"The Spaghetti Incident?"

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	A−
Entertainment Weekly	A−
NME	7/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	positive

"The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album comprises covers of older punk rock and hard rock songs, and is the last album with the original line-up. "The Spaghetti Incident?" is the only studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke, who replaced original Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin during the band's Use Your Illusion tour in 1991.

Background

Many of the tracks were recorded with original Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin during the Use Your Illusion I and II sessions and then were later re-recorded with Gilby Clarke. Those tracks were previously intended to be included in a combined Use Your Illusion album, consisting of three (or possibly four) discs, instead of the two separate discs they ended up being.

In 1992, the band prepared to release the leftover cover tracks as an EP, with Gilby Clarke replacing Stradlin's guitar tracks. They later decided on making the album a full release and recorded several more tracks for it. Bassist Duff McKagan sings on many of the album's tracks and Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe appears on "Ain't It Fun" as a guest vocalist. This was the last Guns N' Roses album to feature lead guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum, and the only album to feature Gilby Clarke. It was also the band's last studio album until 15 years later with Chinese Democracy, and its last album until the live compilation album six years later with Live Era: '87-'93.

During studio sessions the band recorded a cover of "A Beer and a Cigarette" from Hanoi Rocks but the song never came out.

On the bottom of the cover art of the album, there is a code written with the Zodiac Killer's symbols, which has been deciphered as "fuck'em all".

Album title

The title is an inside joke referring to a food fight between Axl Rose and Steven Adler. Much was made of this food fight during Adler's lawsuit against the band in 1993, in which Adler's attorney referred to it as "the Spaghetti Incident". The meaning was explained by drummer Matt Sorum in a 1994 interview with Much Music and confirmed by Slash in his autobiography, Slash.

During a discussion between Rose, Slash and the album's cover designer in the "Making of Estranged" video, it is made clear that the correct form of the title is within quotation marks and with a question mark.

Original release

The album was released shortly after the conclusion of the Use Your Illusion World Tour which had lasted until mid-1993. The vinyl copy of the album was released in clear plastic orange, and the CD was released with color designs and markings: black concentric rings around the outer edge, and an indigo and blood-red depiction of an evil jack-o-lantern eating spaghetti out of a hollowed-out, decollated head in the center, which would later be changed (in the 1997 reissue) to simply a plain silver colored CD.

Controversy

Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an unadvertised cover of Charles Manson's song "Look at Your Game, Girl" was included on the album at Rose's request, at the end of which Rose says, "thanks, Chas". The CD release gave no track number to the song and could only be found by listening through the silence after the final documented track on the album. In early 2000, Rose said that he would remove "Look at Your Game, Girl" from re-issues of the album, citing that critics and popular media misinterpreted his interest in Manson and that a misunderstanding public no longer deserved to hear it. However, the song is still present on the album, and in recent re-issues, "Look at Your Game, Girl" has been added as a separate, 13th track.

Live performances

The first track, "Since I Don't Have You", was performed a few times as an intro to songs "Sweet Child o' Mine" or "Paradise City" in 1992 and 1993. "Down on the Farm" was performed once in its full length during the 1990 performance in the Farm Aid IV show. It was also played a few times during the Chinese Democracy Tour in 2006. The band performed "Hair of the Dog" once in 1988, and again in 1990, during the only known "The Gak" (band featuring members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Skid Row) performance. "Attitude" was performed frequently during the Use Your Illusion Tour, and Duff still plays it in Loaded and his solo career. Other songs played live by McKagan are "New Rose", "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" and "Raw Power". The other songs were never played live by Guns N' Roses, but might have been played by some of the members' side projects, like Matt Sorum's supergroup Camp Freddy, that plays cover versions of famous songs, as well as Neurotic Outsiders, the supergroup Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum were part of. Guns N' Roses played "Attitude" and - for the first time - "Raw Power" live in Argentina in April 2014 with Duff McKagan.

Reception

"The Spaghetti Incident?" debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200, selling about 190,000 albums in its first week of release, significantly less than their previous releases.

In his review for Allmusic, music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that, "As punk albums go, "The Spaghetti Incident?" lacks righteous anger and rage. As Guns N' Roses albums go, it's a complete delight, returning to the ferocious, hard-rocking days of Appetite for Destruction".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original artist	Length
1.	"Since I Don't Have You"	Joseph Rock, James Beaumont	The Skyliners	4:20
2.	"New Rose"	Brian James	The Damned	2:38
3.	"Down on the Farm"	Alvin Gibbs, Charlie Harper, Nicholas Garrett	U.K. Subs	3:29
4.	"Human Being"	Johnny Thunders, David Johansen	New York Dolls	6:48
5.	"Raw Power"	Iggy Pop, James Williamson	The Stooges	3:12
6.	"Ain't It Fun" (featuring Michael Monroe)	Cheetah Chrome, Peter Laughner	Rocket from the Tombs, Dead Boys	5:06
7.	"Buick Mackane (Big Dumb Sex)"	Marc Bolan, Chris Cornell	T. Rex, Soundgarden	2:40
8.	"Hair of the Dog"	Dan McCafferty, Pete Agnew, Manny Charlton, Darrell Sweet	Nazareth	3:55
9.	"Attitude"	Glenn Danzig	Misfits	1:27
10.	"Black Leather"	Steve Jones, Paul Cook	The Professionals	4:09
11.	"You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"	Johnny Thunders	Johnny Thunders	3:35
12.	"I Don't Care About You"	Lee Ving	Fear	2:07
13.	"Look at Your Game, Girl" (Hidden track starting at 2:17 in "I Don't Care About You")	Charles Manson	Charles Manson	2:34
Total length:				46:03

Personnel

Guns N' Roses

• W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, keyboards on "Since I Don't Have You", kazoo on "Human Being"
• Slash – lead guitar, co-lead vocals on "Buick Mackane (Big Dumb Sex)", talkbox on "Hair of the Dog", backing vocals on "Attitude" and "I Don't Care About You"
• Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, lead vocals and drums on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory", lead vocals on "New Rose" and "Attitude", co-lead vocals on "Raw Power", production
• Matt Sorum – drums, percussion on "Hair of The Dog", backing vocals on "Human Being" and "Attitude"
• Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano on "Since I Don't Have You", percussion on "Look at Your Game Girl", backing vocals on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
• Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar

Production

• Mike Clink – production on all tracks except 1 and 11
• Jim Mitchell – production on track 11
• Bill Price – mixing
• George Marino – mastering
• Kevin Reagan – art direction; graphic design
• Dennis Keeley, Gene Kirkland & Robert John – photography

Additional personnel

• Michael Monroe – co-lead vocals on "Ain't It Fun"
• Mike Staggs – additional guitar on "Ain't It Fun"
• Mike Fasano – percussion on "Hair of the Dog"
• Richard Duguay – lead and rhythm guitars on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
• Eddie Huletz – backing vocals on "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory"
• Blake Stanton – backing vocals on "I Don't Care About You"
• Eric Mills – backing vocals on "I Don't Care About You"
• Rikki Rachtman – backing vocals on "I Don't Care About You"
• Stuart Bailey – backing vocals on "I Don't Care About You"
• Carlos Booy – acoustic guitar on "Look at Your Game, Girl"

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1993	Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1
	United States Billboard 200	4

See also

• List of number-one albums in Australia during the 1990s

Further reading

• Sullivan, Jim (November 26, 1993). "Guns N' Roses dips into history". The Boston Globe. Living section, p. 79.

External links

• "The Spaghetti Incident?" at Discogs (list of releases)