Guns N’ Roses
Blabbermouth.net: An audio sample of the song “Ready To Rumble” recorded by Axl Rose’ pre-GUNS N’ ROSES band Axl Rose RAPIDFIRE can be streamed in the YouTube clip below (uploaded by former RAPIDFIRE guitarist Kevin Lawrence).
The RAPIDFIRE tapes, which were purportedly recorded in May 1983, have been in storage in the original eight-track format for more than 20 years. The songs featured on the tape are as follows:
01. Ready To Rumble
02. All Night Long
03. The Prowler
04. On the Run
05. Closure
RAPIDFIRE’s lineup was as follows:
Axl Rose – Vocals
Kevin Lawrence – Guitar
Mike Hammernik – Bass
Chuck Gordon – Drums
According to Lawrence, Axl’s voice on the RAPIDFIRE recording sounds a bit “more Rob Halford”-ish compared to his vocals on “Appetite for Destruction”.
For more information, visit Rapidfire1983.com.
Who Are The Top 20 Metal Bands Of All Time?
Depends who you ask and how they define who is metal or just hard rock. For example, many agree that Metalica, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are metal, but KISS, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses are not metal.
That is how the authors of the new book ‘The Merciless Book of Metal Lists‘ see it in one of several indexes they compiled for this release set for April 9, 2013 by Abrams Image.
Howie Abrams and Sacha Jenkins’ book features numerous compilations of bests (songs, guitarists, album covers featuring goats) and worsts (embarrassing metal videos, metal fashion faux pas’).
80’s metal fans will also surely appreciate unconventional lists such as: ’10 Reasons Why EVERYONE Loves Slayer’s ‘Reign In Blood” and ’10 Accomplishments Iron Maiden Would Never Have Achieved had Paul Di’Anno Remained Their Singer’.
One of the lists sure to spark some debate is ’20 of the Greatest Metal Voices.’ They nailed the top three (my opinion) and Queensryche’s Geoff Tate certainly deserves a top five appearance:
1. Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Dio)
2. Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
3. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
4. Eric Adams (Manowar)
5. Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
6. King Diamond (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond)
7. Tom Araya (Slayer)
8. John Bush (Armored Saint/Anthrax)
9. James Hetfield (Metallica)
10. Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly)
In an interview with the New York Times, Abrams said Dio was the unanimous choice for the top spot because he had a virtuosity that set him far apart from other top metal vocalists.
“If he needed to apply darkness, he could do it,” said Abrams. “If he needed to belt and go to a higher range, he could. He replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, and I’m not sure there was a taller task for a vocalist. He did it with ease and grace, and he may have improved on what Oz did in the first place.”
‘The Merciless Book of Metal Lists’ is a fun read. I especially enjoyed viewing the artwork from ‘200 Embarrassingly Bad Album Covers’… Anthrax took the top two spots with ‘State of Euphoria’ and number one ‘Fistful of Metal.’
Last night in Hollywood, California, ANTHRAX, who are headlining the Metal Alliance Tour, played to a sold-out crowd at the House of Blues. But the fans got a little more than Anthrax playing their classic Among The Living album front-to-back, or songs from the just-released covers EP, Anthems.
Joining Anthrax on stage for their AC/DC cover of “T.N.T.” was none other than Slash who played lead on the song, and then, later in the show, Chuck D came out for “Bring The Noise,” the song Anthrax and Public Enemy recorded together in 1991.
Also in the House last night were Slayer’s Kerry King, John Tempesta from The Cult, Justin Chandellor from Tool, Dethklok/Metalocalpyse’s Brendon Small and actor/musician Brian Posehn.
The Metal Alliance Tour, that also features Exodus, High on Fire, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail, will be touring the country through late April. Click Here for remaining dates.
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Rolling Stone: For the past 20 years, a large Guns N’ Roses poster advertising the band’s first tour of England has been hanging in Steven Adler’s living room. “Every time I have to go to the bathroom I have to walk past it,” says the former Guns N’ Roses drummer. “I’d always see it and say to myself, ‘One day we’re gonna reunite! We’re gonna do it! We’re too good of a team not to do this again.'”
“Now I walk past it and I say to myself, ‘I’m so glad I was a part of that. That was a great and exciting time of my life.’ It’s nice to appreciate it, but I’m no longer angry and pining for a reunion. I’m not angry about it anymore. It’s flushed out of my system.”
Despite slamming Rose in the press as an “asshole” for failing to appear at the Rock Hall induction ceremony, Adler now says, “I’m not angry with Axl anymore. I love him and I feel blessed that I got to work with him and achieve what I achieved with him. I guess time does heal all wounds.”
Adler also says that he regrets having calling the current lineup of GUNS N’ ROSES “hacks” and “scabs.’ “I shouldn’t have said that,” he says. “I’ve grown up and matured. Holy crap! I’ve matured in the six months since we last spoke!”
Rolling Stone: Metal fans are a very passionate bunch. They’re also very opinionated, so when we asked them to vote for their favorite metal albums we expected a huge response. We also expected a big debate about the very definition of “heavy metal.” Some metal fans say that groups like Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses are metal. Others think that’s completely insane. We aren’t here to settle these debates. We’re merely here to count the votes.
- Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’
- Black Sabbath – ‘Paranoid’
- Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’
- Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
- Metallica – ‘. . . And Justice for All’
- Slayer – ‘Reign In Blood’
- Guns N’ Roses – ‘Appetite for Destruction’
- Metallica – ‘Metallica’ (The Black Album)
- Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin II’
- Metallica – ‘Ride the Lightning’
Season 8 of ‘That Metal Show’ started taping this week in Los Angeles, California and METAL SHOP Rocks was invited to attend the opener by our friends at VH1 Classic.
On July 26th, we made our way to the studio to see Lars Ulrich (Metallica) and Sammy Hagar (Chicken Foot/Van Halen) discuss many topics with host Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jameson. Special guest guitar master was none other than Alex Skolnick (Testament).
As the show was being recorded, a few other surprise guests showed up to play ‘Stump the Trunk.’ The questions were asked by Chris Jericho (Fozzy), Chip Znuff (Enuff Z’Nuff) and Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses).
METAL SHOP will also be attending the final taping of the season. Scheduled guests are Scott Ian and Charlie Benante from Anthrax, so stay tuned… here are a few photos I was able to snap of the show.
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Ozzy Osbourne and Guitar master Slash made a special appearance Monday, January 10, 2011 at the House of Blues in Hollywood, California. Both rock Icons were in attendance to sign a 10-foot Gibson Guitar and to announce they will be teaming up for an upcoming U.S. tour. The first minute was filmed sideways, but I was able to get some video from this event. Special thanks to Angela and MSOPR for making this happen for METAL SHOP. -Ralph
When Guns N’ Roses performed at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg this summer, Swedish national TV station SVT was there and they recently posted a video of Axl Rose’s dressing room and backstage area.
From their concert last month in Belgrade, Serbia, it was revealed that GUNS N’ ROSES’ tour rider requested that Axl’s dressing room be all black and decorated with fresh roses, and that champagne, vodka, tequila, red wine and beer be available in the room.
In addition, Axl also wanted fresh roses, 18 each of red and white, in the band’s dressing room, along with “black napkins, a blender, a juice maker, a tea kettle, paper tissues, 18 glasses for wine and champagne, 15 glasses for stiff drinks, 40 paper glasses, six cutlery sets, two bottle openers and corkscrews, and one large and two smaller bread knives.”
Check out the video here from SVT.
METALLICA’s James Hetfield famously slammed GUNS N’ ROSES frontman Axl Rose’s rider when the two bands toured together in the early ’90s in a video that became a YouTube hit.
Hetfield picks up where he left off with Axl’s 2010 rider and tells Byron Cooke of Australia’s long-running rock station Triple M what he really thinks of GUNS N’ ROSES. See how the videos compare below.
“I’ve got nothing against GUNS N’ ROSES,” Hetfield tells Cooke. “I mean, he’s doing what he wants to do at this point. I don’t know if there’s much ‘guns’ or ‘roses’ in any of that, but it’s Axl, and he is Axl and he has not changed or waned one bit, and I kind of respect that.”
Axl’s requirements haven’t changed much over two decades. The same booze, the same cheese… However, Axl now needs a bed in his dressing room. “What does he do, sleep at the gig?” Hetfield laughs.
Read more from Triple M.