Izzy Stradlin: A Key Cog Missing From Guns N' Roses Reunion

Izzy Stradlin

With prominent and recognizable members like W. Axl Rose and Slash at the forefront of Guns N' Roses, it's easy to forget about Izzy Stradlin.

And, as their "reunion" tour resumes Oct. 16 in Peru, some fans of the band may not know how much of a key member the guitarist/vocalist was during his time in the band's heyday (1985-1991).

Not only was Stradlin a founding member, he was a main songwriter who brought a laid-back, Keith Richards-like stage presence to the group that a hired hand like touring guitarist Richard Fortus can't really replace.

Stradlin and Rose both grew up in Lafayette, Ind., and were buddies in high school, playing in bands before moving to Los Angeles and forming Hollywood Rose in 1983. They wrote a some songs (including "Anything Goes" and "Reckless Life") in that band which ended up as Gun N' Roses tracks.

No doubt Stradlin's early friendship with Rose was a key component to the band and the band's chemistry, certainly during the booze and drug-filled Appetite For Destruction days.

And some of the best songs on the Appetite album were largely thanks to Stradlin including "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Mr. Brownstone" and "Paradise City", and then "Patience" from the Lies album.

Not to mention his major input on the Use Your Illusion records where he wrote "Double Talkin' Jive" and "Pretty Tied Up", co-wrote on "Right Next Door To Hell", "Dust N' Bones", "Don't Cry", "14 Years" and "You Could Be Mine". Those are some of the best songs on those records, and it's Stradlin handling lead vocals on "14 Years"(a song about his relationship with Rose), "Dust N' Bones" and "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive".

Stradlin More Than Just A Hired Sideman

Given his contributions to the band (far more in terms of songwriting than bassist Duff McKagan), Stradlin isn't some fill-in or studio muscician, and he was understandably miffed when he wasn't offered equal pay to take part in the "reunion", where the band was rumoured to be asking for $3 million per show (reports on Blabbermouth.net say they're getting around $2.75 million).

You've gotta give Stradlin credit for sticking to his guns and not settling for a lesser payday than Rose and Slash are getting from the tour.

Now, Stradlin has done some gigs with the Guns N' Roses since he quit in 1991 (sober and frustrated with Rose's chronic lateness for shows and the Guns N' Roses touring circus). He played with them for five shows in 1993, a few gigs in 2006, plus several shows as recently as 2012. Unlike former drummer Steven "Popcorn" Adler, (fired in 1990) who has played a few times on the latest tour, Stradlin hasn't played a single show.

For the fans who haven't seen Guns N Roses live, this tour is the closest they've come to seeing the original lineup (the real Guns N Roses), but it's not the same as seeing the original lineup with Izzy Stradlin there.

"14 Years" live in 1991 - Feat. Stradlin Vocals

The Five Best Metallica Songs Co-Written by Cliff Burton

Revered and influential Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died 30 years ago today during the Master of Puppets Tour in Sweden. He was 24 years old. Burton was killed when Metallica's tour bus skidded off the road and flipped over into a ditch. He was thrown out the window and the bus landed on him. Burton helped write many of the great tracks from Metallica's first three albums. Here are five of the best songs Burton co-wrote before his untimely death in 1986 (not including his (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth".

"Creeping Death" from Ride the Lightning

One of Metallica's best tracks, period, "Creeping Death" got it's title from Burton who coined the term as the band watched The Ten Commandments movie. There's a part where a plague wipes out every Egyptian first-born child, and Burton is noted as saying "Whoa, it's like creeping death." From there the band wrote a song about the Egyptian plagues and titled it "Creeping Death". Burton's bass playing on the track is somewhat down in the overall mix, but you can pick it up pretty well in the middle "Die, Die, Die" section, thundering along.

"The Call of Ktulu" from Ride the Lightning

One of the greatest metal instrumentals, "The Call of Ktulu" is a nearly nine-minute masterpiece of mood and melody, with Burton's playing featuring prominently throughout the track. Whether it's the bass squeals throughout, the subtle intro notes or his using the pedal wah to create unique bass runs, Burton makes Ktulu an amazing piece of music that perfectly captures the mood of H.P. Lovecraft's mythical figure Cthulhu rising from the depths of the underground city in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu".

"For Whom The Bell Tolls" from Ride The Lightning

Another track from Metallica's sophomore album, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" features Burton playing a nice lead part to open the song and, from there, his bass line - with its amazing sounding tone - carries the track as it marches into battle. The video shot at Day on the Green in Oakland, back in 1985 (and shown on the Cliff 'Em All video) is probably the best pro-shot performance of Burton live with Metallica. He takes "For Whom the Bell Tolls" to a new level with that intro solo.

"Orion" from Master of Puppets

One of Metallica's more progressive pieces at the time, "Orion" is a chugging, spacey instrumental prominently featuring Burton's amazing bass playing, particularly the two bass solos he plays. The first, a section of repeated notes, comes in at 1:42 and goes through until 2:13. There's a melodic bass interlude in the middle of the track, followed by a Kirk Hammett solo, then Burton really goes to work at at 6:36 on his second solo. As an ode to Burton, James Hetfield has the bass notes from the middle section of "Orion" tattooed onto his left arm, along with Cliff's name over top of it.

"Damage Inc." from Master of Puppets

The closing track on the Puppets album, "Damage Inc." sees Burton creating the build-up intro with bass swells and harmonies, laid out over what he said in an interview with Rock Hard magazine was "eight or 12 tracks of bass, a lot of harmonies and volume swells effects and stuff." It's a total thrash monster of a track, propelled by Burton and drummer Lars Ulrich. It's the last full song recorded on an album with Burton's playing.

Check out Cliff Burton's influence on Ride the Lightning and how helped shape the songs on that album

The Best Rolling Stones Songs Mick Taylor Helped Write

Guitarist Mick Taylor's time in the Rolling Stones was brief, but he helped them create a handful of their best songs from 1969-1974, several of which he never got writing credit on, despite basically co-writing the tracks. The autocratic nature of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards didn't allow for Taylor to get his due in terms of the writing. In fact, he is only properly credited as a co-writer on one song, the heavy-bluesy "Ventilator Blues" off Exile on Main St. during his illustrious five-year tenure with the Stones. As he told the Daily Mail in 2009: "‘I believed I’d contributed enough. Let’s put it this way – without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There’s not many but enough, things like "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" on Sticky Fingers and a couple of others. Here are five of the best songs Taylor co-wrote with the Rolling Stones:

"Winter" from Goat's Head Soup

Credited as a Jagger/Richard's penned-track, Richards doesn't even play on the recording and was not around when it was recorded at Dynamic Sound Studio in Kingston, Jamaica. One of three ballads on the Goat's Head Soup album, "Winter" is better than the rest. Taylor's licks throughout the verses are amazing, and the solo is simply stunning in the feel it has. Below is a version Taylor recorded (with Carla Olson) with plenty of extra fretboard virtuosity:

"Moonlight Mile" from Sticky Fingers

Another phenomenal ballad, again with a cold feel to it like "Winter", "Moonlight Mile" was written by Jagger and Taylor at Jagger's Stargroves estate during another of Richards' absences. The story goes that Taylor was promised he'd get credit on the song, but never did as Jagger and Richards took the credit. Taylor's playing is suitably subdued to echo the vibe of the song and it was his idea to add the string section to the track. As an aside, the song was the result of an all-night writing session and a "Moonlight Mile" is taking a large amount of cocaine after a long day's work.

"Sway" from Sticky Fingers

Arguably one of the best songs on Sticky Fingers, the main contributor on "Sway" was Jagger, but it was composed with Taylor present and one would reasonably assume some input from him as well. Jagger came up with the main riff (first grunge riff ever?), while Taylor filled in the blanks with some stellar licks. Again, Richards does not play on the track (he added some sweet backing vocals) and gets writing credit. Taylor's outro solo is amazing. Check out the stunning version below with Carla Olson

"Till the Next Goodbye" from It's Only Rock 'n Roll

This is a song Taylor has said, in interviews, he co-wrote with Jagger. Again, he was promised writing credits, but, of course, received none. It's a decent song, and one Richards actually plays on. It's the final track Taylor would record as a member of the Rolling Stones.

"Time Waits for No One" from It's Only Rock 'n Roll

Taylor also said publicly he co-wrote "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger. You know the story by now and it's the lack of credit he received (among other things) that led to Taylor resigning from the band in 1974. The solo to end the song is yet another sparkling Taylor highlight as the rest of the band is just jamming away. The metronome at the end signalled Taylor's time in the band was quickly ending.

How AC/DC's Bon Scott Got His Distinctive Voice

Bon Scott belting it out in studio

While former AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott left the world all too soon in 1980, he left AC/DC fans a musical legacy in recordings with the Australian hard rockers.

And his former wife believes his distinctive vocals are the result of a motorcycle crash in 1974.

Scott's ex-wife, Irene Thornton, noted in her book Bon Scott, his voice changed after the accident, where he suffered a neck injury, broken collarbone and a cut throat.

"Well I did feel that after he had the neck injury and broken collarbone and a cut in his throat, his voice didn’t sound the same," Irene said in the book. "He didn’t seem to be able to do the same thing - he was doing a lot of melodic singing before, had a beautiful tone in his voice, but I don’t think that (tone) was the voice he ended up with or that what he had (before) was the AC/DC voice everyone knows."

Scott was drunk on that night in May in the suburbs of Adelaide and just prior to the crash had been in a huge fight with bandmates from the Mount Lofty Rangers. The accident left him in a coma for three days and another 18 long days in hospital.

It was partly a blessing in disguise, that crash, as he was no longer a member of the Rangers and shortly thereafter joined Angus and Malcolm Young in AC/DC.

Thornton may be right that the motorcyle accident changed his voice, perhaps giving it that gravelly edge AC/DC fans instantly recognize.

Listening to the following clip from Mount Lofty Rangers' "Round and Round and Round", Scott still has that nasal sound to his voice, but it's not as gravelly.

Then when you take a track from AC/DC's amazing Powerage album, the production is way better and Scott's voice has a different tone to it:

Fans can ultimately decide for themselves if his voice is that much different.

Either way, Scott still had one of the best hard rock voices. Ever.

The Five Greatest Tony Iommi Riffs in Black Sabbath Songs

There's not one guitarist who has had more influence on heavy metal than Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi. Iommi, now 65, is the godfather of heavy metal as we know it today, impacting several generations of bands from Judas Priest to Metallica to Soundgarden to Slipknot. And it's his killer riffs (his solos are stellar as well) that are Iommi's trademark as he's come up with some of the heaviest and intense chord progressions. While there are so many outstanding riffs within the Black Sabbath catalogue, here are five of Iommi's greatest riffs.

"Into the Void" on 1971's Master of Reality

"Into the Void" at first might seem not to belong among the greatest Iommi riffs ever, but it's an example of a hypnotic verse riff that grinds like no other that had come before it. It's a perfect example of a riff that opened the door for other guitarist to emulate down the road and the riffs foreshadows the birth of doom and stoner metal. That doomy Iommi sound comes from his Gibson SG, old Laney amp and Rangemaster Treble Booster. Interestingly, Metallica's James Hetfield lists "Into the Void" as his all-time fave Sabbath track.

"Black Sabbath" from 1970's Black Sabbath

The epitome of the evil chord progression, the riff for "Black Sabbath" prominently uses the devil's interval with the flatted fifth of a power chord. The sound harkens to satanic connotations and musicians in times of old were burned at the stake for using it. It's the perfect signature riff for Sabbath to gain their false satanic label, which actually helped them garner more recognition. The riff haunts your brain and is a staple in modern metal.

"Snowblind" from 1972's Vol. IV

One of the best songs ever from Sabbath, the verse riff on "Snowblind" is an Iommi masterpiece with the first five power chords absolutely grinding along and, with the accompanying hard-hitting drum and bass accents, there is an added drama and tension, essentially driving home the hyped-up, altered reality of cocaine. Black Sabath thanks the "Coke Cola" on the album, and so do us fans if it inspired Iommi to create the "Snowblind" riff. As as aside, the band wanted to call the album Snowblind, but their record label wouldn't allow it.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

One of Black Sabbath's signature songs, the track is propelled by Iommi's monstrous riff, which is another grinder that moves power chords down and then up again for that ear-pulverizing motion and power. The riff is even more amazing given the context that when Iommi wrote it, he was struggling to write anything. He thought the well had run dry, but then boom, he comes up with this timeless classic.

The Mob Rules from Mob Rules (1981)

This riff is one of those Iommi masterpieces that's like a runaway train of pure heaviness. The explosive riff combines some single notes and bending that gives a high-octane hint of blues to the sludge-fest. Sometimes it seems that the "Mob Rules" is a bit of a forgotten Sabbath album, but the title track features some of Iommi's finest work.

- Thanks to MMO for the valuable input.

Learn how a massive riff saved Black Sabbath in 1973

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