"The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is composed of covers of older songs mostly in the punk rock and hard rock genres.[1]"The Spaghetti Incident?" is the only studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke, who replaced original Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin (some of Stradlin's parts are on the album) during the band's Use Your Illusion tour in 1991, as well as the last album to feature guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum, following their departures in 1996 and 1997, respectively. It is also their final album to date featuring longtime producer Mike Clink.
It is the only Guns N' Roses album release not backed by a tour.[3] Although generally well received critically, it is the band's worst-selling studio album, having sold one million copies in the United States by 2018.[4]
Background
Initially, the band planned to release an EP of covers in 1992 or 1993, but decided to record a full album.[3]
"To sort of alleviate the pressure of being in the studio, and trying to get the new songs recorded, and all the other fuckin' barrage of fuckin' hassles that go into making a record, we would just get together and jam on old songs, to sort of loosen up. And we ended up recording four songs. And we thought this would make a great EP… So we kept the four songs, finished Use Your Illusions, went out on the road. Then, somewhere along the line, we started recording more of them – in between gigs and stuff – and, at the very end of it, we had 13 songs." – Slash[5]
Many of the tracks were recorded during the same sessions as the Illusions albums, which were intended to produce three or four albums.[6] Izzy Stradlin's guitar parts were reportedly re-recorded entirely by Gilby Clarke.[7][8][lower-alpha 1] Slash described the recording as "spontaneous and unpainted",[8] and recording the songs served as "a purpose to alleviate the pressure of making the Illusions records".[7] The band wanted to increase the profile of some of their favorite bands and help them financially via royalties with the tracklist selection, and considered naming the album "Pension Fund".[4]
During the sessions, the band recorded instrumental tracks for "Beer and a Cigarette", originally by Hanoi Rocks. The vocals were not recorded and the song was left off the record because the band did not want songwriter Andy McCoy to receive money.[11][12] The band also did an instrumental version of "Down on the Street" by The Stooges. This too went unreleased.[13]
Title
The title references an incident Steven Adler had in 1989 while the band was temporarily staying at an apartment in Chicago. Adler stored his drugs in a refrigerator next to the band's takeout containers, which contained Italian food. McKagan explained that Adler's code word for his stash was 'spaghetti'. In his lawsuit against the band, Adler's lawyer asked the band to "tell us about the spaghetti incident," which the band found amusing and used as the title of the album.[14]
Controversy
The album includes a hidden track, a cover of "Look at Your Game, Girl", originally by cult leader Charles Manson.[15] The track was kept secret and left off advance tapes sent to reviewers.[15] The inclusion of the song caused controversy, with law enforcement and victims' rights groups expressing outrage.[16][17] Rose stated "...we wanted to downplay it. We don't give any credit to Charles Manson on the album". Label president David Geffen commented: "[If] Rose had realized how offensive people would find this, he would not have ever recorded this song."[18] Slash mentioned that the song was "done with naive and innocent black humor on our part".[16] Rose stated he would donate all performance royalties from the song to a nonprofit environmental organization.[19][18] The band was going to remove the song before learning that royalties would be donated to the son of one of Manson's victims.[16][20] Geffen Records stated their share of royalties would be donated to the Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau.[16]
Live performances
Although Guns N' Roses never toured in support of "The Spaghetti Incident?", some of the songs were performed live prior to its release. The first track, "Since I Don't Have You", was performed a few times as an intro to songs "Sweet Child o' Mine" or "Paradise City" in 1992 and 1993. "Down on the Farm" was performed once in its full length during the 1990 performance in the Farm Aid IV show, played a few times during the Chinese Democracy Tour in 2006 and most recently played during their 2023 World Tour, including their headline slot at The Glastonbury Festival, 24th June 2023 – a nod to literally performing on a farm.[21] The band performed "Hair of the Dog" once in 1988, and again in 1990, during the only known "The Gak" (band featuring members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Skid Row) performance. "Attitude" was performed frequently during the Use Your Illusion Tour and the Not in This Lifetime... Tour and Duff still plays it in Loaded and his solo career. Other songs played live by Duff McKagan are "New Rose", "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" and "Raw Power".
The other songs were never played live by Guns N' Roses, but might have been played by some of the members' side projects, like Matt Sorum's supergroup Camp Freddy, that plays cover versions of famous songs, as well as Neurotic Outsiders, the supergroup Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum were part of. Guns N' Roses played "Attitude" and - for the first time - "Raw Power" live in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in April 2014 with Duff McKagan on vocals.[22] "Raw Power" and "New Rose" were played during the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.
"The Spaghetti Incident?" debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, selling about 190,000 albums in its first week of release, significantly fewer than their previous releases.[32] The album was certified platinum by RIAA on January 26, 1994.[33]
In his retrospective review for AllMusic, music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that, "As punk albums go, "The Spaghetti Incident?" lacks righteous anger and rage. As Guns N' Roses albums go, it's a complete delight, returning to the ferocious, hard-rocking days of Appetite for Destruction."[2]
Duff McKagan– bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, lead vocals on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory", "New Rose" and "Attitude", co-lead vocals on "Raw Power", drums on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory", production
Matt Sorum– drums, percussion on "Hair of the Dog", backing vocals on "Human Being" and "Attitude"
Dizzy Reed– keyboards, piano on "Since I Don't Have You", percussion on "Look at Your Game Girl", backing vocals on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
↑ Clarke later disputed the claim, stating "Izzy didn't play on a lot of them, so I got to just put my parts on songs that were recorded. So it was a little bit of both."[4]
1 2 Tegnér, Anders (November 1993). "Guns N' Roses: Okej interview". Okej; Here Today, Gone to Hell. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
↑ "Review: 'The Spaghetti Incident?'". Entertainment Weekly. New York. November 26, 1993. pp.62–3. The Spaghetti Incident? scales everything back a notch ... Guns 'N' Roses aims to prove it doesn't need two padded CDs, a horn section and a bevy of backup singers to make a joyful racket...
↑ "Review: 'The Spaghetti Incident?'". NME. London: 31. November 27, 1993. ...a bizarre mixture of swagger, nihilism and bad attitood which is as funny as it is exhilarating...
↑ "Review: 'The Spaghetti Incident?'". Q. London: 92. February 1994. ...relatively faithful cover versions...
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