Guns N' Roses Spaghetti Incident? CD

THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? is part of the Geffen Goldline Series.

The last official studio recording of the 1990s for Guns N' Roses was 1993's THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT?. This collection of mostly punk covers was released at a time when G N' R was reeling from both internal dissension (founding member Izzy Stradlin left after the release of USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II) and the great grunge explosion of 1991 that made the band seem passe. Rather than jumping on any bandwagons, the California quintet instead paid homage to heroes overlooked by kids caught up in buying the right kind of flannel.

Leading the charge was bassist Duff McKagan (who'd played with almost 30 Seattle bands including the Fartz and Fastbacks), G N' R recorded scorching covers of songs by Fear ("I Don't Care About You"), the New York Dolls ("Human Being"), and the Damned ("New Rose"). New guitarist Gilby Clarke provided a solid foil for Slash as Axl Rose crooned doo-wop (The Skyliner's "Since I Don't Have You") and sang with a faux British accent (UK Subs' "Down on the Farm"). Being Guns N' Roses meant controversy was never far behind and this time around the boys were criticized for including a hidden cover of Charles Manson's "Look at Your Game Girl."

Geffen Goldline

Producers: Mike Clink, Guns N' Roses, Duff McKagan, Jim Mitchell.

Guns N' Roses: W. Axl Rose (vocals, keyboards); Duff McKagan (guitar, bass, drums, background vocals); Slash (guitar, background vocals); Gilby Clarke (guitar); Dizzy Reed (keyboards, background vocals); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Michael Monroe (vocals); Mike Staggs, Richard Duguay, Carlos Booy (guitar); Mike Fasano (percussion); Eddie Huletz, Rikki Rachtman, S.C. Bailey, Blake Stanton, Eric Mills (background vocals).

Rolling Stone (12/9/93, p.65) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...In THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT?, an album of mostly punky cover versions of drunk-rock classics, Guns N' Roses reassert their roots in hard-edged rock & roll-- some punk rock, some not..."
Spin (1/27/94, p.67) - "...demonstrates GNR's conviction that early -'70s metal and its sworn enemy, punk rock, were essentially the same beast, connected through glam and testosterone...."
Entertainment Weekly (11/26/93, pp.62-63) - "...THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? scales everything back a notch....Guns 'N' Roses aims to prove it doesn't need two padded CDs, a horn section and a bevy of backup singers to make a joyful racket..." - Rating: A-
Q (2/94, p.92) - 3 Stars - Good - "...relatively faithful cover versions...."
Musician (1/94, p.87) - "...[THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT?] is a good album for ambivalent G'N'R fans....kudos then for being faithful to the spirit of the originals..."
NME (Magazine) (11/27/93, p.31) - (7) - Very Good - "...a bizarre mixture of swagger, nihilism and bad attitood which is as funny as it is exhilarating..."