Guns N' Roses

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. The Gunners play Stooges and New York Dolls songs exactly as they do Nazareth -- as straight-ahead, driving riff-rockers. After the epic Use Your Illusions, the band sounds like it's having fun, not caring about making "art" like "November Rain" or "Estranged." Unfortunately, the tacked-on Charles Manson song leaves a bad aftertaste, but not because of the song itself; the inclusion of the song seems like a publicity-seeking stunt, a way to increase their sales while trying to regain their street credibility. And as The Spaghetti Incident? proves, they didn't need to stoop so low. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi