Guns N' Roses - Paradise City

Guns N' Roses - Paradise City (7" Black Vinyl, Artwork Sleeve, Single) [1988] US.

1. Paradise City [6:46] *

2. Move To The City [3:42] **

* Album Version. Taken from the LP "Appetite For Destruction".

** Album Version. Taken from the EP "Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide".

Hi. Welcome to another edition of 'Shit I Own', by me. :) I was thinking the other day, if you saw a wheat-thin guy with long strawberry-blonde hair running around like a madman, rockin' an oversized bright-pink fishnet t-shirt, stark-white super-short spandex tights and super-white high-top pump-up Nike sneakers, would you think to yourself: "Wow, this guy's really cool!"? Probably not. If he happened to be rollerblading down Hollywood Blvd, you'd probably pull out your 9mm gat and f'n super-soak the fucker. But... what if the dude broke out with some Raspy ass vocals and fuckin' killed it? Hmmm... I guess if anything, that's a good way to test the power of your music. Not that that's what Axl was doing, since he's obviously GONE INSANE since the UYI sessions. (You can see it evolving further after those recordings with their live shows when things got Ghetto Extravagant!) So sad. It's this type of insanity that makes a band leader forget about what's really important. [Note: A bit like Glenn Danzig, I feel bad for both of them since they both fuckin' tripped out and lost their main players.] I guess we all at one time or another lose the best thing we've got going in life huh? Yeah... they regret it. I can tell. Their subtle facial twitches may not be noticed by the laymen, but to me, they may as well be crying tears of blood. Don't you cry tonight, Axl.

It's a damn shame that those two ego-tripped their strongest supports out the door only to overproduce unremarkable and regrettably forgettable music later in their careers. Glenn at least slowly worked his way back in the right direction through 6, 7 and 8, perhaps ending up where 5 should have been with 9. But even through his rough times at least he kept putting out albums. It took Axl fifteen years to finally get his baby "perfected", and even then, it doesn't sound like anything near his former self. He took things too far, and while I have at times complained about songs being overly-simplistic, the stuff on Chinese Democracy doesn't even sound like music half of the time. There was no reason to go "above and beyond" the expansive materials utilized on the Use Your Illusion albums. And for an Axl solo album, he sure as fuck had a lot of different people playing on it. Glenn seems to have gotten back to core band direction and sound. As for Axl Rose, I don't see him ever working on another song that sounds anything like Paradise City. He's got his head in too much shit obviously and I can't imagine him sitting down with a band and creating real music anymore.

Guns N' Roses - Yesterdays

Guns N' Roses - Yesterdays (CD, Maxi-Slim, Single) [1992] Germany.

1. Yesterdays [3:16] *
2. November Rain [8:57] **
3. Yesterdays (Live) [4:11] ***
4. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Live) [4:39] ****


* Album Version. Taken from the LP "Use Your Illusion II".
** Album Version. Taken from the LP "Use Your Illusion I".
*** Recorded Live in Las Vegas, Nevada. January 25th, 1992.
**** Recorded Live at the Marquee, London. June 28th, 1987.

[Watch teh MUSIC VIDEO] Get that outta the way. Yesterdays was never my favorite GNR song. They've got a plethora of songs that are so ridiculously badass, that, why would I at such a young age dig Yesterdays? Never at any point did I dislike the track, but when I would think of GNR or talk about 'em, it never really came up. The fact is, I like every single song on both Use Your Illusion albums. Everyone loves Appetite For Destruction, but people get weird when the UYI albums come up. 'Which one is better, which has the best songs', and so on... but to me, these albums aren't even split. Perhaps they tried to vibe it out by splitting 'em, but there's no denying that these two albums were intertwined from the get. [Just in case you wish to know, these are my absolute favorites in order or appearance: Dust N' Bones, Back Off Bitch, Coma, Breakdown & Locomotive.] Man, when I would bake it was either Coma or Loco, but I love every single track on both of these. Yesterdays, if it were sung by anyone other than Axl Rose, or played by anyone other than Guns N' Roses, I would probably say that it sucks. Not on the terms of songwriting, or material, but perhaps on the lack of evil disassociation regarding living life and thinking about the past. But ghosts got nothin' but time to fuck with your brain, so...

Axl's scratchy, raspy-ass voice really sells the song and the band is at their peak so there's no going wrong with the material. Even if it's not their usual Hard-Rock, it's Rock and it's not a Ballad. The song has grown on me since I've gotten older like the old fuck that I am. Back when I first heard it the only Yesterdays that I knew wuz suckin' on me mum's tittie. Now that I've felt the pain called "life", I know what it feels like to remember whatever the fuck it is that they were singing about. Hm. Regarding the Live version: Even though Axl is working with a live stage show, back-up gospel singers and his trustworthy band, he sounds like he's about to spit up a fuckin' lung. No wonder he didn't want to do Encores (and this Live song is one), or even start to sing more than three songs at gigs he felt weren't worthy! That's Axl though, and we wouldn't have him any other way... or something. Knockin' On Heaven's Door isn't going to be a good song no matter who sings it so fuckitor. :( I guess they liked that version of the song since they included it on a few Singles from around the world.

Cemetery Statues are always beautiful.

Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle

Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle (12" Black Vinyl, Fold Out Poster Sleeve, Single) [1987] England.

1. Welcome to the Jungle * [8-Bit Remix!]

2. Whole Lotta Rosie (Live) ** [CHECK IT, broooo...]

3. It's So Easy (Live) **

4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Live) ** 

* Album Version. Taken from the LP Appetite For Destruction.

** Recorded Live at the Marquee, London: June 28th, 1987.

This 12" Vinyl was available in a Standard release (GEF30T), Picture Disc (GEF30TP) and Poster Sleeve (GEF30TW). [Note: The Picture disc is the front cover (pictured left) with the blue border. There is also a version of this Single with a red cover and a Red Picture Disc border. Supposedly the red picdisc is "super scarce" according to this guy selling it for 100$, but I'm having trouble finding info on this release. Even my Catalog # isn't listed on most sites so who knows.] The one I own is obviously the one with the special Fold Out Poster Sleeve (I took some snapshots with my shitty digicam and posted 'em below). Got this Vinyl for 20$ way back in the day.

 

I really miss these old record shops that I used to visit when I was a teenager. Maybe there are places still out there that have cool shit like this for sale, but when I look around here all I see is trendy stores selling the latest pop culture fad bullcrap! I had to travel two hours the last time I came across a dingy, smokey, dark and dank record store with old Vinyl, bootleg Live CDs and Lucio Fulci Zombie posters for sale. When I was eighteen and back home I went downtown, walked into a hole in the wall Metal shop and bought a longsleeve Marduk shirt right there on the spot. Now I'm stuck in lameville and gotta drive long distances (and man I am sick of driving) to even attempt to find something sweet like that. But I can easily just take a trip down to the local mall and grab a lifesize standee of the newest dumbshit fad spokesmodel (don't feel like naming names, because that gives them power).

 

And I'm not trying to sound like a bearded old man here, but like many of you I miss the old days. At least when I got here there was a mom and pop VHS rental place with all sorts of fucked up horror films that I had been dying to see (Like Andy Warhol's Dracula, Shocking Asia 2 or 555). That place is now selling small garden figurines, wind chimes and fuckin' chocolate bars! Same owners, they're from Holland or some shit. I know there are still real places out there, I just gotta look em up instead of stumbling upon 'em. Even if some places are selling heavy metal records and rare shit on the net, unless it's a single guy in his mum's basement, there probably is a real store there too. And I don't mind buying things online, but I haven't recently and I'd rather walk down some stone steps into a real place that sells knives, pipes, CDs, Posters, Concert Tees, possibly things more illegal than bootlegs, and hopefully there's a chick at the counter with tattoos and piercings and she don't got the G-Wartz. Know what I'm sayin'?

 

Sorry about the camera glare, but I lost my photoshop... and even if I had it, I don't got the time to fix the lines, nor their make-up. ;) Ghey.

Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine

Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine (CD, Cardboard-Slip, Single) [1991] England.

1. You Could Be Mine [5:45] *

2. Civil War [7:39] *

* Album Version. Taken from the LP Use Your Illusion II.

Boy do I love me some Guns N' F'n Roses. What more of a badass pairing than the greatness of this song You Could Be Mine and T2's little punk ass John Connor speeding off on his moto. I found this at a record store that I'd only been to once or twice, and remember grabbing it and letting out an "Ah sweet!" I was probably fifteen at the time and yeah, finding this was pretty sweet. Now, not so much. I'll tell you what's great about this Single. Aside from the Title Track fuckin' rocking, and that the release is Rare: Nothin'. The release I got comes in one of those slim cardboard cases, and man do these things suck balls. Not only do they get scuffed up easily, but the CDs can scratch just by sliding it out. Sure, these problems tend to affect Digipaks and normal CD cases, but these cardboard slips take it to the next level of annoyance. As a novelty, this release is nice to own (and I do love collecting Singles), but take a look at that track list. There are no B-Sides, no Live Tracks, no Extended or Radio Versions, no Nothing. Just two Album Version tracks from Use Your Illusion II that everyone already owns, so what the fuck gives England? Who put you up to this!? This would have been the perfect chance to include the MUSIC VIDEO for the track that hasn't been released uh, Anywhere! (Feel free to correct me on that last part.) At least there would have been no Copyright issue as the movie still is used on the CD, or since it's not made in the US does that matter? I understand that Civil War makes a good choice for the second track since it's about War and that's what T2: Judgment Day is all about... but something else could have been done to avoid this reeking of cheapness. Still, the music is kickass, and the sleeve art is quality. This CD was also released in a Maxi-Slim case which I would have preferred to own. Or even better, this Single was also released as a 7" Vinyl and a 12" Clear Vinyl Picture Disc with Backing Insert. Now that's the real deal, baby. A 12" Picture Disc would look good in the collection. A lot better than this sad little CD Single.

Film!: The Runaways

If I could ever stick my dick into a movie, this would be the one. That's precisely the thought that hit me a little past the half-way mark... and while the thought never really occurred to me before, the more I thought about it later, I discovered that it actually had before. Just never really in those words exactly. I had similar feelings when I was watching Jennifer's Body, but did I actually consider the movie some sort of fuckable object? I remember watching Dario Argento's film The Stendhal Syndrome and constantly finding my left hand roaming down the cornflower blue tie to inside the f'n khakis while I sat in my IKEA designed studio apartment. I was supposed to be selling that soap and not sticking into it too deep until it really stung... does that make me a freak? Well you can't confuse and you just can't choose what it's gonna do.

Alright, so it's probably no secret that I've been in love with Kristen Stewart ever since I spied through her bedroom window with my night vision goggles a few years back... and I may have mentioned once or twice in the past that I've got this unhealthy obsession with Dakota Fanning. Oh, and not to mention the fact that female lead singers, and chick bands in general, just f'n drive me into a spank frenzy. So when I heard about The Runaways (2010) I, well, basically I scorched my shorts. And then there were the news bits that came every other week... that it's 'raunchy as hell' being mainly the message. I'm hearing about Dakota's menstruation scene, then her and Kristen's lesbian make-out scene... so I'm seein' red and pink... then I come across this picture of KS in her patch-gear outfit and after I view the trailer, I've got the tunnel vision. That last one could have been caused by a mix of alcohol and binoculars however.

I was dying to see this movie at the cinema. When the official Limited release date came about I was all giddy and shit, checking online for anything near me... and nothing! Wouldn't you know it. What was this, like, two months ago? I was pissed off needless to say. There's not much really that gets my attention these days to this extent, and the film's distributors go and drop the ball majorly. I don't mind limited releases, but this movie is starring at present time, two of the most famous young ladies in the world and it's nowhere to be seen. Insanity? No matter, I finally got my hot shot and as of now the film is permanently in the system. So what did I think of The Runaways? Are you kidding me... I fucking loved it! Not to say that there weren't a few minor problems.

Kristen and Dakota were spot on as usual, sinking into the roles and becoming Joan and Cherie to sheer perfection. And Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley, hell, I'm sure his part alone will easily be considered the show stealer. All three of them are of course the "anchors" of the film, and all three roles are pulled off brilliantly, essentially making the film as great as it can be. Apart from Stella Maeve as drummer Sandy West, the other two girls in the band are pretty much forgotten due to "rights issues". So unfortunately for Scout Taylor-Compton and Alia Shawkat fans, things are on the back-burner this time around. They both get a single shining moment at least. The film is based on an autobiography by Cherie Currie, so none of the other girls really get back-stories anyways, including Joan Jett. So I guess it doesn't matter much after all is said and done.

The ending is to be expected as well, which is rather somber. After all, that's how things really went for the most part. This isn't Sid and Nancy. There's no murder, no suicide, no death... just a split between friends and lovers. The drugs, insanity, rebellion, and sexiness however did take place and it was just fucking lovely mate. Not that the ending is a problem, and non-technically, neither is the storyline 'exclusion' of the bassist and lead guitarist... really, I could care less. I've never really been into Lita Ford much. And the other chick, Fox, threatening to sue, really? It's all shit only the overly anal would really mind. I'm not some f'n Runaways fanatic or anything, so Meh is what I say to it all. Everyone should have gotten on board as far as I'm concerned, but then again, I don't like getting into politics.

So fuck 'em. Hey, go see The Runaways.