Rocket Queen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Rocket Queen" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Cover for Appetite for Destruction | ||
| Song by Guns N' Roses | ||
| from the album Appetite for Destruction | ||
| Released | July 21, 1987 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 6:13 | |
| Label | Geffen Records | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Clink | |
| Appetite for Destruction track listing | ||
| "You're Crazy" (11) |
"Rocket Queen" (12) |
|
"Rocket Queen" is the last song on the hard rock band Guns N' Roses's debut album Appetite for Destruction.
Izzy Stradlin has said about the song "I wrote this song for this girl who was gonna have a band and she was gonna call it Rocket Queen. She kinda kept me alive for a while. The last part of the song is my message to this person, or anybody else who can get something out of it. It's like there's hope and a friendship note at the end of the song. For that song there was also something I tried to work out with various people - a recorded sex act. It was somewhat spontaneous but premeditated; something I wanted to put on the record. /../ All these quotes were Axl's 'cause I wasn't there." [An Interview With The Gunners, Hit Parader - March 1988]
It is said that lead singer Axl Rose brought in a woman (possibly a stripper) into the studio for recording. A woman whom is given credit in Appetite for Destruction's Acknowledgments in its booklet, is Barbi Von Grief. The full acknowledgment is, "Barbi (Rocket Queen) Von Grief", therefore implying she had some kind of work into the song. Steve Thompson, who was a mixer on the album said the following in an interview:
"Axl wanted some pornographic sounds on Rocket Queen, so he brought a girl in and they had sex in the studio. We wound up recording about 30 minutes of sex noises. If you listen to the break on Rocket Queen it's in there." [1]
Other sources have denied this telling of the recording of the song as apocryphal.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- In the infamous riot incident in St. Louis, Axl jumped into the crowd during the song and started assaulting a man filming the concert.
- The version of the song, from the album Live Era: '87-'93, contains an extensive talkbox solo from Slash.
- "Barbi (Rocket Queen) Von Grief" is also mentioned in the acknowledgments section on L.A. Guns self-titled album.
- At a handful of shows during Guns N' Roses 1991-1993 Use Your Illusion Tour, Axl Rose would sometimes sing a small part of a song called It Tastes Good, Don't It? in the middle of the song. It Tastes Good, Don't It? had been written by the band in 1988, as they hoped its explicit lyrics would get them thrown off a tour with Iron Maiden. A performarnce of this song can be seen on the second half of the band's Live In Tokyo DVD.
