Not many songs on Guns N’ Roses discography haven’t received the official go-ahead from Axl Rose. Rose has acted as the band’s overseer ever since Appetite for Destruction, despite his instincts taking them down paths no one should take because he essentially controls the entire group. Rose was able to prove that he was still a formidable performer when he took the studio, and he believed that the song “Coma” was his best work to date.
However, examining Use Your Illusion as a whole is akin to examining Rose’s musical firstborn child. Though it’s much easier said than done, Axl Rose wanted to mature by five years in the span of one album, which was something the band had already been looking to change up. It’s possible that what we ended up with unintentionally destroyed hard rock as we know it.
Even though the album received a lot of praise for its ambitious aspects, many of the songs felt underdeveloped. A work like “Breakdown” has a decent concept at its core. So, why do we have to hear it explained for more than nine minutes before the conclusion is appropriate?
Having said that, Rose does occasionally display her poetic abilities. His rendition of “November Rain” is flawless. And we applaud him for transforming a dispute with his neighbour into a timeless song akin to “Right Next Door to Hell.” “Coma,” even by the high standards set for the album, is an odd beast.
Every era of Guns has included references to drugs, but “Coma” is the pinnacle of them all. Half of the song, which was inspired by Rose’s overdose near-death experience, is about him attempting to figure out if he will survive or not over Slash’s twisted chord progression.
Rose acknowledged that writing the song was like pulling teeth, but he insisted that it is his real masterpiece. He said, “I went to write it at the studio and passed out.” Two hours later, I woke up and sat down to write the entire song. Literally, straight from the top of my head. I had no idea what was going to come out, but it was definitely coming. Maybe the last verse of the song “Coma” is one of the best things I’ve ever written. It simply flowed out.
Axl Rose is able to put you in the head of someone who is overdosing, almost as if you’re on the operating table as everyone is getting the defibrillators to revive him, in contrast to other songs that attempt to describe what an overdose is like. The piece ends happily with Rose emerging on the other side. However, the rolling chord progression implies that he may end up reverting to his previous ways.
While it made for a compelling narrative, the band’s reckless behaviour ahead of their massive tour resulted in some of their wildest performances to date, a few riots when they were late, and the eventual departure of every member of the group shortly after they returned. “Coma” might be a good representation of the band’s life, but it might be a little too accurate. These guys were in danger of losing everything, and it was only a matter of time.
