Danny Darragh, c. The Spaghetti Incident
I met Dan Darragh when we were in 8th grade, and some part of us will always be that age when we talk or hang out -- despite the fact that we are now in our thirties. The former informs my continuing to call him Danny, and his marveling at my doing so exemplifies the latter.
So, Danny Darragh and I used to listen to Guns N Roses back when cassettes still drove industry record sales. We listened to them all of the time, almost non stop – when no listening to Motley Crue, I guess. We, along with Dave Wilson -- the third Musketeer, would: call girls we liked and leave GnR lyrics on messages; decorate the cover of our canvas binders with Robt. Williams rip-offs; and design GnR tattoos that we all were going to get when we turned eighteen.
We were going to be in a band, you see. Dave was going to sing and play guitar, I was going to play bass, and Danny would play the drums. Surely we’d get to writing our own songs, once we learned how to play instruments and in turn learned all of the GnR catalog -- which at that time only included Appetite for Destruction and Lies.
Of the three of us, Danny was the only one who took that dream kind of seriously. I don’t know if he ever thought that the three of us would actually form a band, but he actually took up an instrument and did the plan one better by teaching himself how to play the drums by learning the Guns n Roses catalog.
God bless him. He kept up the drums for years, popping in and out of bands throughout the 1990s before forming Varistor, a band that made somewhat of a mark on the NY indie music scene back in the early oughts.
Dan stayed into GnR, too. For as long as Axl and Slash kept it together that is. I remember him taping every video, concert and TV appearance through the Use Your Illusions and the Spaghetti Incident. The day the cassette single for You Could Be Mine came out – with the Terminator 2 cover art – was a holiday for him. For both of us. I remember going to the Wall on
Now Axl, sans Slash and Duff – the real core of the band, has bothered to release a new album and call it Guns n Roses. Of course I wanted to know what Dan thought.
So, here’s a copied and edited transcript of an IM session between the two of us that I call, Chinese Democracy: The Danny Darragh Commentary. Enjoy!
Dan: Have you heard the new AC/DC single?
Matt.: Nah, does it sound like every other ACDC song ever?
Dan: Absolutely, and rocks well
Matt.: AC/DC does, indeed, rock well
DAN SENDS MATT. AC/DC’S ROCK N ROLL TRAIN
Matt: Yup.
Matt: That's ACDC, alright
Matt: Hey, how's Chinese Democracy?
Matt: I'm probably picking it up this weekend
Dan: I only heard the single. Don’t give a shit bout the album. Not GnR
Matt: Really?
Dan: That ain’t Guns n Roses, dude.
Matt: Well, sure it's just Axl
Dan: I’ve heard enough leaks over the years to recognize it’s overproduced
Dan: I should buy the record just to be a completist, though. I guess. lol
Dan: 10 bucks on iTunes. Downloading now…
DAN PROCEEDS TO DO A TRACK BY TRACK BREAKDOWN OF THE RECORD AS HE LISTENS TO IT
Dan: Track 1. Word. The single. Title track. Ain’t half bad
Dan: Track2. So far standard Axl Rose "leave me be, dont tell me what to do" stuff. Not so bad, actually. Marilyn Manson influence
Dan: 199wha?
Dan: Neat, anthemic chorus
Dan: Track 3. It’s called "Better." Wow, more Axl being maudlin
Dan: I hear a couple different guitar tone
Dan: Definitely buy it its good to listen to
Dan: Fun
Dan: Ugh. The bass tone trying to be Duff, though.
Dan: "Street of Dreams" is as cheesy as "Yesterdays"
Dan: Holy shit, the way these cats try for Slash's pentatonic scale solo
Dan: thingy
Dan: I need to read the album credits
Dan: I like it though, ‘cause it’s fun to hear Axl’s voice. heh
Dan: “Street of Dreams” favorite so far
Dan: "If the World"... again with the production
Matt: That's what took 14 years, dude
Dan: Ah crap. If I approach this without GnR, I couldn’t like this stuff
Dan: Ugh. Dude this is no rock
Dan: There is so much layering on this tune
Matt: Someone described it as Axl's shot a trying to be Phil Spector
Dan: Heh, ya
Dan: As I listen deeper, there is less personality
Dan: Ah, this is "There Was a Time." One of the leaks I heard. I liked it ‘cause it was Axl
Dan: Axl without Slash is like a day without sunshine, though
Dan: Hot dog, no bun. All that malarkey
Dan: It also sounds like he has been using electric piano
Dan: On this particular number, perhaps he dumped his free dr pepper on the yamaha
Dan: I HATE how guitar-fer-hire guy feels he must emulate Slash
Dan: Ugh
Dan: "Catcher in the
Dan: BLARGH KEYBOARD sampling
Dan: Tortured lyrics you would expect
Dan: Sounds like the chorus was recorded a week after…
Dan: …like I can hear the "punch ins"
Dan: Wow, the further in it sounds like a vanity album. I guess it is
Dan: There’s no band synergy
Dan: Wow
Dan: "Scraped" -- This one aint bad
Dan: This one sounds like a bunch of people made it
Dan: A band made it
Dan: I think I’m gonna go back to listening to Tom Petty
Matt: How many tracks in did you get?
Dan: I’m bored at track 9 out of 14
Dan: "I’m sorry for you, not sorry for me"... these type of lyrics
Dan: It’s fun to hear Axl’s voice in new shit, though
Dan: Finally, heh
Matt: "It's been 14 years of silence, It's been 14 years of pain, It's been 14 years that are gone for ever and I'll never have again"
Matt: How prophetic on his part
I didn’t buy the album, BTW. After all of that I figured I could wait till someone else handed me off a rip. I mean if Danny Darragh could barely muster up any kind of endorsement, why bother?
