“The Spaghetti Incident?” – Guns N’ Roses

Producer: Mike Clink

Released: November 23, 1993

Rating: ***

Albums of this sort rarely do very well. In 1993 when this album was released, few bands were releasing an album of cover tunes, so at the time it seemed like a cool concept. Years later, almost every 80’s hair band you can think of sustained life by recording albums like “The Spaghetti Incident?”. Following the incredibly lengthy ( over 2 years) Use Your Illusion Tour, it was unlikely that Guns N’ Roses would be entering a studio to record a new album any time soon. Rather than make fans wait, the band released this album of cover tunes. Little did fans know that this would be the last album that anything resembling the original line-up would release.

Where Guns N’ Roses gets an “A” is in song selection. Most albums of this sort contain some fairly “obvious” tunes. Obvious because they sound like something you’d expect the band to play or because they’ve been covered a hundred times by a hundred different bands. Most often the songs on these albums are safe choices. Safe for the band and safe for the label. Hardly a conventional band, Guns N’ Roses chose to release an album covering some relatively unknown tunes. Most are punk songs, with a few exceptions. Highlights include Since I Don’t Have You, Ain’t It Fun, Hair Of The Dog and Attitude. The original version of the album contained a “hidden” track called Look At Your Game, Girl which was written by Charles Manson. Yes, THAT Charles Manson.

Most of the tunes are left-overs from the Illusion recordings, with a few songs recorded specifically for this release. Fans of the band should own a copy of “The Spaghetti Incident?”, if for no other reason than to understand some of their influences. I truly believe that Guns N’ Roses wasn’t, in their mind, releasing an album of cover tunes. The way they saw it, they were simply trying to turn their fans onto some cool songs by some of their favorite bands. In the album credits, there is a note that reads, “A great song can be found anywhere. Do yourself a favor and go find the originals – GNR”. Perhaps if the band had more music in their catalog and this wasn’t the final recording by the original line-up than I wouldn’t have such a bittersweet opinion of this album. For those wondering, the album title refers to an argument between Axl Rose, former drummer Steven Adler and a bowl of spaghetti.