Early Axl Rose Recordings with Former Band Rapidfire Now Available For Sale

Before forming world renowned rock band Guns N' Roses, singer Axl Rose was in another band not too long after he'd arrived in Los Angeles, CA in 1983. This was a band known as Rapidfire, and they managed to get a 5 song EP recorded during their brief tenure together. Now for the first time in over 30 years the EP is available to the public for sale.

Small bits and pieces of the contents of this EP have popped up from time to time on the internet, but usually they are taken down fairly quickly thanks to Rose and his ever so vigilant legal team. According to Loudwire Rapidfire guitarist Kevin Lawrence was asked by the legal team to remove one of the clips from YouTube even though Lawrence owned the copyright to everything Rapidfire related.

In the months leading up to the release of the Rapidfire EP, Lawrence said, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead man. Oh, and I can’t wait for the 500-page illegal harassment of a cease and desist. Snore .. zzz … zzz. Heard of interference of business and SLAPP suits? I own the copyrights, the masters, the photos, the performances and I have the receipt that I paid for it all … LOL … open and shut.”

Looks like Lawrence has all of his ducks in a row. Seems this time Rose won't be able to get his way in court.

That being said, let's get down to the music itself. What does it sound like? To me it reminds me of a blend of Judas Priest and AC/DC stylistically. You can definitely tell that Rose is still developing his vocal style. At this point in time he wasn't really doing much in the way of the higher ranged stuff he would become later known for. Most of his stuff is in a middle to lower range for him. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of variety between the songs, but that doesn't make them any less fun to listen to. All in all, it isn't the greatest rock n' roll record you'll ever hear, but it's only $5 and it is a cool piece of history.

You can buy the EP here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OKGFKVO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00OKGFKVO&linkCode=as2&tag=jefitocom-20&linkId=7RCC2NMFPB5V7ZOH

To learn more about Rapidfire, go to their Facebook page.

Sample of Ready to Rumble, by Rapidfire: