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Album Details

• Artist: Guns N' Roses
• Album: The Spaghetti Incident?
• Label: Geffen
• Year of Release: 1993
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2013-03-28

Well before Metallica's Garage Inc., Guns and Roses did their take on their own influences. The result is The Spaghetti Incident?. The vast majority of the material here was originally from punk rock bands, and the band manages to truly make all of the cuts their own. This disc was not overly well-received, but really is a lot of fun. It can be considered a hidden gem in the band's catalog. A word of warning, though, much of the lyrical content here is rather explicit.

They open the set with “Since I Don't Have You.” A G'N'R take on a classic old '50's rock and roll sound, this is good fun. The band pulls off a classic punk sound “New Rose,” with the percussive intro feeling much like their contribution to the “Terminator 2” Soundtrack. This comes across appropriately raw. “Down on the Farm” is high energy and quite potent. The vocal performance here really makes the cut. Rose actually manages to sound British on this one.

“Human Being” is a straightforward stripped down rocker brought to life by the band. It gets pretty raucous at points, especially the outro. “Raw Power” is more raw-edged Rock N Roses made special by Slash's guitar work. I have to confess to being a big Dead Boys fans, so I was looking forward to the next tune, “Ain’t It Fun.” One of the best cuts on the disc, this Dead Boys cover is just plain brilliant, dark and potent.

“Buick Makane” has a cool texture, but truly it is Slash and Axl who elevate this to be one of the best cuts on the album. “Hair of the Dog” is another the band scorches on, but it really would be a hard one to do a bad take on. The talk box section is quite cool. A little snippet of "Day Tripper" is added to end the number. “Attitude” is raw and energetic, but a bit boring.

The song entitled “Black Leather” is another that feels a bit lacking, Slash's guitar playing is the only real redeeming factor. “You Can't Put Your Arms around a Memory” is a slower, fairly raw, and punky cut. It is a nice change of pace, but not overly special. “I Don't Care” is a frantically fast one, and definitely fun in a punk way.

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