Here Today... Gone To Hell!

ok... i was reading some of the interviews in the HTGTH articles section the other night

Axl made some comment about how the sound on AFD was not 'a fluke'... kind of saying that the 'raw' sound that everyone talks about was achieved deliberately...

anyhow, I thought that was pretty interesting...
because usually when GN'R fans think about AFD what comes to mind is un-produced (sorta)

ok... i pulled 'em up... here are the article excerpts


from: The Rolling Stone Interview With Axl Rose
by Del James
Rolling Stone, August 1989

D: Did you ever believe (AFD) had a real chance to sell 9 million copies?

A: No, but it was like this: I thought about trying to sell more records than Boston's first album. I always thought that and never let up. Everything was directed at trying to achieve the sales without sacrificing the credibility of our music. We worked real hard to sell this many records. The album wasn't just a fluke. Maybe Appetite will be the only good album we make, but it wasn't just a fluke.

from: Stick To Your Guns by Mick Wall
Kerrang, 21st and 28th of April 1990

K : How conscious are you of the role as leaders, in terms of your position - both critically and commercially - at the forefront of modern rock music?

A : It?s been.....shown to me in a lot of ways. I didn?t want to accept the responsibility of it really, even though I was trying, but I still was reluctant. Now I?m kind of into it.  Because it?s like, you have a choice, man, you can grow or die. We have to do it - we have to grow. If we don?t grow, we die. We can?t do the same sludge forever. I?m not Paul Stanley, man ! I can?t fuckin? play sludge, man, for fuckin? 20 years. Sludge, man. It?s sludge rock. That?s one of the reasons why 1989 kinda got written off.

We had to find a whole new way of working together. Everybody got successful and it changed things, of course it did. Everybody had the dream, when they got successful they could do what they want, right? That turns into Slash bringing in eight songs ! It?s never been done before, Slash bringing in a song first and me writing words to it. I?ve done it twice with him before and we didn?t use either of those songs, out of Slash?s choice. Now he?s got eight of ?em that I gotta write words to! They?re bad-assed songs, too.

I was working on, like, writing these ballads that I feel have really rich tapestries and stuff, and making sure each note, in effect, is right. Cos whether I?m using a lot of instrumentation and stuff or not, I?ll still write with minimalism. But it has to be right; it has to be the right note and it has to be held the right way, and it has to have the right effect, do you know what I mean?

K : I didn?t know you were such a perfectionist.

A : What people don?t understand is there was a perfectionist attitude to ?Appetite..?. There was a definite plan to that. We could have made it all smooth and polished. We went and did test tracks with different people and they came out smooth and polished. We did some stuff with Spencer Proffer and Geffen records said it was too fuckin? radio. That?s why we went with Mike Clink, we went for a raw sound because it just didn?t gel having it too tight and concise. We knew what we were doing, and we knew this : we know the way we are onstage, and the only way to capture that energy on the record, is by making it somewhat live, doing the bass, the drums and the rhythm guitar at the same time. Getting the best track, having it a bit faster than you play it live, so that brings some energy into it. Adding lots of vocal parts, and overdubs with the guitar. Adding more music to capture....because Guns N? Roses onstage, man, can be out to lunch! But it?s like, you know, visually, we?re all over the place and you don?t know what to expect. How do you get that on a record? That?s the thing. That?s why recording is my favourite thing, because it?s like painting a picture. You start out with a shadow, or an idea, and you come up with something and it?s a shadow of that. You might like it better. It?s still not exactly what you pictured in your head. But you go into the studio and add all these things and you come up with something you didn?t even expect. Slash will do, like, one slow little guitar fill that adds a while different mood that you didn?t expect. That?s what I love. It?s like you?re doing a painting and you go away and come back and it?s different. You allow different shadings to creep in and then you go, ? Wow, I got a whole different effect on this that?s even heavier than what I pictured. I don?t know quite what I?m onto, but I?m on it, you know? ?

thanks to HTGTH for the Articles

There's a bit more in there than just directly about the production or on AFD... but I loved the part where he talked about getting "every note right" and how recording is his favorite thing!  
I had to laugh with Tommy's recent comments on CD in mind.  ;D