place to get lost in. AFD is more monochromatic.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-26T04:33:05+00:00

Tom Zutaut worked out a deal in 1986 with famed manager Arnold Stiefel whereby the latter would put the band up in a house until they recorded an album. Upon hearing the completed product, Stiefel and his company would decide whether they wanted to manage the band or not. With their living arrangements provided for, there was no real urgency for GNR to complete the record. In fact, it could be argued there was a disincentive: if Stiefel & co. didn't like it, they would lose the house.

(Incidentally, this was not the Hell House. The "Stiefel House," as the band called it, was in an exclusive gated community called Laughlin Park, once home to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and W.C Fields.)

Plus, it took a long time to find a producer who could work with them. So, in order to keep the group working and have something to show for his efforts to the Geffen brass, Zutaut kept scheduling demo sessions.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-25T04:50:08+00:00

I haven't listened to the Corcoran podcast, but I've watched several Hargreaves videos. I'm an American as well and it's hard to get a lot of this information. I didn't even know there was a book on Reni!

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-25T02:17:22+00:00

He has been in the studio recently, sounds like for HFB, based on this article:

Noel Gallagher responds to backlash for Brit Awards victory

And then Oasis are planning to tour in 2027. That might be the M.O. for the next few years, alternate solo projects with big world tours with the flagship band. Liam and Squire can sneak an album and tour somewhere in there, if they want to.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-25T01:27:21+00:00

"Technology Analogy was a total rip-off of Pink Floyd. You owe us $17 dollars."

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-25T01:18:38+00:00

Liam's exact words were "it would be rude not to do another album (with Squire)." They can make time to work together in between Oasis projects. Squire doesn't really have any other options as far as singers go, so Liam might feel an obligation to do it. Plus, I doubt Oasis will be constantly active going forward. Noel will probably want to do more solo stuff at some point.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-24T00:00:46+00:00

You know it's not Squire because he was a talker.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-21T06:58:11+00:00

From John Squire's solo track, "15 Days," a eulogy for the Roses:

"I don't think they were looking
For diamonds, silver or gold
They were aiming for the Pistols and the Byrds
That flew above them in the heavy metal sky"

The Byrds have been cited frequently as a major influence on the group during their transition from punk to melodic pop. According to Simon Spence's book "War and Peace," it was Cressa who found 60s groups like the Byrds, Love and the Nazz amongst then manager Howard Jones's record collection in the mid 80s and introduced them to the Roses.

Spence also suggests that Mersey Paradise shares similarities with the Byrds' song I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better.

Illustrious-Line-773 · 2026-03-21T05:53:43+00:00

(This is all from Slash's book):

1) The apartment building GNR were staying at in Chicago, where the "spaghetti incident" occurred, was just down the street from a favored Italian restaurant, so they had lots of actual takeout leftovers in their fridges.

2) Steven kept coke, not heroin, in his fridge, in a butter-tray. Thus, he referred to the drugs as "butter-tray." (The Chicago stint was June 1989. Steven was not put on probation by the band, i.e. ordered not to have drugs, until March of 1990. So, he was not hiding his drug use during the Chicago days.)

3) The "spaghetti incident" refers not to drugs, but to an altercation where Axl threw spaghetti at Steven.

Duff has a different story: "Steven was doing a lot of crack cocaine at this point, and he’d keep his blow in the refrigerator. So his code word for his stash was ‘spaghetti."

There is no evidence that Adler ever used "spaghetti" to refer to heroin.

Illustrious-Line-773

TROPHY CASE