| "Get in the Ring" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Guns N' Roses from the album Use Your Illusion II | ||||
| Released | September 17, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | A&M Studios, Record Plant Studios, Studio 56, Image Recording, Conway Studios & Metalworks Recording Studios 1990-1991 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 5:41 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Writer | Axl Rose Slash Duff McKagan |
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| Producer | Mike Clink Guns N' Roses |
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| Use Your Illusion II track listing | ||||
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"Get in the Ring" is the fifth song on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion II. It was written by Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Slash and is directed at music critics who gave the band negative reviews because of their actions on stage. Critics from Hit Parader (Andy Secher), Circus, Kerrang! (Mick Wall) and Spin (Bob Guccione, Jr.) are all mentioned by name.
Allegedly, Mick Wall of Kerrang! music magazine was mentioned because of his book 'Guns N’ Roses: The Most Dangerous Band in the World’, which was a no holds barred collection of interviews and stories about the band. Mick Wall denies this, and claims that the real reason for his mention was an interview he wrote in early 1990 for Kerrang! about Axl Rose’s threat to harm Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe over an incident involving Vince’s wife and Izzy Stradlin.[1]
The song's reference to Bob Guccione Jr. includes a comment about his father (founder of Penthouse magazine) 'gets more pussy' than Guccione Jr. does. The younger Guccione actually responded in a letter to Axl Rose, saying that he accepted the challenge; however, no fight ever occurred.[2][3]
The song is notorious for its amount of swearing. The song was originally written by McKagan with the title "Why Do You Look at Me When You Hate Me?". Nevertheless, the title was shortened, and the original title became the first line in the final version. It was then going to be titled "Get in the Ring Motherfucker," but that was changed as well.
The song heard on the album was actually not performed live, but was rather recorded in the studio and crowd noises were added to it (similar to all the songs on Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide), recorded from a concert in Saratoga Springs, New York on June 10, 1991. Such noises included the "Guns N' Roses" chant in the beginning and the "get in the ring" chant at the end.