Klosterman Blog #4

"Still, we are are products of our environment, even if we like to pretend otherwise. So let's say you are the smartest sixteen-year-old in town; let's assume you're reactive and introspect and philosophical. You still have finite number of social intellectual qualities to the redneck paradigm that already exists. You may indeed be having "deep thought," but they're only deeper versions of the same idea that are available to everyone else.
This is were Axl Rose fits into the equation. Musically and visually, Axl stayed within the conventional metal zone. He had a Jagger strut and a Plant howl, long hair and leather pants, and he got quoted in Kerrang! As a musical, Rose appealed to the same contingency that was rooted in Toys in the Attic, British Steel, and Theatre of Pain. Axl existed within the one artistic paradigm that a midwestern white boy was going to consume: Far lack of a better term, he "rocked"(38)."

Klosterman is tying together determination in with his theories on Axl Rose. And I must admit he does it pretty nicely. Through one huge theory Klosterman is creating his own. Generically Axl Rose is the crem de la crem. He basically optimizes what heavy metal rock stars are supposed to look, and act like. But as a musician Rose blew that out of the water all whilst creating his own individual metal persona. Not just rednecks listened to his music. Not only city folk played it on the radio. A variety of listeners liked and valued him.