Yesterday, I got a copy of Appetite For Destruction. I wrote my friend Dan about it:"...and I listened to it last night. Man, I remember how revolutionary we thought that record was back then...It's still pretty good, I think, but the intervening years have made it clear just how different G'N'R were from their metal brethren - much more Stones/Dolls/Heartbreakers-influenced then, say, Poison and oh-so-naughty (I'd forgotten how many four letter words were fundamentally and unslurredly part of the lyrics). No wonder we liked them. Listening to it has made me curious about Axl's next project, ironically now apparently including ex-Replacement Tommy Stinson."
Ironic, because I've often tried to explain that Nirvana and Guns N' Roses were the kinds of bands Replacement Paul Westerberg was talking about when he said (of the 'Mats) "A lot of bands have tried to destroy rock and roll by standing outside the house and throwing things at the windows - I think we can do it from inside."
I don't think I could name any other bands who have excited me as much as those three did while they were each leading their own brief crusades against the horrible normalcy of pop music.