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Taste is only true for you
An honest no
Rick Rubin gives his opinion honestly, and when he dislikes something he means it. That confidence is a reading of his own taste, and it doesn't mean more than that.
Passing on Guns N' Roses
He was once asked to produce the first Guns N' Roses album and turned it down. He had gone to see them playing a little club in a basement, with maybe 30 people there, a hair band at the time in makeup, and he didn't get it. They went on to become Guns N' Roses, and he figures it's good he stayed away, because working with them might have turned them into something different from what they became without him.
Another time, an artist he worked with had lots of good songs and one that he felt didn't fit the rest. The artist included it anyway. It wasn't the first single, but it ended up becoming a big hit.
Why do record labels pass on future stars?
Decca Records auditioned the Beatles on January 1, 1962, and chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead, reportedly because they were local and easier to work with. Predicting hits is hard because the sounds that become big are often unlike what is already selling. Decision-makers judge a band on the demo or the show in front of them, which may not show where the group is heading. The Beatles signed with EMI's Parlophone later that year.
How big did Guns N' Roses become?
The band's debut Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, produced by Mike Clink. By RIAA certification it is the best-selling debut album in US history. Its single Sweet Child o' Mine reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. Worldwide sales of the album are commonly put above 30 million copies.
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