This is your brain on Axl. Any questions?
To some, today may be an extended version of Sunday… but for the rest of us who march to the beat of a different boss, it’s just another Monday. That’s great, because The Nest has been making the audio version of Mondays awesome for the past five years! It’s time to work hard digging up another lost hit out of that vault full of ancient punch cards we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s always ready to put the labor in Labor Day, at least when it comes to playing music. While the Sponkies get the day off even though they’re too young to know what real work is. It’s time for work hard for our money…
The other day I was thinking of who the most overrated music artists of all time are that I mostly think are shit. Of course, Prince came to mind immediately. Then there’s Led Zeppelin. And naturally Nirvana. Who else does everyone else seem to rave about that I can’t stand…….????? Oh wait, I know!!!
Take me down to the paradise shitty…
Guns N Roses is one of the more prominent bands to emerge from the hair metal movement of the 80’s. Their 1987 debut album Appetite For Destruction is one of the best selling records of all time, which contained three huge hits that still get played on the radio today… “Welcome To The Jungle,” “Paradise City,” and “Sweet Child O Mine.” Those songs are OK, although nothing special. And if GnR would’ve broken up for good after that album, I don’t think I’d hate the band… even if lead singer Axl Rose still would be a whiny sounding punk. But they didn’t break up… and went on to record some of the most horrific music to come out of the awful era of the early 90’s that really tried my patience.
I actually took this photo in November, so it works. And the song is an absolute piece of ass.
Let’s forget about all the drama and horrific screeching Guns N Roses manufactured in the days when they forgot how to rock and go back to that album they will always be known for. While the hits were meh, there is one song that got some radio airplay off Appetite that I actually do like. Hell, I even like Axl’s singing in it, which ironically might be the best part. Here is The Nest approved GnR song, “Mr. Brownstone.”
The song was written by guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin (The two in the photo I included who, fittingly, look the most strung out), and is about their addiction to heroin. Yep, it’s a song about heroin use… although unlike the 1972 version, this horse has a name. I guess “brownstone” is a slang term for H, not that I’m up on shit like that. Anyway, this song works for me. I hope you enjoy it as well…
If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stick with Mr. Goodstuff.
Come back next Monday for another hit off the crack pipe that is the Dusty Vinyl Archive…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
for me it is the band with the worst fans… one of them puked in my brandnew convertible… that is something I will never ever forget nor forgive…
for me it is the band with the worst fans… one of them puked in my brandnew convertible… that is something I will never ever forget nor forgive…
One of them took Axl’s picture at a concert here in 1991 and Axl went apeshit and started a riot. We hauled him to court, and him and his crappy band have only come back to the city one time in those 28 years…
Not a GnR fan – much of their music gave me a headache to tell you the truth BUTTTT this one is definitely passable – like the drumwork………not as much screeching……I know zip about “Brownstone” or whatever else it’s known as – NO THANKS!!
Pam
Mr. Brownstone just seems wrong on a lot of levels. It could be the real name of the poop emoji for all we know…
The band is awful, but the poor squirrel photo is great.
Squirrels are always great, even when it’s cold and rainy and they look miserable…
I always liked GNR songs. I think AXL has a great range of vocal talent, whether singing ballads or the more rocking songs. 🙂
Generally, the more vocal range a singer has, the more likely they are to get on my nerves. I like how he sings this song, though…
Haven’t been a GNR fan since they toured with Metallica and were a bunch douchebags because either lighting was off, mics weren’t in the right place or the didn’t have the right size Mountain Dew in their dressing rooms. Axl walked off stage once and didn’t bother to show at another performance. To me, that’s too much ego for anyone 15 mins. And his 15 were over 20 years ago and now with his plastic surgery there will be no comeback (thank god).
The only plastic surgery Axl Rose should have had was to have his lips hermetically sealed!
Right? Agreed, ugh….
Well to each their own. There were so many worse bands that came out of that era in my opinion. But. I never was a Guns & Roses fan at the time, and the only songs of theirs I play are the mega hits you listed plus one other – the badly reviewed November Rain. And the fact that Mr. Rose is held up as an icon for diabetics everywhere (I bet you didn’t know that odd little fact..yep. He’s diabetic). He has (apparently) done a lot for encouraging diabetics to eat right and take their insulin or medications or both. I sort of snicker at that actually, because OF COURSE he can live the diabetic version of a very healthy life. He has the dough (bad choice of words…carbs and diabetics aren’t supposed to mix). If I were wealthy though, I bet my numbers would be a whole lot more acceptable to the doctors. Eh. It is what it is. Happy Labor Day Squirrel!
I sure never heard about Axl Rose being the Jerry Lewis of diabetes, so you taught me something today! I guess we do have something in common in that we both only like one other song of theirs other than the original hits. Other than that, though, I’ll take the glam hair bands over these guys any day….
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat myself like an old man..waitaminnit, I AM an old man…er…anyway, Axl Rose, to my ears, sounds like Granny Clampett with a chest cold. Musically they had a few songs I would’ve liked if someone else had been singing. That point was proven when most of G ‘n R got together with the now-deceased Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots to form Velvet Revolver, which I found to be fairly decent. And apparently Axl has now hooked up with AC/DC to completely ruin THAT band. I will attempt to avoid ever hearing that sure to be disaster. It was bad enough hearing him destroy Knocking on Heaven’s Door (you’ve really got to work hard to sound worse than Dylan) withe G ‘n R..I couldn’t bear to hear what he does with Back In Black or Highway To Hell…
Hell, I didn’t even think of Knocking on Heaven’s Door! The Axl version of that makes me want to barf. I don’t even want to imagine Axl singing with AC/DC….. no. That can’t possibly be true! You have to sound like shit to be AC/DC’s lead singer, but not Axl’s level of shit!
Even though I love music from the 80’s, I was never a big fan of the screeching hair bands and in particular, Guns and Roses. They always seemed to make this annoying kind of noise that made me want to get away from it ASAP.
Axl Rose would’ve made a great alarm clock…
Dear gawd, that’d make anyone slit their wrists.
I’ll give you Guns & Roses cause they suck ass big time, but I am so offended that you hate Nirvana. Outraged, I tell ya. Where’s your teen spirit, dude?? Up Princes ass? 😀
I live to offend people and their favorite artists! Why? Because the world doesn’t properly love DISCO, that’s why! Now someone needs to make a disco version of Teen Spirit and maybe I’ll say something nice about Mr. Cobain….
Hey, I was just Kung Foo fighting the other day!
My husband walked by and said “oh, happy music. Great song.” It has been a while since I’ve heard that one. Good post.
I’ll take that as two positive votes for this one!
So “Mr Brownstone” is not their annoying lodger? Well that puts a different slant on this song, that’s for sure…
Maybe they get “Mr. Brownstone” from their neighbor, who’s always knocking on their door and is a real mother fu…. well, what Axl said.
I loved GNR back in the day but now when I hear them I wonder how I could stand all that screeching. No wonder I can’t hear anymore! One summer after high school I worked as a housekeeper at Ross Lake Resort. We had two cassette tapes for our laundry room boom box, Appetite for Destruction and Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits. By the end of the summer, Mr. Brownstone was the only GNR song I still liked!
Well, there’s a pair of contrasting styles! Now I’m imagining Axl screeching out “Dooooooown’t stop b’lievin’ ’bout tomorrowowowowowowowowowowoowoowwwwwwwwwwwww yayayayaaaaahhh!!!!”
No hair bands. Okay, maybe a couple Twisted Sister songs.
Guns’n’Roses are AWFUL and Axl is a total ass of a person.
Disco except KC & the Sunshine band & before Saturday Night Fever sucked.
LOL! Thanks for setting me straight!