Published on Jan 6, 2000
Guns N’ Roses are to the world of heavy metal what Boston is to
classic rock. They each take seven-year hiatuses between albums,
then seem to return without missing a beat.
So one wonders why this is the right time for Axl Rose to choose
to release
Live Era ’87 – ’93, the first full-length live disc from the
legendary bad boys of heavy metal. (If you count their independent
release
Live… Like A Suicide, this becomes their second live
release. I don’t count the live tracks from
G N’ R Lies.) The last time we had heard anything from this
group was when we went to the movies; they had “Sympathy For The
Devil” on the soundtrack for
Interview With A Vampire, and the “new” Guns N’ Roses
included the song “Oh My God” on the recent Schwarzenegger film
End Of Days. Well, fine, Axl, but how’s about something of
more substance?
Behold, enter
Live Era ’87 – ’93, a two-disc set that is perfect in some
areas and flawed (in some cases, literally) in other. If anything,
this set is an accurate picture of this band’s rise from obscurity
to superstardom, and how fame can cloud the music along the way.
(This doesn’t mean that we still don’t want to see a new studio
album soon; I’d like to see something come down the pipe before I’m
eligible for Social Security.)
This disc has become notorious due to a pressing error in the
first run – which I think I happened to pick up when I bought the
disc. On the last song “Paradise City,” as the song is in
trasnition from a medium-tempo rocker to an all-out speed fest,
about 10 seconds is lost, and the break in the music is painfully
obvious. It’s my understanding that Geffen has offered to replace
any faulty disc, but one wonders how this ever got past quality
control in the first place. I mean, if I wanted to listen to jumpy
technology, I’d download MP3 files from the Internet.
In many of the performances here, it almost seems like Rose
saunters through the lyrics, as he effortlessly delivers the goods
on tracks like “Mr. Brownstone” and “It’s So Easy”. But it is
interesting to note that Rose and the band are able to keep these
performances lively, demonstrating why this band built up such a
word-of-mouth reputation for being a tight live act.
But
Live Era ’87 – ’93 also digs up some rather scary skeletons
as well. First, “Patience” gets off to a poor start when Rose’s
whistling seems to be out of tune with the guitar work – making me
wonder how something that simple could get loused up. Second, a
good portion of the material pulled from the
Use Your Illusion albums has not aged well – not a great
thing to say, seeing these discs are only nine years old. “November
Rain” is here in its bloated glory, while “Pretty Tied Up” fails to
impress. Of the tracks from
Use Your Illusion, only “Yesterdays” and, to an extent,
“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” show why these two discs were so
magical when they first came out. (One question, though – why
didn’t Rose use the “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” that was so popular
as the b-side of an import 12-inch single?)
In addition, the dangers of getting to superstar level are heard
on “Move To The City,” which is, aah, “bolstered” by the addition
of a horn section and extended solo. Three words: It fails…
miserably.
All of this taken into consideration,
Live Era ’87 – ’93 is still a good album. How can I say that
at this point? Simple: many of the tracks, especially those pulled
from
Appetite For Destruction, show why this band was so exciting
in their glory days. Their stage presence was kind of like playing
with nitroglycerine – and when things were going well, it exploded
into a glorious sounding mess. (I know that almost the entire
Appetite For Destruction album is played live on this set,
but I can’t think of which two tunes didn’t make the cut. Watch;
I’ll probably remember them the moment after I post this
review.)
The face of the music scene has changed significantly since Guns
N’ Roses last graced the public with a full-length release, but
Live Era ’87- ’93, warts and all, suggests that Rose and
crew (or at least whoever is in the band this week; things seem to
change at the drop of a press release) still could have what it
takes to take back their throne.