Hollywood Rose - Roots of Guns N' Roses

[GypsySoul]

RollingStone (mag)>>Issue 952/953>>July 8-22, 2004

(REVIEW / REISSUES & ANTHOLOGIES)
First Bloom
Five rough early demos by Axl Rose?s pre-G n? R band - hidden in this cash-in release - show his appetite for stardom.  By Greg Kot
Photo credit: Neil Zlozower

Whatta pistol: Rose in 1987, in full biker leather and hair spray

Photo credit: Dean Clark

Growing thorns: Axl (center) with Hollywood Rose

HOLLYWOOD ROSE / The Roots of Guns n? Roses / Deadline Music * * (two stars rating)

On the first song of this 1984 demo tape, the erstwhile William Bailey of Lafayette, Indiana - soon to be world famous for raising his goblet of rock as W. Axl Rose - not only demonstrates he?s a first-rate screamer but also a prophet: ?I?m doing nothing on borrowed time .../I make my living killing time.?

Rose has become better known in the last decade for what he hasn?t done: most notably, completing the still-unreleased album Chinese Democracy. But the five songs documented on The Roots of Guns n? Roses remind us why Axl once mattered: an ill wind from the Midwest, ripping up the Sunset Strip.  Straddling the fence between punk and glam, in scarves and leather, Rose and his fellow Indiana expatriate Izzy Stradlin put together the band that would eventually morph into the more spectacular, and star-crossed, Guns n? Roses.

The original demos on this album are thrillingly underproduced, from an outfit that?s more about outlaw kicks than the MTV-courting spectacle of G n? R.  With their hyperventilating tempos and staccato guitars, ?Killing Time? and ?Shadow of Your Love? have more in common with L.A. punks the Germs than with Iron Maiden.  ?Anything Goes? runs on spite even as Rose fights for his right to be as kinky as he wants to be.  ?Rocker? ends with Rose out-cackling the Wicked Witch of the West - or was that Bon Scott? - as she melts down in The Wizard of Oz. The self-evident ?Reckless Life? revs up like a Harley, then plunges into traffic with blinders on.  ?Don?t need your advice,? Rose screams as if he?s kissing off Lafayette for the final time.

The only problem with these demos - Hollywood?s answer to the Sex Pistols? infamous Spunk bootleg - is that they weren?t left alone.  Instead, gratuitous remixes and overdubs turn a potentially classic nineteen-minute EP into a bloated fifty-nine-minute cash-in.  Sunset Strip semicelebrity Tracii Guns lays on some extra guitar, and ex-Cinderella drummer Fred Coury beefs up - what else? - the kick drum on a handful of tracks.  All they do is magnify just how brilliant the raw and still-squirming originals remain.
end

[KeVoRkIaN]

Kind of how I felt the remixes might be on this one.  There really wasn't any more point to them.  Nice to hear the original demos are smoking though!!! Thanks for posting

[estranged88]

score this sounds awesome!

whats the release date on this thing anyways? i thought it was supposed to come out next week but i guesse not anymore.

Its going to be so incredible to go out and buy a CD with Axl sining on it with TWO songs ive never heard before... bitchin

[tHeElEcTrIcSiNtAr]

I thought it came out on June 22.  

[NickNasty]

I'd think the RS guy got an advance promo copy to review....The demos should sound great, but I agree that the multiple remixes are a bit unecessary..wouldve been better to just release an EP, still you know I'll be buying this next week!

[Izzy]

Does Rolling Stone get more idiotic by the hour?

How can u complain about a bonus track?? Its a bonus - u've already got the untouched originals to play with, they would have prefered to get less

They praise the original songs - then give it 2 stars?

Weird

[Will]

Yeah 2 stars that sounds fair...lol

I hate to complain but is there a way we could get the second pic without a huge copyright in the middle of it?
Who is Dean Clark anyway? I pre-ordered that baby a few months ago...

[Izzy]

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?searchtype=cdartisttitle&searchstring=hollywood+rose&page=search&Go.x=26&Go.y=13

Yey! No importing for me!

[Walk]

They gave 4 stars to Contracrap, so maybe stars are a rating of lameness now?  

[Jizzo]

They gave 4 stars to Contracrap, so maybe stars are a rating of lameness now?  

Yeah thats exactly it

I think this guy would of rated it higher if it only had 5 tracks

[SLCPUNK]

Cool, I'm interested now in picking this up.

[axls#2]

anybody know or have any idea how big of a distribution this thing is gonna be? I wouldn't think it would be a major release, so it might be missing in alot of record stores, and i live in a very rural area, I guess i may have to order it online.

[Will]

Amazon.com is your best bet my friend! I live in a rural area as well and I always order everything online (even my washing machine, my widescreen TV, etc.)...

[Izzy]

anybody know or have any idea how big of a distribution this thing is gonna be? I wouldn't think it would be a major release, so it might be missing in alot of record stores, and i live in a very rural area, I guess i may have to order it online.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?searchtype=cdartisttitle&searchstring=hollywood+rose&page=search&Go.x=26&Go.y=13

Play's got it too - and unlike amazon their stuff actually arrives

[GNR_Green]

I ordered mine a week ago, I like the sound of this CD a lot.  As has been said, RS must be in a world of their own.  They have a go at a cd due to it having bonus tracks??  Don't tell me, they liked the Live like a Suicide part of Lies but thought Patience should be dropped???

[badintentions]

and if so, do you guys think it will be available at target and places like that? target sucks but is the only place still open when i get out of work.

[DemocracyRose]

Yes, it should be out 22nd june....

I dont know what target is???

[AC]

I ordered mine from Amazon.ca. It will be delivered to me tomorrow.

AA

[AxlVedder]

Our Music Center, in the Hylan Plaza here in Staten Island, NY got it in today. I don't know how many copies they have left, but I picked one up. If you live in these parts head over there.

It's pretty cool to hear, very raw sounding, but cool none-the-less. I'm listening to it as we speak, and I recommend picking it up.

There is nothing to really say about it, other than what is above. It was worth the 15 bucks.

Now if only we can get the new stuff....

[Will]

I pre-ordered mine a long time ago. I should get it soon. I don't think it will be available at Target but you can give it a shot. I always order everything online though.