You be the Judge

Growing up as much of a music fan as I did, and being quite the rocker back in my day, it is no surprise that Guns and Roses were HUGE to me. When Appetite For Destruction came out I wasn't quite sure if i should be scared of these guys or if i should rock harder and sleezier than i ever had before.

Now we all know the soap opera that is Axl Rose, and its continuing story-line. After like 10 years of production and recording it took a bet from Dr. Pepper to finally have The Chinese Democracy see the light of day. Talk about over thinking something!

Anyways lately i have revisited the Appetite album and find it to really have withstood the test of time. It is not dated in its production values, or in the songs themselves. There is an energy captured on tape that is of a time and a moment yet to be repeated. The saga of Axl and the band has grown quite tiring in the last 15 years but the memories in my mind of listening to that record in my bedroom as loud as my stereo would go will never be forgotten.

Recently Axl and his new band of merrymen performed at the Rock In Rio festival. Over a million people in attendance and quite the downpour from the heavens led to the performance below.


Now back in August I went and saw Steven Adler and his version of Guns and Roses perform in Vancouver at the Venue. I must admit i was mostly drawn to the show because of Adler's recent appearance on Celebrity Rehab. I wanted to see this guy who has never been able to let go of the time he was in the band, and has subsequently battled a life full of demons. Check out the below clip of Paradise City by Adler's Appetite!


Slash has had of course his version of Guns and Roses called Slash's Snakepit. I am partially biased to Slash's direction has my good friend Brent Fitz plays drums in the band. Another good ol Canadian kid Todd Kearns is also in the band playing bass. The clip below is taken from the Oxegen festival in Dublin Ireland and shows that Slash is truly a beast!


Now of course it would not be fair to compare these three Guns incarnations without having the original source material. Check out this clip from the Ritz in New York City back in 1988.



Now that was a force to be reckoned with!