From: reiners@iastate.edu ()
Subject: Re: Not quite right...
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 02:38:08 GMT

In article <1ebk3hINNh7r@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aa765@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Chris Young) writes:
>
>alexa@county.lmt.mn.org (Alex Alexander) writes:
>
>>aa765@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Chris Young) writes:
>
>     Something got screwed up with the citations. I think this
>is right.
>
>>>      The vocals on the entire song suck, IMO. Besides
>>> the fact that it's another sappy, candy-ass pop track,
>>> the song just isn't suited to Axl's voice.
>
>> No it really isn't. The original was an acoustic ballad written by
>> West Arkeen and Del James. But I still think Axl does an OK job with it,
>> considering the material he has to work with.
>
>     I think my biggest problem with it is the production
>quality. In an otherwise *fabulously* produced album, this
>song sounds like Axl walked into the studio and was handed
>a lyric sheet, then they recorded the vocal track on the
>first take- it's sounds rough, awkward, and rather unpolis-
>hed.
>
>>>      He pulled off 'Don't Cry', but 'Yesterdays' is not
>>> for him. I think it's a conspicuous stain on an other-
>>> wise fantasic album, and I was pretty surprised when I
>>> heard that it was a single. Now that I've thought about
>>> it, though, I guess I should have expected it, the last
>>> original signal they put out that *rocked* was 'You
>>> Could Be Mine', and that was before the album.
>
>> What do you mean "pulled off" Don't Cry? That song it perfectly suited to
>> his voice. Maybe not as much at the beginning as at the end, but it is
>> definitely a GNR song.
>
>     I wasn't implying that it wasn't a good song- just
>that Axl's voice, while perfect for 'Welcome to the Jungle',
>isn't perfectly suited for slow, melodic pieces. By saying
>he pulled it off, I meant he did well, despite of his
>'handicap'.
>
>>Obviously, you don't like anything even remotely
>> soft and quiet on an album.
>
>     Obviously, you don't know the first thing about me.
>
>     My all time FAVORITE band is The Police. I'm also
>a classical and jazz trumpetist and I enjoy (worship)
>Wynton Marsalis. Led Zep and GNR are influences when I play
>(bass) with my own band, as are Police and Dire Straits
>when I compose.
>
>     My point is that GNR have something they do VERY well,
>and that's rock your fucking balls off. I'm disappointed
>when they try to stray from this just to garner popular
>attention from a bunch of prepubescent teenie-rockers.
>

I very much doubt that G n' R would go the slightest bit out of their way to 
please anyone other than themselves musically.  They have far too much 
integrity for that.  And, also, after the sales of _Appetite_, they're in a 
position to do pretty much anything they want.  And even if their record
contract was on the line (which it definitely isn't), they'd probably prefer 
to go out in a blaze of glory rather than compromise in the slightest degree. 
If someone thinks that G n' R have sold out because they have too many ballads
or pop songs or whatever now, then maybe that person just didn't understand 
them that well to begin with.
 
-- 
Paul Reiners
<reiners@iastate.edu>