Use Your Illusion

"I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of "Guns N' Roses"."

     This was an excerpt from Axl Rose's open letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.   The entire gist of the letter was a long winded explanation, essentially trying to deny the existence of Guns and Roses, and the integral part of musical history they represented.  

     In 1988, the rock scene was awash with sleek commercial bands crawling out of all corners Los Angeles.  The polished sound represented little more than label invention, overflowing the already saturated glam rock scene.  Then Appetite For Destruction came out, a gritty and grim look at the true Hollywood and Vine, rather than the fabricated notion created by the record companies.  Their realistic take on life was a far cry than what rock and roll fans were fed.  For the next few years, Guns and Roses amazed the rock world with their increasingly grandiose and prolific albums.....then they stopped.  Heavy vices, bloated egos, and immature demeanor's stopped the band dead in their tracks, never to return again (outside of the soulless moniker still used by Axl).

     While Axl's psuedo-reasoning as to why he cannot be part of the Guns and Roses induction, it lacks relevant thought processes.   Axl urges to the world to quit living in the past, and to "get over it."  Meanwhile, the only person rejecting reality is Axl.  He tells fans to not live in the past, as he piggybacks on the name and songs of a band from twenty years ago.   Axl's assessment that people still even care about a feud or a reunion at this point only reinforces the mythic proportions of his own ego.

      Bands come and go, and some fences can never be mended.  The bizarre thing about Rose is that, where other bands are unable to admit the true reason as to their respective band's demise, Axl seems unable to admit the bands existence.  Induction to the Rock Hall signifies nothing more to Guns and Roses, and the fans, than the credit given for their accomplishments when they were rock royalty.  Fans and critics of Guns and Roses are asking nothing more than validation of the band's achievements: something that all parties are willing to do, except Rose.  It represents no intention of future endeavors.  Within his lengthy diatribe, Rose states that his induction into the Hall of Fame would be disrespectful to the current Guns and Roses lineup, and detrimental to his current "camp."    This is asinine....Axl Rose really needs to get a sensible grasp on what fans, critics, and even the band members themselves, really think about this current lineup.
     Within his letter, Rose reminds us all that friendships end and divorces happen, and we all need to move on.  It seems that the only person who needs to move on is Axl Rose.  For Axl, moving on means acceptance.  The world has accepted that Guns and Roses will never be a band again, and that the magic that happened will never be rekindled.  Now, Axl has to admit that the years 1988-1993 happened, and that musically and culturally, he was an integral part of it.