The (Adolescent) Ego Has Landed, Settled and Colonised

Guns n' Roses - Paradise City



As I wrote previously, Guns n' Roses are not exactly a favourite on this blog. So it was with a certain enthusiasm that I sharpened the knives against the grindstone of sarcasm in preparation for today's post. Needless to say, the temptation to use the phrase Paradise Shitty was massive. I'll get it out of the way then: The only way to describe this song is Paradise Shitty.

Boom! Genius! Review done. Time for booze and groupies.

More?

Well, alright. You see, this song isn't actually as reprehensible and juvenile as Welcome to the Jungle, despite being written by the same bunch of drunken miscreants (normally a compliment when coming from me, in this case, not) at the same time. The truth of the matter is that this song doesn't come across as forced, which is not the case with Welcome to the Jungle. Welcome to the Jungle sounds like Rose was trying his absolute hardest to be a misanthrope whereas Paradise Shitty (damn!), erm, City is a little more relaxed and shows the more melodic, mellow road that GnR were going to walk down with the best of the Use Your Illusion albums (Civil War, November Rain etc).

Big ups to them but I still wouldn't listen to this song if I had any kind of a choice in the matter. The song itself is almost painfully over-produced and Rose's voice doesn't ever stray from his timeworn canine-deterrent formula. Add to this completely juvenile lyrics and the result is something that, while not being entirely painful to listen to, still manages to be mildly offensive. And by this time you haven't even factored in the personalities of the various band members..

There's a degree of redemption in Slash's guitar playing - he appears to be going completely wolvo-beserker for most of the song and he's actually quite a good guitar player, in the air-guitar-hero-wanker-y mode. But in the end, it is Slash's guitar playing that truly symbolises GnR, and especially everything off Appetite for Destruction, quite nicely - showoff, adolescent and masturbatory.

This is the sound of someone taking themselves very seriously, for no good reason.

Verdict: Not recommended for tourists, or anyone

Tomorrow: Sam Cooke - Cupid