# The “pretentious” band who sold 20,000,000 records, and represented everything Axl Rose hated about hair rock

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-pretentious-band-who-sold-20000000-records-and-represented-everything-axl-rose-hated-about-hair-rock/
- Published: 2026-11-04T21:57:57+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T22:49:51+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/classic-rock-band-axl-rose-hated-called-pretentious-crap/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Axl Rose called Europe’s music pretentious.
- Guns N’ Roses championed a rawer rock sound.
- Europe sold 20 million records.

## Summary

Axl Rose criticised the Swedish rock band Europe, calling their music “the most pretentious crap” and arguing that talented musicians could be doing more with their abilities. His remarks reflected Guns N’ Roses’ opposition to the polished, carefully styled hard rock that dominated MTV in the late 1980s, and showed how Rose’s confrontational opinions fed the band’s public image.

Rose said only four songs on a Guns N’ Roses record contained obscenities, and argued that the band’s loud guitars and raw sound also drew criticism. The article contrasts that approach with Europe’s more polished style and notes that Europe sold 20 million records. It presents Rose’s comments as part of a wider tension between authenticity and mass appeal in rock at the time.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.