"The Spaghetti Incident?" is an album of song covers by Guns N' Roses recorded from the early '90s line up. The songs consist of cover versions of punk and rock songs of the late seventies and early eighties.
The album's title is most likely a reference to the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, in which the so-called "Noodle Incident" is mentioned in several strips, but never fully explained. The "Noodle Incident" is presumably one of Calvin's mischievous classroom antics, but the actual event is never shown or described. This lack of detail or explanation would account for the question mark in the album's title. Another possible inspiration for the title might well be the film "The Linguini Incident", starring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette, which was released in 1991.
Many of the tracks were recorded with original Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin during the Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II sessions. Those tracks were previously intended to be included in a combined "Use Your Illusion" album, consisting of three (or possibly even four) discs -- instead of the two separate discs they ended up being.
The Band At 1993:
Axl Rose: Lead Vocals, Keyboards
Slash: Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Duff McKagan: Bass and Lead Vocals
Gilby Clarke: Rhythm Guitar
Dizzy Reed: Piano, Keyboards
Matt Sorum: Drums
--- The Review Of The Spaghetti Incident? by Guns N' Roses---
"Since I Don't Have You" is a relaxing start to the album with some blusey feels on the guitar with that great riff by Slash at the start. This song was originally recorded by "The Skyliners" in 1958 so this is one ancient song getting the GNR treatment. The song is very consistant throughout with some excellent vocals and the guitars are very strong here. I think that this cover couldn't have been constructed any better than this and I really like this song with it's relaxing body to it's powering, swinging ending with some catchy licks and vocals. An excellent song and a great start to the album.
"New Rose" puts us to the hard rock side of the album with some driving drums lead by the toms at the start and some fuzzy strong bass lines. This kind of song reminds me of the "Appetite For Destruction" era but they haven't written it, this was written by "The Damned" in 1977. The guitars are very crunched and demanding here and it shows the power of the song. The vocals are very cheeky and very jumpy which shows out the catchiness of the song and the ending breaks down to some frantic drumming and suddenly crashes down instantly. A very enjoyable song to get yourself up and feel energised.
"Down On The Farm" is another driving and demanding song originally recorded by "The UK Subs" in 1980. It has very catchy and dark bass line at the satrt and then some powerful guitar riffs to go with it. The vocals are very laid back but it really suits the style well. The song is very consistant of keeping your attention to with its catchy lyrics and some excellent guitaring. It seems such like an original GNR song but it really isn't.
"Human Being" still sets us in the driving position of hard rock here with some piano included for the first time in this album to create that jumping feeling. The song was originally recorded by "The New York Dolls" in 1974. The vocals are very powerful and typical of Axl's voice and the backing vocals are also great as well. The music again has that impact of sharpness of pure Hard Rock. The guitar solo is typical Slash style and he has a great impact on this song. The song tends to be longer than it should be but the ending is rather random when some kazoo's come in with the main riff but it really has that slick touch which ends it perfectly.
"Raw Power" was written by "Iggy And The Stooges" in 1973. This is a frantic song and is sung mostly by Duff. The guitaring is very power chorded based and shows the first sign of Punk in the album. The song has it's catchy hooks with it's fast vocals and some great riffs. The solo mainly goes along with the rhythm guitar but has more of the emphasis on it which is such a great touch on it. A demanding song and covered superbly.
"Ain't It Fun" is back on the slow side of Rock but is still a hard hitter on the choruses. The starting riff is very interesting when you hear it as it is done so well and it keeps your attention. The vocals here are very different as there are 3 people singing here and they all have different styles. The song has it's same logic all the way through and it tends to bore you after a few listens but still is a good song. This song was originally recorded by "The Dead Boys" in 1978.
"Buick Makane/Big Dumb Sex" was recorded by "T. Rex" in 1973 for Buick Makane and Big Dumb Sex was recorded by "Soundgarden" in 1989. This is a very brief song and it has a very basic riff but the effects used for it is really cool and has a good impact on the song. You can really hear the Soundgarden sound here instead of GNR for the first time. The overall logic here of the music and vocals are great and very catchy, the solo is the highlight here with some perfect wah-wah usage. This is an excellent song and the ending is great with Axl Rose singing powerfully "I know what your doing/I'm gonna ***-***-***-*** you!". It is such a catchy line and a great end to the song.
"Hair Of The Dog" was written by "Nazerath" in 1975. It has a great start with some drumming that has a hook on it with some cowbell usage and a powering fill. The guitaring is melodic based on alternating on the 3 low strings, and it really creates a massive hook on it. The vocals are really great here and this song really does sound like a GNR song. The guitar solo is amazing with using a voice-box perfectly and adds on the effective of hooking the catchiness of the song. I would say this is one of the best on the album.
"Attitude" is such a short song not even making 1:30. The main soul of this song is just to make a mosh pit really with some punky riffs and some jumpy vocals by Duff. It is another song with a catch but due to the druation of the song, it lasts very little but the song lasts good while it did. It was written originally by "The Misfits" in 1980.
"Black Leather" puts us back to the Hark Rock side of the album with telling straight away by the powering riffs on the guitar and the warping palm muting and the mesmerizing humming at the background. The song has a dark atmosphere mostly but is broken down at times when it lightens up at the pre-choruses. The vocals are once again catchy with the repeating words "Black Leather". This song is one of the highlights as it is such a demanding song it really keeps you occupied. The song was written by "Steve Jones/The Sex Pistols" in 1980.
"You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory" is once again decicated to Johnny Thunders by Duff as he does most of the music here and does all the singing. He puts a lot of emotion into this song with some swaying guitaring on the acoustic and his vocals are very drunk but there is a spark there that you can relate to. The music is beautiful compared to the recent songs. This is another great song that does show the talents of Duff McKagan.
"I Don't Care About You" is another short song at 2:03 with a hidden track after it. This was written by "Fear" in 1982. This song is just a kind of random song but it is really catchy with repeating the powerful lines on the chorus and the verses are very demanding. It is such a catchy song but is not a friendly song to listen to but even so, it's enjoyable.
"Look At Your Game Girl" is the hidden track in Track 12 after a 16 second pause. This was written by Charles Manson. This is an acoustic song with some acoustic guitaring and some nice relaxing percussion. Axl's vocals are actually one of his best performances on this song. It has a lot of emotion and he sings properly on here. It is a nice relaxing break from the hard rock before and is a stellar song.
--- The Overview ---
Ratings:
1. Since I Don't Have You - 4.5/5
2. New Rose - 3.75/5
3. Down On The Farm - 5/5
4. Human Being - 4.25/5
5. Raw Power - 4.25/5
6. Ain't It Fun - 3.5/5
7. Buick Makane/Big Dumb Sex - 4.5/5
8. Hair Of The Dog - 5/5
9. Attitude - 4/5
10. Black Leather - 5/5
11. You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory - 4.5/5
12. I Don't Care About You - 3.75/5
Look At Your Game Girl - 4.5/5
This album is so underrated by critics and some fans as well as it doesn't contain any original material. If you put this album's logic as an actual GNR new material album, this album is superb and it still is even when it is just songs that cover other band's songs. There is definitely great music here that GNR show so much talent and their constructive side is deeply shown here by doing each song by their rules and they sound better or totally different to the original. This album is such a difficult one to take in if you are such a fussy listener who only listen to "Real Band Albums" but if you actually give this a chance and think of it as GNR material (and every song actually does sound like a GNR song since how good they are to turn a song that other's write into their own), it is such a strong album with some amazing work.
Final Rating: 4/5 (A High 4 Rating)
