We've Got You Covered
Taken By Trees takes on Guns N' Roses.
Barring some catastrophic mishap, Axl Rose will finally release the nearly two-decade opus known as Chinese Democracy. This album will be the first original material Guns N’ Roses has released since 1991. I know you probably want to get technical and say that this installment isn’t actually Guns N’ Roses – and you would be correct in this assessment – but the name is the same, so actually we’re both right. This release excites me for two reasons - the first being that I love Guns N’ Roses. In fact, many nights have been spent with me defending my stance that Appetite for Destruction is the best debut album ever. The second (and perhaps more important) reason is that I love train wrecks, and I see no way that this will be anything but a train wreck. But we need to look back at GNR before we look forward - because at one time they were the biggest band on the planet.
A large part of their success came from their killer hit “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” Number 196 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine” features one of the most unforgettable guitar riffs that rock music has laid ears upon – which shouldn’t be surprising since Slash is, for all intents and purposes, a bad ass.
Taken By Trees is the newest project from former Concretes front woman Victoria Bergsman. If you’ve never heard The Concretes, you may recognize Victoria’s voice as the female in Peter, Bjorn and John’s hit “Young Folks.” Ironically, both John and Bjorn are in Taken By Trees (I’m assuming the Trees did not feel like kidnapping Peter). Victoria takes the memorable guitar of “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and turns it into a less thrashing piano serenade. You could also take a guess (and be right) that she doesn’t exactly sound much like Axl.
Posted by Wes Soltis on Nov 17, 2008 @ 7:00 am
