First of all, in Axl Rose, we have one of the worst vocalists in the history of rock- indeed, when I listen to some of these songs (such as "It's So Easy" and "Think About You") I wonder why the hell anybody thought it'd be a good idea to give this twerp the mic. He tries painfully hard to sound like a combination of Bon Scott and Johnny Rotten, and winds up completely missing the point- he doesn't have an ounce of the former's boozehound charisma or the latter's seething menace. Instead, he comes off sounding like the whiney, egotistical, self-righteous blowhard that he is, attacking these songs with the kind of banshee screech usually reserved for drunken frat guy idiots at three in the morning. He's annoying, repetitive, unoriginal, and moronic. Naturally, he thinks he's a genius.

The rest of the band is better- Bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler make for a pretty good rhythm section. Besides, Duff has a really cool name. In addition, Izzy (Stradlin) and Slash are excellent guitarists- they have a way with face melting solos and jackhammer riffs. Too bad they were given such horrible songs to work with.

I mean, what the hell is supposed to be so good about these songs? I don't even like the big 3: "Paradise City" is annoyingly repetitive, with an incredibly dull chorus that spills into excruciatingly cheesy verses. It's about as hard-rockin' as your least favorite arena pop anthem, and its dated just as well (i.e., horribly). "Welcome To The Jungle" fares a bit better: Axl's lyrics are pure bad boy posturing, but the riff is cool and there's some real attitude to the whole thing. Still, it isn't that hard rock masterpiece that some see it as. And if you ask me, "Sweet Child O' Mine" is an unbelievably overrated power ballad with a dull melody and some painfully insincere vocals.

Those three tracks set the template- this album is full of labored, unoriginal sleaze rock ("Mr. Brownstone," "Nightrain"), dull hard rock workouts ("It's So Easy," whose casual misogyny is more unintentionally funny than offensive), egotistical posturing ("Out Ta Get Me"), and cheesy, laughably insincere balladry ("Think About You" is excruciating where "Sweet Child O' Mine" is merely annoying). "You're Crazy" is pure fake sleaze, and "Anything Goes" is instantly forgettable.

There are a few decent songs here- "My Michelle" is suitably tough and funky, and "Rocket Queen" has an okay chorus, even though those annoying sexual moans during the instrumental break make want to kill somebody. Still, even the best moments here are little more than mediocre. Plus, the whole thing has this really glitzy 80s production that's just irritating as hell. This is absolute crap.
First of all, in Axl Rose, we have one of the worst vocalists in the history of rock- indeed, when I listen to some of these songs (such as "It's So Easy" and "Think About You") I wonder why the hell anybody thought it'd be a good idea to give this twerp the mic. He tries painfully hard to sound like a combination of Bon Scott and Johnny Rotten, and winds up completely missing the point- he doesn't have an ounce of the former's boozehound charisma or the latter's seething menace. Instead, he comes off sounding like the whiney, egotistical, self-righteous blowhard that he is, attacking these songs with the kind of banshee screech usually reserved for drunken frat guy idiots at three in the morning. He's annoying, repetitive, unoriginal, and moronic. Naturally, he thinks he's a genius. The rest of the band is better- Bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler make for a pretty good rhythm section. Besides, Duff has a really cool name. In addition, Izzy (Stradlin) and Slash are excellent guitarists- they have a way with face melting solos and jackhammer riffs. Too bad they were given such horrible songs to work with. I mean, what the hell is supposed to be so good about these songs? I don't even like the big 3: "Paradise City" is annoyingly repetitive, with an incredibly dull chorus that spills into excruciatingly cheesy verses. It's about as hard-rockin' as your least favorite arena pop anthem, and its dated just as well (i. e., horribly). "Welcome To The Jungle" fares a bit better: Axl's lyrics are pure bad boy posturing, but the riff is cool and there's some real attitude to the whole thing. Still, it isn't that hard rock masterpiece that some see it as. And if you ask me, "Sweet Child O' Mine" is an unbelievably overrated power ballad with a dull melody and some painfully insincere vocals. Those three tracks set the template- this album is full of labored, unoriginal sleaze rock ("Mr. Brownstone," "Nightrain"), dull hard rock workouts ("It's So Easy," whose casual misogyny is more unintentionally funny than offensive), egotistical posturing ("Out Ta Get Me"), and cheesy, laughably insincere balladry ("Think About You" is excruciating where "Sweet Child O' Mine" is merely annoying). "You're Crazy" is pure fake sleaze, and "Anything Goes" is instantly forgettable. There are a few decent songs here- "My Michelle" is suitably tough and funky, and "Rocket Queen" has an okay chorus, even though those annoying sexual moans during the instrumental break make want to kill somebody. Still, even the best moments here are little more than mediocre. Plus, the whole thing has this really glitzy 80s production that's just irritating as hell. This is absolute crap.