The underrated genius of Izzy Stradlin
Most people thinking about Guns N’ Roses will undoubtedly bring up the brilliance of Slash. Although Axl Rose may have been responsible for putting an element of danger into the band’s sound with his off-colour lyrics, the acrobatics that Slash got into behind the fretboard put him one notch above everyone else in the hair metal scene, taking the same approach to guitar as auteurs like Ronnie Wood and Eric Clapton. Then again, any great lead player will tell you they are only as good as what’s behind them, and Izzy Stradlin was one of the best of the 1980s.
Before Slash had even become a part of Guns N’ Roses, Izzy Stradlin was the one in the background turning the songs into classics. After arriving in Los Angeles from Indiana, Stradlin eventually hooked up with Axl Rose, who had been a friend from his days living in the heartland.
While the group eventually drafted a young Saul Hudson into the fold, Stradlin was the dominant force behind most of the songwriting in the band. Throughout the album Appetite for Destruction, the lyrics almost read as a diary of what Stradlin, Slash, and Rose were getting into at the time, from trying to score dope on the street on ‘Mr Brownstone’ to dreaming of someplace far away from their lives on ‘Paradise City’.
While most people would criticise Stradlin’s abilities as just being about basic chords, he did have his fair share of lead moments in the group as well. Although he never tried to show off that often, songs like ‘Nightrain’ are a great example of how he could make the band jump at precisely the right moment, playing a handful of lead parts reminiscent of the times when Keith Richards would take a lead as part of The Rolling Stones.
Take one of their most iconic songs, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, for example. While most people might pay attention to the guitar-slinging badass with the top hat, Stradlin’s single-note lead parts are perfect ear candy for fans to latch onto, being responsible for that signature slide that introduces Rose’s vocal.
Much like ‘Keef’, Stradlin liked to keep part of his mystique throughout his time in Guns N’ Roses, being more comfortable hanging out in the back and filling out the sound while Slash did all the dirty work in front of the stage. Once the band moved into the studio for Use Your Illusion, Stradlin’s influence became much more pronounced.
Throughout songs like ‘Pretty Tied Up’ and ‘Right Next Door to Hell’, Stradlin took the bad-boy style riffing of the band’s debut and turned it up until the dial was torn off. While still working in the vein of traditional rock and roll material, his influence from punk rock started to show as well, creating songs that sounded as if Aerosmith had been born trying to sound like Sex Pistols.
Once the band exited the road, Stradlin eventually hit a wall regarding his vices. Having nursed a heroin habit while in the group, Stradlin wasn’t willing to go along with Rose’s antics after he came back from rehab. As he began to live the rock and roll lifestyle all over again, though, Stradlin decided that enough was enough and quit the band halfway through the tour.
Even though the band had recovered from firing drummer Steven Adler, losing Stradlin meant losing a core part of their identity. When they eventually returned to the studio, their inability to gel on the covers album “The Spaghetti Incident?” showed the massive hole that Stradlin had left inside the band.
While the band persisted for a few years, even Duff McKagan and Slash would say after the fact that part of what made Guns N’ Roses work so well was Stradlin’s attitude, being able to talk reason into Rose while still being able to relate to his bandmates. As much rock folklore likes to paint Slash and Rose as the duelling kings of Guns N’ Roses, there’s a good chance that nothing would have come of the band if Stradlin hadn’t made that fateful trip to Los Angeles.