I saw the trailer for the new Thor movie the other day, and was really surprised that the music for the trailer was Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine. I would have thought Marvel would feature music created specially for the movie in their teaser. But it's the old Guns N' Roses classic from 1987. I then read this on Billboard:
...and wandered off to Youtube to look at the official video for Sweet Child O' Mine (find it here). Look at those views!!!! The video is heading for 1.5 BILLION views. Considering the population of planet earth is 7 billion, that is a lot of views! I notice many of the viewers found the video after seeing the Thor trailer.
Axl Rose has always fascinated me. When he was young he looked so slight and ethereal with his pale skin, strawberry blonde hair, and angelic face. Until you saw him involved in brawls everywhere he went (he even punched David Bowie!), and throwing tantrums on stage. He is known as 'the biggest douchebag in rock', but he is also incredibly talented.
At his prime, his stage presence was electrifying. I have always thought that he was the second best frontman (of a band I mean, not solo artist), after Freddie Mercury, though other people during the same era would probably say Robert Plant. His vocal range is the widest of all singers, wider even than Freddie Mercury and Mariah Carey. I am not fond of his screaming, but there is no escaping his vocal artistry on Patience, or November Rain. And there is no denying his stage presence during his performance with Elton John at the Wembley 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute.
My favourite video of Axl has always been this one. Probably not for the reasons he would like though. It's an awful situation but a giggle always escapes me when I watch it.
He is dressed in white cycling shorts, a jacket covered with huge black feathers, and a leather constable cap, singing in his usual high voice. When he spots a fan with a camera he switches to his natural deep voice (he has a very deep speaking voice), telling security to take the camera away from the fan. When they don't do it quickly enough, he does a giant Scrooge McDuck money dive into the audience, taking his hat off as he does so. The last thing you see is his black boots as he swan-dives into the crowd. His band, for some reason, keeps on playing. It is very cartoony. When he surfaces, he punches a fan, climbs on stage shaking himself like a wet dog, grabs the mike and says 'WELL....Thanks to the lame-ass security. I'm going home', smashes the mike and storms off.
Sadly, after this, there was a huge riot (GNR audiences were often famously on-edge and could get out of hand quickly), destroying the band's equipment.
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