Guns And Roses - W. Axl Rose : The Unauthorised Biography

  by Aaron Brown

published: 23 / 7 / 2007

intro

Aaron Brown enjoys Mick Wall's meticulously researched new book on Guns 'n' Roses' Axl Rose, but finds him only scratching the surface of the controversial rocker's enigmatic personality

Trying to pin down Axl Rose in any shape or form is quite impossible, and Mick Wall’s 'W. Axl Rose' only scratches the surface of the enigma that Rose is. Meticulously researched, Wall has charted Rose’s rise from his humble beginnings as Indiana native and juvenile delinquent William Bailey to one of the world's most controversial figures in music. From interviews with former friends, band mates and music industry insiders, Wall has managed to paint a picture of a very troubled man. Rose himself blames his erratic behaviour on his childhood which was anything but perfect. Rose’s discovery through regressive therapy that he was abused by his estranged father is harrowingly portrayed. One thing that is clear in the book is that Wall feels some sympathy for Rose, and in each circumstance , whether it being him arrested for assault or spousal abuse, tries to balance out the ill feeling many people have towards him. The book drifts helplessly in places off the subject of Rose to the band that made him, and seems be more akin to Wall’s warts and all other biography, 'Guns N’ Roses: The Most Dangerous in the World'. To be fair this cannot be helped as really, you cannot have Axl Rose without mentioning Slash, Duff, Izzy etc. Wall charts the band's story from early beginnings as a garage band to stadium filling rock behemoths. The GN’R story is told through various bands charting the eventual breakdown and demise of one the world’s greatest groups. Wall himself, the subject of Rose’s music press tirade ‘Get In the Ring’, in which he lambasted the rock press for "printing lies and starting controversy", makes no bones about the fact he knows Axl will never have him round for tea. What is apparent, in the later chapters, it the joke that the current revolving line up of Guns N’Roses is. Three important questions remain in the world. Will there ever be a cure for cancer? When will Liverpool win the league again and when will 'Chinese Democracy' be finally released ?