The lewd prank Corey Taylor used to get back at Axl Rose
There’s a significant difference between rock and roll posturing and being a band that incorporates theatre and drama into their performances, and it’s probably fair to say that Guns N‘ Roses and Slipknot sit on opposite ends of that spectrum.
What Guns N’ Roses do is undoubtedly a classic example of the former, full to the brim with oversized egos and outrageous amounts of dick-swinging. As popular as the band have managed to become, many people have been able to see beyond this facade and have quite rightly established that underneath an undeniable amount of talent are a group of people who have formed a band to serve their own self-satisfaction, rather than for the love of the craft.
What Slipknot do is the latter; you can tell that there’s a real authenticity about them despite the fact they all play in ludicrous masks and costumes, and while their presentation as a group is ludicrously over the top, they’ve definitely made it to the upper echelons of the heavy metal world based on doing exactly what they believe in.
Now, that doesn’t mean that the two can’t be fans of one another, and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has expressed in the past that he’s a huge fan of Guns N’ Roses for their musical endeavours, but there’s a distinct level of bravado in one that feels somewhat absent in the other, which has led him to take umbrage with the way in which his counterpart, Axl Rose, has chosen to conduct himself at times.
It makes sense that these two opposing attitudes would potentially cause them to butt heads and show their differences, but during an appearance on the Opie and Jim Norton Show, Taylor was confronted by a Guns N’ Roses fan who happened to know how he’d taken his frustration out on Rose in a frankly churlish manner.
When on a book tour, Taylor recounted a story about when he appeared on the same festival bill as Guns N’ Roses, and after discovering that they’d restricted access to certain parts of the backstage area at the expense of the rest of the performers, he chose to sneak in and exact revenge on Rose by rubbing his testicles on his piano.
With the aggrieved fan asking why he’d chosen to do this, Taylor responded candidly. “Knowing Axl, it’s quite easy, my friend. I mean, anybody who makes his fans wait for two to three hours for him to go on stage, I have no respect for.”
Making specific reference to the fact that Rose’s preciousness as a performer has led to the band delaying the start of their shows on multiple occasions, Taylor made it clear that he wasn’t a fan of the way he chose to treat his audience as being less important than himself. He continued by stating that despite his love of the band, he struggles to see how anyone can have the patience for Rose as an individual. “When you make your fans wait that long – and I don’t give a fuck what hard-on just said: ‘Oh, we expect it.’ Well, you’re a fucking idiot then. All right? Figure it the fuck out.”
“You know why there are really no original fucking members of Guns N’ Roses left?” he concluded. “Because Axl made ’em wait three fucking hours! You want an Appetite reunion? Tell him to fucking stop being a douchebag.” He’s absolutely right in directing his grievances in Rose’s direction, but perhaps rubbing his gonads over his instrument is stooping to the same level of childishness as Rose would probably commit to.
