Don't Like Them As Much As I'm Supposed To: Guns 'n' Roses

 

OK. I geddit. Guns ‘n’ Roses were a trashy group of degenerates who raised hell and liked their music loud. On paper, they tick all my boxes. The swagger of Keef, the seediness of the New York Dolls. The sheer volume of no-good punks. However, music isn’t assessed on paper, as “G’n'FR”, on a turntable, make me ill.
I dare say that fans of the band will adopt an attitude of ‘well, you either love ‘em or loathe ‘em’, which is handy as I absolutely despise ‘em. In my teens, they were the stadium band you were allowed to like. They were a bit dangerous and partied harder than most… but then again, I bet Genesis have some tales, eh? No, my beef lay with the fact that they were a bunch of misogynists making it OK to talk about women like sides of beef. Not. Cool.

I never bought into that stadium metal attitude of ‘chicks’ and all that. The only time I dig it is when it’s being lampooned by Spinal Tap… and their impression of RAWK! is often so close to the bone it’s difficult to tell them apart from bands like Guns ‘n’ Roses.
Not only that, Axl Rose is one of the most loathsome blokes you’ll ever encounter. He’s cruel to the point of prison and, worse than that, he’s uglier than someone who has been ramraiding on a BMX. Hi-tops? Cycling shorts? Get some style, man!
Still, this won’t sway any metalheads, who will probably be able to point to loads of ace Stones songs that are more sexist than GnR. But then The Stones had the sex, the groove and the songs to back it all up. Sure, it ain’t right, but you’ll forgive a band almost anything if they’ve got “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” in their canon. No. Axl Rose and Slash and whichever bozos came along for the ride, I just don’t get it.