Guns N’Roses

MUSIC
Young employs megaphone
echoes and leans on the backing
vocalists to pile on sarcasm
via soulful chants of company
names. “Get in line,” he repeatedly
yells at the close amidst
a commotion of mooing cows,
completing a pull-no-punches
metaphor that equates mindless
shoppers with herded cattle.
On other occasions, Young’s
lyrics and his group’s responses
channel all that needs to be
expressed. Paying close attention
to phrasing, the bandleader
inserts Chevron as the subject
of the dark, merciless “Vampire
Blues”—Young’s studio support
cast whispering the conglomerate’s
name and leaving no doubt
about the identity of the blood
the narrator greedily sucks from
the earth. “After the Gold Rush”
also receives a minor update
with choral arrangements, yet
it’s a line Young wrote decades
ago and updated for modern
times—“Look at mother nature
on the run/In the 21st century”—
that lingers both as a cautionary
eulogy and last-ditch protest.
Ever the eternal optimist
and dream-prone hippie, Young
knows the way out of the mess,
even if the solution requires a
collective effort that seems more
unlikely with each passing day.
The answer: “Love and Only
Love,” a credo he and the Promise
of the Real embrace and reiterate,
refusing to stop for a half
hour as they spread the message
and play like the future of
every living organism depends
on it. —Bob Gendron
48 TONE AUDIO NO.78
©Photo by Julie Gardner
AUGUST 2016 49