The Brilliance That Is Axl Rose
Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 12:01AM My previous post was a review of Steven Adler's book, My Appetite for Destruction, which was not my favorite book. However, one idea that Steven floats in his book is about Axl, and the thought resonated with me.
As we all know, Axl is notorious for starting the show late...really late. It has become his calling card or his identity; that he is completely unpredictable. Steven attempted to shed some light on this issue, and quite honestly, the explanation made sense to me. Essentially, what Steven writes is that Axl performs best in an emotionally charged environment. So basically, Axl will wait - and he will make his fans wait - causing impatience, anxiousness, frustration, and an adverse reaction to the unknown. The crowd begins to get worked up and the tension and emotion in the building rises, and then, just when it is about to peak, you hear the opening bars to "Welcome to the Jungle." Wherever you are, odds are the crowd is going to erupt. His making the crowd wait and wait only served to get people worked up, and ultimately it all adds up to a better, emotionally charged performance.
So, is this brilliance or is this simply being an egotistical, irresponsible performer? Personally, I think it is brilliant and it works for him. Not every band could pull the same stunts and get away with it. If I go see KISS, I know the show will start and end on time, and it will all go according to plan. There are no surprises, but you get what you expect. But, with Axl, you don't know what to expect and it results in an environment that is better suited for a Guns 'n' Roses show.
So your thoughts: is Axl a genius, or am I just buying into the hype?
Reader Comments (31)
over exaggerted sense of self importance? definately
trailblazer? yes
egotistical? sure
narcissitic? not sure
douche bag? probably
arrogant? why not
bi-polar? admittedly
OCD? self-confessed
talented? absolutely
money-maker? obviously
fame-monger? um, that's drew pinskey, phil mcgraw, etc...
I could go on and on and on...like the enegizer bunny, but why?
genius? no idea, but I'm glad there are so many armchair psychologists on here that can guage a person's IQ based on behavior alone. I believe in the biopsychosocial perspective to evaluate a person.
Go BMGSSWSR!
One more comment for Kenny Ozz:
Axl does not equal God! DLR does! :]
That was Gator who called the idiots surrounding Axl a bunch of "syncophants", Spence!
And Axl is a totally narcissistic whack job who also has a track record of being violent toward women. Just ask ex-wife, Erin Everly (the inspiration behind "Sweet Child O' Mine") and former main squeeze, super model Stephanie Seymour.
And what's with the bizarro plastic surgery and annoying corn rows?
Is Axl talented? Yes.
Is he as talented as Izzy Stradlin? No.
Just follow a chronology of song credits on the G'n'R albums before Chinese Hypocrisy and you will reveal who the real talent was in that band. Izzy.
It was really all over after he left.
As far as the whole "Axl Notoriously Late" thing...
Without having to rehash it all for the 10th time on here...
I saw 'em just a few weeks after the first album came out at The Bayou in Georgetown, Washington D.C. to a capacity crowd of 250 people. They did not have to come out late to create crowd "electricity" (if that's what you want to call being totally annoyed). Of course, they wouldn't have been able to get away with it so easy at a club anyway.
They tore the place apart even if Axl kept mumbling something about "The Problem With Poison", hahaha!!! -- Seriously, he was all worried about Poison!
Then Slash told the crowd...
"Uh, normally I don't talk, but this is the last club date we'll ever play because we are going on tour with Motley Crue in two weeks."
I saw 'em 5 more times after that, the last time with Gilby Clarke point blank at Madison Square Garden two nights in a row in '92. Axl kept us waiting over 2 hours both nights. At least they know how to do it in NYC as the Jumbotron camera started zooming around the arena to chicks flashin'...
Needless to say, at that point, I thought that was a better show than the ones G'n'R put on those nights.
It was really kinda boring and Axl sings like your Grandmother.
Talk about needing some arm chair psychotherapy!
Huh-uh-lo-oh!
I wish I would've seen G'n'R in the club days. I heard those shows were amazing. I did get to see them a few times when "the bloat" after Use Your Illusion started setting in (i.e. 30 people on stage, backup singers, keyboard solos, long and monotonous ramblings from Axl while only being able to sing half of the words in Paradise City, etc.).
Granted, I'm no psychologist or psychiatrist (nor do I play one on TV), but I think most of us with at least half a brain can see that Axl's behavior is narcissistic at best, and self-destructive at worst. Or to put it another way, if Axl was someone who worked in your office instead of being a famous rock star, you would avoid him like the plague and/or quit!
I was wondering if you'd read any of Steven Adler's book where he talks about Axl's early habit of attacking Poison from the stage. The way Steven described it, it used to piss them all off when they were unsigned and playing clubs in LA and had to follow Poison... because Bret would end his set by inviting the crowd to an after-party, and by the time the next band crawled onstage half the audience would be gone! After that, Axl started dissing Poison during his set (knowing full well that they were in the room and listening), which Steven also chalked up to Axl's insecurity and general asshole-iness. When I was younger, I was really confused as to why Axl had such a thing about attacking Poison (I never heard them attack him back), but these day's I'll continue my career as an armchair psychologist and suggested that he was just jealous because they got more poon!
And thank you for reinforcing my point about him being violent towards women. Axl has a history of being violent in general, but it does creep me out a bit when I hear people celebrating the guy's behavior.
Sure, he has personality traits that are less than honorable, but musicially, he's is in a class above everyone else.
... And I agree with Bob's assessment of 'Chinese Democracy'. Over-wrought, self-indulgent, and still not genius - at least in my opinion. However, I accept that we are all entitled to our musical and artistic tastes. If you love 'Chinese Democracy', then love it without shame and without the need for others' approval.