The song opens with the canned sounds of the synthesizer, with guitar chords being strummed in a nostalgic manner. The drums pop in with a steady beat, emulating an echoey, full sound that makes the listener feel like they are there in concert hearing the stereo sounds of the drums being broadcasted over mics. The vocals begin, weaving in and out of shared timing and melodies. Between choruses, there are extravagant guitar solos and ambient noises included, such as whistles blowing. The guitar solos are sometimes edited to be aggressively loud and close to the mic, and as the guitarist becomes increasingly faster, the tempo of the song picks up in a frantic manner to match. The song concludes with Axl’s final line being screamed, and fading out as the guitars and mic ring in dissonance to create a chaotic resolution that matches the vibrant, head pumping energy of the song.
I found it very interesting that they only choose one song on this album to use a synthesizer, so I did a little research into that and found an interesting story from an online forum that I wanted to share:
“The synth used on that song was the venerable Sequential Circuits Prophet 5! I was, and still am, a synth nerd and know for a fact that it was a Prophet. How do I know this? Back in those days, the band was heavy into cocaine. My good friend and coworker was a reservations manager ( at a major car rental company),I was a lot attendant. He was also a coke dealer (very, very small time), and he crossed paths with Slash one day. Conversation ensued, coke and money were exchanged and the deal was done. Only , Slash had no money on him at the moment to pay for the care package.So, he said, “Here, take this, it’s a synthesizer”! Long story short, the next thing I knew, I was sitting in my Hollywood apartment with this BIG ORANGE ANVIL ROAD CASE staring at me!! To my absolute surprise,it was the shock of my life! THE SYNTH OF THE TIMES! A Prophet 5!!!!!! I cracked the case open at his house in Northridge, Ca., and he asked ,”do you know what this thing is? I got it from Slash because he couldn’t pay for an eight ball,so he gave me this”. ” You’re a musician, so I figured maybe you could use it”. I nearly fainted! I asked hm ” how much do you want for it?” ” Oh, i don’t know….. $200.00 dollars? Nearly fainted again! 200 bucks later, she was mine free and clear! Thank you drug wasted musicians! One man’s waste is another man’s valued treasure! She sits proudly in my studio today!!”
I can’t verify any credibility to this story but it’s interesting to consider regardless.