You're not the only one

I've just been sat at my desk listening to the genius of "Appetite for Destruction" by G'n'f'n'R.

Superb.

It's made me think of the video for "November Rain". I don't really like this song all that much. By this point a lot of the rawness that made them great has gone, to be replaced by Axl's delusions of grandeur and his overuse of a grand piano. The video is nothing short of magnificent though...

Like all the best videos, this one tells a story.... It tells us of Axl Rose and his model girlfriend Stephanie Seymour getting married, having a party, and living out their lives together in bliss until their tragic, tearful deaths. The band were so keen on getting everything just right, that they paid for the video themselves:

- wedding dress -> $8,000
- specially constructed coffin -> $8,000
- renting a symphony orchestra -> $25,000
- specially constructed chapel -> $150,000
- total cost of video -> $1.5m +

So far, so ridiculously overblown. Axl in particular looks a bit blowdryed - he's not a handsome man, bless him, but he looks like he's made a real effort for his special day.

The best bit by miles, and the reason for bringing this up in the first place, is the solo. In the middle of the ceremony, Slash stands up and walks out of the chapel. The rest of the guests are all dressed up, but Slash is wearing his customary leathers, denim and a top hat (naturally). He throws open the doors and walks out into the middle of a desert (as you do). He walks until he is a little way in front of the church, and then he launches into an EPIC, widescreen guitar solo (the longest ever in a top 10 single and voted number 6 in the 100 greatest guitar solos by the readers of Guitar World Magazine, fact fans!)

Legend.

They were a brilliant band once. Now they have a guitarist called Buckethead who, yup, wears a bucket on his head all the time....

I hate to shatter any illusions you may have had, but I don't think Axl and Stephanie Seymour lasted the distance either, so I guess they never got to use those custom made coffins after all. Still. If the song teaches us anything at all, it teaches us that nothing lasts forever, even cold november rain.

ho hum.