Charbor on the Rocks: Soundgarden vs. Guns N’ Roses

 

vs.

 

While not so much a rivalry as I was initially led to believe, there were, at points, clear resentments, or perhaps rather suspicions, by one lead singer towards the other one. Specifically, Chris Cornell seemed less than impressed with a lot of the antics pulled by GNR frontman Axl Rose.

He was recently asked about the famous, or perhaps rather infamous, tour that his band was asked to join in 1991, with Guns N' Roses as the headliners. Here is the specific question, and what he had to say in response:

In 1991, Soundgarden opened for Guns N’ Roses. What do you remember most about that tour?

Without saying anything negative about Axl, what I remember the most was Duff and Slash and everyone else being regular, sweet, warm guys in a rock band that just wanted to play rock music. And then, like, there was this Wizard of Ozcharacter behind the curtain that seemed to complicate what was the most ideal situation they could ever have been in: They were the most successful and famous rock band on the planet. Every single show, hundreds of thousands of fans just wanted to hear songs. For some reason there seemed to be this obstacle in just going out and participating in that. That is what I remember the most. It’s sad.

The interview can be viewed at:
http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/soundgarden-chris-cornell-interview.html

Now, I will post a more complete version of this particular interview a bit later, and for a reason. Note the date here. The interview was late last year, in November of 2012. Here is another article, in which Cornell has similar disparaging comments against Axl Rose, specifically, and which shows seeming consistency between this 2005 article and the 2012 interview:


Rocker CHRIS CORNELL felt he was living out a comic book story when he toured with GUNS N' ROSES in 1992 because AXL ROSE was so bizarre. 

The AUDIOSLAVE star was the frontman for cult rockers SOUNDGARDEN when they joined Guns N' Roses for a crazy US tour, and his only memories of the trek are of Rose's odd backstage rules and his only meeting with the eccentric singer. 

He tells Blender magazine, "You were not allowed to be in a hallway or anywhere Axl might see you when he was walking between the dressing rooms and the stage. 

"So, one day I see a security guard walking him down this long corridor where there's no one except for me, and it's like they want me to see him. 

"He's wearing his Axl Rose tennis shoes that say 'Axl Rose' on them and these teeny-tiny, painted-on red shorts, a backwards baseball cap and a fur coat that goes to the floor. 

"He just walks by and goes, 'Hey, bro!' And that was it. At that point, it's one of those moments where you think about your life as a comic book." 

Cornell also reveals that teleprompters had to be set up at the end of catwalks connected to the stage, so that Rose could stay on top of lyrics. 

He adds, "I thought (that) was a little weird because they only had two albums." 

This section was taken by the article: "Cornell Remembers 'Comic Book Tour' With Axl Rose" by ContactMusic, June 28, 2005:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/cornell-remembers-comic-book-tour-with-axl-rose

So, he was less than impressed with Axl Rose, right? Not that surprising, given that Guns N' Roses, or more specifically, Axl Rose, has had a tendency to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Yet, in fairness, perhaps there is a bit of a contradiction here, because in a 2009 interview. Cornell speaks highly of Axl Rose in another, more recent interview on radio, for Chicago's Q101. He tells listeners of the radio that Axl Rose "treated me very well. Very well."

"He treated us great. I mean, I can't really complain about it."

When asked if Axl was a "regular guy", he seemed at first to agree, before qualifying that he was "a little eccentric." He goes on to say that Axl Rose was inspired by Soundgarden, and was very supportive of musicians that inspired him. Hardly seems like the same kind of judgment that he had on him in those other interviews, does it?

You can view the interview for yourself at Youtube with the link below, or by typing in: "Chris Cornell discusses Soundgarden, singing and family life!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bVsEpqQixs


Strange, because Cornell changes his tune in a more recent interview:


Blabbermouth reports during a recent interview with Vulture.com, singer Chris Cornell of reunited grunge legends SOUNDGARDEN was asked what he remembers most about opening for GUNS N' ROSES in 1991.

"Without saying anything negative about [GUNS N' ROSES frontman] Axl [Rose], what I remember the most was Duff [McKagan] and Slash and everyone else being regular, sweet, warm guys in a rock band that just wanted to play rock music," he said. "And then, like, there was this 'Wizard Of Oz' character behind the curtain that seemed to complicate what was the most ideal situation they could ever have been in: They were the most successful and famous rock band on the planet. Every single show, hundreds of thousands of fans just wanted to hear songs. For some reason there seemed to be this obstacle in just going out and participating in that. That is what I remember the most. It's sad."  Cornell also spoke about the addiction-related deaths that many people tend to associate with the Seattle grunge scene. "There’s something about losing friends, particularly young people, where it’s not something that you get over," he said. "I don’t believe there's a healing process. How do you, really? In what way can you stop and say, 'Well, it's god's will.' I always thought that line I've heard a million times — twice as bright but half as long — is bullshit. It's tragedy. I just carry all of that with me all the time. All I can do, if anything, out of respect for my friends that are no longer here, is to do my best to lead a good life and and take advantage of the fact that I'm still around, take the opportunities I have that they should've had." 

This entire section was taken by, and can be found at:

http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=1822804


Here is another article about this interview - "Chris Cornell: Axl Rose was the complication with Guns N Roses" by Adam Tait of Gigwise (November 19, 2012):
http://www.gigwise.com/news/77728/chris-cornell-axl-rose-was-the-complication-with-guns-n-roses


So, what to say?

I think that the notion that there was some rivalry here was a bit overblown. I did some research on and off for the last couple of weeks, and this was the most that I found. Nothing like the outright hostilities that spilled over between Nirvana and Guns N' Roses, and no horrific incident that put a barrier between bands like the riots at Montréal in 1992. Indeed, it seems that there really is nothing for Cornell, or any other members of Soundgarden, to complain about on that front (Cornell is the only member of the group that I have heard talk about GNR at all, so far).

That said, I am guessing that Cornell was not trying so much to instigate hostilities, or some kind of a rivalry between the bands, but rather just commenting on the way that Guns N' Roses fell apart. He might have been pointing the finger of blame on Axl, but he certainly is not the only one doing that. A lot of people fault Rose more than anybody else. Frankly, it's kind of hard not to.

So, no major feud or rivalry to discuss further here.