So you're the biggest goddamn rock 'n' roll band in the world. You can do whatever the hell you want to right? Hell, no-one tells Axl Rose what he can and can't do, and if you tell him, or his band, they can't do something, then they're sure as hell gonna go and do it anyway. Read on as Chris Marlowe and James Sherry take you through the songs that the Guns have made their own, chat to Duff McKagan, and present 'The Bluffers Guide To The Spaghetti Incident'

It's this 'fuck you' attitude, a snarling throwback to the snotty nosed days of Johnny Rotten and Captain Sensible that keeps the Guns N' Roses fire burning brightly. Yes, Axl may feel the need to parade with the likes of Elton John for some Armani suited credibility, or Slash may need to yearn for musical acceptance by playing with the likes of Michael Jackson and Bob Dyland, but at the end of the day, Guns N' Roses are still the screamingly defiant bunch of punks at heart, that they were when they first started out.
   Hence 'The Spaghetti Incident', their oddly titled and so-called 'punk' album. And album that pays tribute to the band's real heroes. It's not all punk mind you. Within you'll discover a love of T-Rex, Nazareth and even '50s doo-wop artists The Skyliners. But for the most part, it's the Sex Pistols, the Damned, UK Subs, Johnny Thunders, Iggy and the Stooges and a whole load more.
   "I've always considered us to be a punk band," reasons Guns bass player Duff McKagan. "This this day, Guns N' Roses is a punk rock band. People are always freaking out, going 'Oh, you're not doing this right'. Fuck!
   "We opened for Iron Maiden once. It was hilarious! Fucking Bruce Dickinson, I mean, not to bag him or nothing, but the first night we opened for them, he jumps out of his dressing rom - and he's got this furry mask on, with horns, and these spandex pants. No bullshit! And furry boots! And he goes 'How do you like my new outfit?'. And we're opening for him, so we're like 'Oh, that's nice'. We turn around, and we're busting up! Then we go out and look at their stage set, and it's all like snow and icebergs and shit, and on the scrims in front of the PA there's like a spaceship with a duck's head on it. Like, what the fuck?!? It was called 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' or something. Jesus guys, chill out man! And they're serious about it. They're met-tal, man. I was never into heavy metal."


IGGY AND THE STOOGES: 'RAW POWER' (1973)

It all started here. The inimitable Stooges came roaring out of 1969 Detroit like a rabid bat out of hell, sounding like nothing before or since. And note that year! Iggy was recklessly hurling himself into audiences before thrash was even born, backed by a band who instinctively knew that the stripped down magic of three distorted chords was the only way out of suburban ennui.
   This aptly-titled song was on their last album before Iggy went solo (a move catalysed by David Bowie), and music just doesn't get much better than this distillate of animal energy.
   Ron Asheton: "In general, I thought it was a very wise move on their part to pay tribute to the source, where all the good stuff came from, now that they've got their own stuff out there. Only Iggy and James Williamson will actually make any money out of it, but it's still a cool thing for them to do."


JOHNNY THUNDERS: 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory' (1978)
THE NEW YORK DOLLS: 'Human Being' (1974)

Thunders had been the guitarist in the seminal New York Dolls before going on to a stellar career as a Heartbreakers, a solo artist, and an anti-drug poster boy. The charismatic Dolls had epitomised raw, thrashy glamour, and Thunders himself embodied the often sordid link between the Rolling Stones and punk before his death in 1991. Only those who never saw or heard the impetuous and raucous Dolls misunderstand their essential place in rock by innaccurately labelling their streetwise decadence as glam.
   Sylvain Sylvain: "I'm so happy that Johnny and the Dolls and everything are remembered, I swear. I'm so proud when other artists interpret any of our songs - even though anybody could pick them up, they were only two or three chords! But it's a really good feeling to have mattered."


THE DAMNED: 'New Rose' (1977)

The Damned were the very first actual punk band to relase an album, commiting their three-minute bursts of barely controlled aggressive energy to vinyl with little or no regard for wimpy considerations like technique or precision. Live, they were ever more exciting and unpredictable. Two original members (stylish vocalist Dave Vanian and underrated drummer Ratt Scabies) are still pursuing their often chequered career. Brian James, the guitarist who wrote this track, now lives in France with his new band the Dripping Lips.
   Brian James: "Out of all the bands around, I'm really pleased that it's Guns N' Roses doing 'New Rose' because they're the first band since I don't know when to make me feel like a teenager again."
   Ratt Scabies: "I don't give a fuck, because I'm not going to get any money out of it."


THE SKYLINERS: 'Since I Don't Have You' (1958)

Most people nowadays know this perfect little slice of doo-wop heaven from films, either from the soundtrack to 'American Graffiti' or else from when the Chesterfields covered it in 'American Hot Wax'. This fundamentally acappella quintet came out of Philadelphia, residing the American charts for most of 1959 and 1960 before slipping into cocktail lounge obscurity when their genre fell from popular favour.


THE MISFITS: 'Attitude' (1980)

If 'Tales From The Crypt' comics ever had a soundtrack, it would have to have been by the Misfits. Their horror-show make-up made them look like evil twins of Kiss, while their irresistable power chords made them sound like the Ramones in a cement mixer. A pre-body built Glenn Danzig (who went on to form Samhain and Danzig) provided the bestial yet curiously melodic growl for their enearthly lyrics, conjuring up figurative and probably literal demons as he exorcised his personal ones.


THE SEX PISTOLS: 'Black Leather' (1980)

Although 'Black Leather' is not actually a bona-fide Sex Pistols classic, it's an obscurity that will have Punk connoisseurs scratching their chins in wonderment. Originally recorded way after Sid dies and John Lydon split from the band, 'Black Leather' is the product of Steve Jones and Paul Cook and is without a doubt, a strange song to pick. Not so much Sex, more Pistols.


T-REX/SOUNDGARDEN: 'Buick Makane (Big Dumb Sex)' (1973/1989)

Attacking two targets with one stone, 'Buick Makane (Big Dumb Sex)' is basically an interesting combination of two classic Rock tracks, one old and one slightly newer. It's a diverse combination that results in this being one of the album's more interesting tracks. One thing's for sure though, this will definitely confuse those fans that have been led to believe that the 'Spaghetti Incident' is Guns N' Roses tribute to Punk Rock because this most definitely isn't. 'Spaghetti Incident' is a tribute to great music, of whatever kind!


NAZARETH: 'Hair Of The Dog' (1975)

The title track of the Scots rockers 1975 album, that saw them artistically and commercially at the height of a career that still rolls on today. Nazareth had hit the charts with cover versions of Joni Mitchell's 'This Flight Tonight' and Tomorrow's 'My White Bicycle', but it's their own straight ahead style, coupled with singer Dan McCafferty's rasping vocals that makes them prime contenders for Guns N' Roses' patronage.


FEAR: 'I Don't Care About You' (1982)

Considering that Fear were the ultimate in bleak, nihilistic music that represented and wrote about life in Los Angeles and general inner city erosion, 'I Don't Care About You' is a song that translates perfectly to GN'Rs forward thinking. Fere were loud, messy and rude. This is their anthem.


THE UK SUBS: 'Down On The Farm' (1980)

"We don't consider ourselves to be a recording band, our life is on the road," explains the UK Subs singer and punk survivor Charlie Harper down a phone-line from the States - having kept the Subs together (in many different forms) for almost eighteen years, albeit on the back of the hits in the '70s, the Subs finally look set to get some recognition with Guns N' Roses' cover of their own ode to rehabilitation clinics, 'Down On The Farm'.
   "At this point, I've actually only heard the backing track! I was in Duff McKagan's kitchen writing out the lyrics for Axl on a piece of paper so that he could get 'em right! He probably knows 'em better than I do anyway! It was certainly a big shock when they played the song at Farm Aid two years ago, so it's hard to believe it's finally coming out." Does this mean you'll be stinking rich from the publishing?
   "Alas, it probably won't. Unfortunately we've got a court thing going with our publishing company who have conned us down the line and that's one of their songs so all out err, assets have been frozen for the moment. It will be a total stroke of luck if we get any money which is a pity really. We could do with some.
   Maybe Guns will let you tour with them!
   "Yeah, that could be interesting! We always try and nudge them into it but it's big business up there and bands pay a fortune to get on bills like that." Shame, nice idea though...


THE DEAD BOYS: 'Ain't It Fun' (1978)