No other band in the late 80s and early 90s exemplified excess quite like Guns N’ Roses. While these excesses would lead to their ultimate downfall, they would also fuel some of their finest moments – including “November Rain.”
“November Rain” is one of the first rock music videos I vividly remember. MTV played it over and over again for several years, making it easy for me to discover it well beyond its initial release date. The video’s over-the-top dramatics drew me in right away – the alcohol-fueled theater performance, the backstage shots at L.A.’s infamous Rainbow Bar and Grill, and, of course, the ornate wedding reception ruined in seconds by (you guessed it) a massive downpour of rain.
While Axl Rose seemed to have no problem blurring the line between fiction and reality with his then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour playing the bride, Slash was clearly having no part of this. At the video’s wedding, he cuts out early because, well, he’d rather be playing his guitar outside a random church in the desert. His shirt will be an open leather jacket, thank you very much, and he will perform only if he can smoke at the same time. As Lennon did for McCartney, Slash does not allow Axl to get too sappy. In the video’s final two minutes, he climbs on top of Axl’s piano to deliver one of his finest recorded guitar solos – an angry riff on the traditional wedding march – as we watch Axl mourn his bride’s tragic suicide and watch her bridal bouquet turn into the flowers he lays on her casket.
Without Slash and, of course, the video’s impeccable cinematography, “November Rain” probably would have just come across as an indulgent rock soap. Instead, it remains a testament to just how great Guns N’ Roses were and one of the best videos of the early 90s.
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