I thought I would hate the Harry Potter books, but I quite liked them. I'm not too keen on the movies though, they are alright but could have been much better.

I'm not going along with the "it would've sounded better with ...." argument anymore, I used to think Buckethead would have produced something killer, but now I realise thats beside the point and its unfair.
Should've, would've and could've are irrelevant and are unfairly used as a fantasy gauge to judge the music on the album. It is what it is, end off story.
They are different musicians, and saying someone else would play something "better" is completely subjective and worthless as an appraisal to the next guy.

I get the song now, I'm more inclined to believe its about someone who died than a chick who dumped him, mabye his mother.
I think the solo is supposed to be a representation of the gut wrenching, sickening pain you feel when you lose someone. Mabye Robin's style meant he was the only guy who could pull off exactly what Axl wanted.

He said about Catcher - "The bridge b4 the solo is an artistic interpretation of a institutionalized mind."

Nobody knew that was the intention and you've got to think, what else on the album is artistic interpretation?
Madagascar is a definate imo,  I think those vocals are supposed to sound like someone who has been beaten down for a long time and are wearisome but still defiant. Most people think this is Axls responce to all the flack he got about using the "n" word on One In A Million and being accused of being a racist.
I think this song tries to represent the voice of those people who were oppressed and treated as worthless, mindless slaves and for so long.
Given that Axl wouldnt have put the song on the album without the MLK quotes and apparantly personally met with MLK's family to secure the rights to use the quotes, tells you there is quite a deep thought process behind the song.
Its ambiguous as well, it fits perfectly with the fall out from the disintegration of the old band from Axl's persective, and also the listener can relate to it from their own life experiences and feelings.

It ranked quite highly on Empires top 100 films of the 20th century, Oz was ranked higher of course, but Toy Story is still a great film. Most of the Pixar stuff is great.