Various Artists - Uncivil Wars (Tribute To Guns' N 'Roses)

*=Staff's pick	You’re Crazy (Stevie Rachelle/Tuff) It’s So Easy* (Fred Coury/Cinderella) Welcome To The Jungle (Kevin Dubrow/Quiet Riot) My Michelle (Phil Lewis/L.A. Guns) Sweet Child O’ Mine (Jizzy Pearl/Ratt, Love Hate) Paradise City (Kory Clark/Warrior Soul) Mr. Brownstone* (Joe Leste/Bang Tango, Beautiful) You Could Be Mine* (Mitch Malloy) Used To Love Her* (John Corabi/Mötley Crüe, Union, Ratt) Don’t Cry (Spike/Quireboys) Patience (John Corabi/Mötley Crüe, Union, Ratt) Civil War* (Christina Kartsonakis)

Genre	Sleaze	Various, see tracklist	Vocals
Tracks	12	Tracii Guns	Guitar
Runningtime	52 Min.	Gilby Clarke	Guitar
Label	Mausoleum	Kyle Kyle	Bass
Release	17 Nov. 2004	Randy Castillo	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses never was my favourite band back in the days, so an album to their honour does not exactly make me jump and shout. I don’t disrespect them in anyway and I love many of their songs, but I never quite really understood their greatness. The band performing the tribute is the same on all of the tracks and with a different vocalist on each track. And these are guys that really know how to play sleaze and how to do it good, but they don’t ever match up to the original versions, even though a couple of guys actually has been in Guns N’ Roses. Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns, Brides Of Destruction) and Gilby Clark (Slash’s Snakepit) have both been members in the band they now are paying tribute to, and to their help they got Kyle Kyle (Bang Tango) and the late Randy Castillo R.I.P. (Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne). Some might wonder how this album can be released with Randy Castillo two years after he lost the battle against cancer but it was actually released originally in 2002 and will now see a European release through the label Mausoleum.

And what can be said about this album? Well, these versions are really close to the original version and the only thing that makes you aware that it is covers are the vocals that are of different quality. It is a mighty collection of vocalists that is appearing, whereof all more or less belong in the same genre as Guns N’ Roses. None of the tracks are bad, at least not worse than the original version, but on the other hand they doesn’t add anything new, and further more some of them feel a bit uninspired at times.

Kory Clark and Spike both do a good job in their own bands but they can’t really pull off filling in for Axl Rose on the tracks they contribute with here. But on the other hand Joe Leste shows that he is fully capable to breath some good life in Mr. Brownstone, as well as John Corabi with the two tracks he appears on. But something that makes me raise my eyebrows, correct me if I’m wrong about this, but shouldn’t a tribute album come from bands influenced by the one being paid tribute to? It feels a little funny to see guys from contemporary bands on this album, bands that lived besides Guns N’ Roses in the era of sleaze rock. Also worth mentioning is, the to me unknown, Christina Kartsonakis’s version of Civil War, as it is the track that vocally differs the most from the original version due to her soft voice.

The selection of songs they have chosen seems to be pretty good, in my belief they cover several of the sides of Guns N’ Roses and gives a good retrospective on their career, but as in many cases I must say that I prefer the originals instead. And unless you’re a sucker for tribute albums or a die hard G N’ R fan that can't wait for Axl Rose to finish the Chinese Democracy album that he has been working on like forever, don’t bother about this one.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
5	6	6

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Thomas