Guns And Roses.

[X-Nightcrawler]

I'm re-discovering this band. I was never a fan, really but right now they sing my favorite song, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and that ensued my interest in the band. Since my brothers were BIG fans, they have all the CDs, I am fucking LOVING this band.

I asume there are more fans of this gem. Who are you?

Also, I want to mention how much I love that new band, Velvet Revolver's song "Slither".

[Frank the Tank]

I too have been on a recent GNR kick. I bought Appetite, The UYI's and GN'R Lies. I will say that I think that Knockin' On Heaven's Door is one of their weaker songs. I prefer their cover of Live and Let Die. Coma, Civil War, You Could Be Mine, One and A Million, Rocket Queen, Welcome To The Jungle, Nighttrain, Your'e Crazy, November Rain, and Locomotive are all great songs.

[Beowulf]

I'm fairly new to the world of GNR. A college buddy of mine introduced me to the band last year and I recently picked up "Appetite for Destruction" and "Illusions I". They've quickly become one of my favorite bands. Perhaps second only to "The Doors."

Right now my favorite tracks are Nightrain, It's So Easy, Paradise City, Perfect Crime, Bad Obsession, Double Talkin' Jive, November Rain and Oh My God.

Wait until the year 20?? when Chinese Democracy comes out, every trendy motherfucker will hop on the bandwagon. :D

[BorderEevilIII]

I did like them during the height of their popularity....
The ONLY song that I just go buck wild still to this day is Welcome To The Jungle! :D

[Psychocandy]

Appetite For Destruction is a masterpiece. Always has been...always will be. Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 is a bloated Axl Rose ego trip that you can just about salvage a single excellent album's worth of songs out of. As for The Spaghetti Incident...don't get me started...I won't stop. Suffice to say...UTTER COCK!!!

[ComeNightfall]

I was introduced to Guns by my neighbor's granddaughter, who had more than a slight obsession with Axl Rose. I remember the first time I saw the "Welcome to the Jungle" video, and I was both scared and fascinated at the same time. My mom even liked them. My favorite song by GNR is "Patience." It showed their softer, acoustic side and it's just a darn good song. I knew the jig was up when the video for "November Rain" came out. It was too epic, and it looked like something Meatloaf should have done.

[poopontheshoes7]

Nightcrawler, yet another thing we can agree on. Guns N' Roses is such a great rock band. They sounded so difforent (and still do) then any other band that was out at that time.

My favorite song of theres has to be November Rain. There famous ballad.

[pig farmer]

I've loved GnR since 3rd grade. Which I guess is age.. 8. I'm 21 now, by the way.

[Korny]

yeh GNR were amazing.

Also if you have Kazaa, download a live performance video of elton john and Axl Rose singing Bohemian Rhapsody together. It's fucking awesome.

[CrazyKillah]

IMHO, this is a band that, had the members kept their egos and drug/alcohol habits in check, could have gone down in history as one of the all-time greats. They could have been to the 80s-90s what Zeppelin were to the the 60s-70s.

[LoomisFan]

Jesus Tapdancing Christ, I love Guns N' Roses! I'd have to say that my favorite GN'R songs are "Patience", "Don't Cry", and "November Rain".
In fact, I'm wearing a Guns N' Roses t-shirt, right now!
And yeah, Velvet Revolver rocks.

[Aural Pleasure]

I think that GNR is totally amazing. They are one of my favorite groups. My favorites are (in no particular order) Mr Brownstone, Pretty Tied Up, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Mama Kin, Live and Let Die, Civil War, One in a Million, and You're Crazy

[Nice Marmot]

GNR kicked major ass. Appetite is a classic rock album! I saw them in concert twice & get goosebumps remembering how both times we were waiting for ever for them to start & suddenly heard that bass line from It's So Easy blast out of the speakers.

It is such a shame that they couldn't keep it together. It only got worse to see Axl try to come back w/ the new band. That MTV awards show was one of the saddest moments for me.

[Jerk Shapiro]

Horribly overrated. Can't say I'm a fan of them or anything they do. For post-Zeppelin wannabe bands, Deep Purple's where it's at.

[SykkBoy]

I hadn't picked up anything from G-N-R for awhile, then was going through some boxes in the garage and pulled out the Appeitite cassette and plopped in the player and yup, all these years later, it's still one of the best albums of all time...

my favorite is "Mr. Bownstone"

[The Heart Collector]

I've known so many obsessive Guns 'N Roses fans it's not even funny anymore.

I will say, though, that "Estranged" has been one of my favorite songs since I was like 10, and due to emotional attachment, will always be.

[TheAxeGrinder]

Despite my opinion of GNR only having the one truly great album, that being Appetite For Destruction, I will say that they were a talented band, until Axel fucked it up for everyone involved and basically held the band for ransom. To me, Axel is in his own little world and he never really intends on releasing Chinese Democracy, preferring to rest on past successes. The guy's a homophobe and racist, and not very bright. You want new GNR material? Go for Velvet Revolver.

[JustOneFix]

I grew up with the Gunners. Favourite album? Use Your Illusion II. Favourite song? Locomotive. Chinese Democracy is a joke. It will never come out.

From what I've heard , Axl DJ'd at a club in Florida awhile ago. He played the entire new album for the crowd and, needless
to say, it pretty much fell on deaf ears.

Velvet Revolver sounds like a publicity stunt to me although I do like Slither.

[Andrew Tom]

I did like GNR back when, and I do like some of their songs even still. But the problem to me is that Axl Rose isn't a very good singer. That's why I love Velvet Revolver now. It has most of the talent that was behind Appetite For Destruction and a very good singer, IMO.

[Pvt. Joker]

Guns and Roses is one of my favorite bands of all time. I still have the posters I would cut out of old metal mags. Axl has an amzing voice, Slash is one of the greats on the guitar, Duff was definently cool, Izzy was a bit wierd and the rest I don't care about. They have one of the greatest lists of songs from Rocket Queen to November Rain to Crazy to Patience hands down one of the greatest. My only wish is that I would have gotten to seen them play when they were touring with Metallica.

I don't care about the fact that Axl's a dick I ignore him and his bullshit and just listen to the great music.

Velvet Revolver does rock although I can't help but think some of those songs would have been better suited for Axl.....oh well.

[bankholdup]

They've got great stuff, and they've got weak stuff. But their style is great, no doubt. November Rain is one of the 5 best songs of all-time (not to mention one of the best videos, too). Don't Cry is probably my second favorite of theirs (which coincidentally has a great video, as well).

[Pvt. Joker]

Originally posted by bankholdup
They've got great stuff, and they've got weak stuff.

Yup, the whole spaghetti incident album........weak, so weak:mad:

[Beowulf]

I just ordered "Illusions II" and "Lies" from BMG Music, which means I should have them in time for Christmas. :eek:

[Jake01]

Yeah, there pretty good. AFD is a classic, and while the UYI albums are good too, they could of just taken the good songs from both, cut out the filler, and made it one CD. If they would've done that it could of been one of the best rock albums ever.

[bowieee]

Estranged = Musical video bliss

[Frank the Tank]

Originally posted by Jake01
Yeah, there pretty good. AFD is a classic, and while the UYI albums are good too, they could of just taken the good songs from both, cut out the filler, and made it one CD. If they would've done that it could of been one of the best rock albums ever.

Exactly, IMO it would've looked like this

1. Right Next Door To Hell
2. Live and Let Die
3. You Could Be Mine
4. Don't Cry
5. Dust N' Bones
6. Breakdown
7. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
8. Bad Obsession
9. Double Talkin' Jive
10. Perfect Crime
11. So Fine
12. You Ain't The First
13. Civil War
14. Locomotive
15. Estranged
16. Coma
17. November Rain

[Pvt. Joker]

I think I would have to put shot gun blues on that list.

[SykkBoy]

I would sneak "Garden of Eden" on the list and of course "Mr. Brownstone"

[Frank the Tank]

Originally posted by SykkBoy
I would sneak "Garden of Eden" on the list and of course "Mr. Brownstone"

It's supposed to be songs from both UYI's so of course Mr. Brownstone is not on it.

[Benny]

Frank-
Take off "You Ain't the First" and "Double Talking Jive" and replace them with "Pretty Tied Up" and "Dead Horse" and sneak "Yesterdays" on there and you got yourself an awesome CD.

Yeah, GNR has been one of my favorite bands since 8th grade. It's too bad they only made 5 albums, but maybe if they had made anymore like "Spaghetti" then they would have become another forgotten late 80s/early 90s rock band. But "Appetite" the both Illusions are classics, and "Lies" has a few good songs on it too. The Live Era CD, even though the sound quality is not great and there's very little info about the songs, still is a fun listen as well.

Velvet Revolver does not hold a candle to GNR, and poor Axl is stuck in a studio getting fat and pretending that he's gonna release another album. Chinese Democracy, like the album's title, is not gonna happen, so deal with it and remember the great stuff this band has given us in the past.

[X-Nightcrawler]

Bump! Just wanting to revive this thread now that my love for Guns is boosting.

[SkyNet]

ya man, i also fuckin love GnR... new and old, to be honest.

One of my fav songs of all time is November Rain... the final Guitar, Piano, Symphony riffs is seriously the greatest 2 minutes ever recorded!

I also love Dont Cry... shit i shouldnt even mention all the songs i love by GnR... cuz its basically all of them!

They had that new song Madagascar, that i had downloaded like 2 years ago, and have it on a cd now, its a live version from japan i think... kick ass tune and will be awesome when fucking Chinese Democracy gets released in the USA!

As for Velvet Revolver, they havnt done anything that has really knocked me out yet... im sure they can though... because both GnR and STP have songs that have knocked me out. But as of yet, i just think they are eh ok!

But of course... Metallica kicks the shit out of all these bands!!

[JCR]

Originally posted by SkyNet
will be awesome when fucking Chinese Democracy gets released in the USA

IF fucking Chinese Democracy gets released in the USA. IF is the word you're looking for.

I like GNR musically but there really is no defense for the lyrics to one in a million* or the image of a raped woman with the phrase 'Axl was here' painted above. A shame really, cos AFD is one of the best metal records ever.

*"Police and niggers get out of my way,
They come to our country and do as they please,
They speak so many god damn ways, it's all greek to me"

Then Axl had the cheek to imply anyone who disapproved of that song was pro censorship!

[Inglorious]

GnR is spectacular. There are people who will criticize their LIVE performaces negatively... but I say they are great regardless. Hear the lyrics, forgive some of the actions stated above this post and just enjoy the artistic and beautiful rock they have provided.

[darchangel]

while I've taken to calling him HAXL Rose as of lately, i maintain that their cover of 'Sympathy for the Devil' is the....



best.

cover.

EVER.



Through Like Crue

~darchangel~

[AwesomeJ33]

Okay, Okay,Okay.

I'm 33, which makes me a little older than some posting in here and I was in High School for the GNR explosion of the late 80's.

Appetite is a legendary album. Period the end.

Use your Illusions? Blue one is solid, Estranged is classic.
Yellow one was shite.

Lies & Spaghetti were covers, but you had a few gems on Lies like 1 in a million and Used to Love Her.

Bottom Line is they never lived up to Appetite and in my mind are the biggest underachievers in rock history. Once Izzy left it was all down hill from there. They had balls on Appetite and turned into the mainstream hairband sound with there power ballad bullshit. Did you see that crap on the MTV awards show a couple years back.

Whatever.

[Inglorious]

Originally posted by JCR
...or the image of a raped woman with the phrase 'Axl was here' painted above.

Where was/is this picture?

[bigred760]

I always liked their music, but never bought any CDs until their Greatest Hits album a few months ago. That's a kickass album. Always liked "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child of Mine," "November Rain," and their cover of the Rollin' Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil." I like their spin on it.
Right on - darchangel
Too bad Axl Rose is somewhat of an asshole.

[Genghis Khan]

Guns N' Roses kicks ass! Slash is my absolute favorite guitarist of all time, the man is simply awesome. Velvet Revolver is probably one of my favorite bands that is out right now. Slither is an awesome song. My favorite GNR songs are Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Civil War, Live and Let Die, Sympathy for the Devil, Sweet Child O' Mine, and Knockin' On Heaven's Door. Oh and Axl can go fuck himself.

Rock On!!
:cool:

[Scorniro]

I'm doing English Language at college and this review of Appetite for Destruction was one of my pieces of coursework this year. It was supposed to be found in a magazine. I wasn't too pleased with it at all, I had to finish it far, far too prematurely due to a ridiculous word count rule and I could have written a magazine on the band, let alone an article, such is my knowledge of them. I love their work. Bunch of motherfuckers. Obviously parts of this are supposed to be in italics but I can't be arsed editing it on here.

Nobody has hit a peak and subsequently fallen from grace ever quite as dramatically - and suddenly - as G ‘N’ R. They became the biggest (and momentarily best) rock band in the world after the release of this album, probably jousting with AC/DC’s Back in Black fo hard rock album of the eighties. This is the one case study in rock history where an artis trulyt went as good as it gets and then sunk into well documented mediocrity with extra ‘ouch’. It is almost depressing to see the potential that was wasted for the sake of a few years of livin’ it up for a few individuals. The world’s loss.

Guns ‘N’ Roses started life as a collection of musicians stolen from L.A. Guns: former band of Steven Adler (drummer), Duff ‘Rose’ McKagan (bassist) and more importantly Slash, considered by some as one of the greatest recent guitarists. They were stolen by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin who had formed and fallen out with several bands of their own around Los Angeles. Their original playlist consisted of six covers, the only well known one being Aerosmiths’ Mama Kin. Famously hitch hiking around the South West from one gig to another in attempt to boost their profile; it was once they began writing their own material that they became aware of each others talents and the chemistry they possessed together. The result of their first writing session was Don’t Cry, a dry rock-love ballad, which was to be quickly followed up by the jazzy drugs battler Bad Obsession. After hearing these two mini-gems, people became very excited. Something big seemed to be on the horizon. Unfortunately in a relative sense it came over the horizon at sunrise, flew over everyone’s heads at Mach V and seared into the darker sunset. However this didn’t all happen before they left us something to remember them by: Appetite for Destruction.


From the opening bars of the now infamous Welcome to the jungle the album holds a legendary quality to it. As Slash’s and Stradlin’s guitars rise up from the original echoing tabs, the album is something special, something more than ordinary. The riffs on this track are as funky as it gets (up until the point when you listen to track 5) from the first chord to the last and while Axl Rose’s vocals are not fantastically performed this still makes for a song to have a good time to. Written in harsh resentment of the sleazy L.A. he was living in, the lyrics don’t quite stick two fingers up as prominently as Rose would like at the city (resorting to screaming ‘you’re gonna die’ as loudly and as elongated as possible at one point), but the music is glorious.

The second instalment is It’s so easy, lyrically as moronic as Guns ‘N’ Roses ever got, but on this album as varied as the music gets. Although coupled with the compulsory impressive Slash guitar solo, he doesn’t contribute on it with the usual epic repeatable riff and intro as with every other song on this album and throughout most of Guns ‘N’ Roses later career. The music still stays powerful nevertheless as the band speed through the song but do not rush, creating an agreeable and different rhythm. As mentioned above, It’s so easy contains the most moronic lyrics ever written by Axl Rose (‘Turn around bitch I got a use for you, besides you aint got nothing better to do, and I’m bored’) and this probably heaped on the case against Guns ‘N’ Roses being ‘good taste’ and also strengthened their adolescent fan-base, ruining their chances of being taken seriously by a more intelligent audience.

We then return to the tried and trusted method of Slash’s fabulous intro/repeatable riff formula for tracks three and four, Nightrain and Out ta get me. The former a showy self serving ‘I’m cool’ alcohol portrayal of Rose out on the town on the vodka of the same name, the latter Rose’s account of his apparent discrimination from the California police force. He may have had a point, especially once G ‘N’ R became well known around L.A., but either way this a somewhat overly paranoid affair. Of course, the guitars, drums, and bass are splendid.

Next up is the everlastingly, undeniably funky, small scale masterpiece Mr Brownstone. Debatably the best riff on the album and maybe, just maybe, one the greatest riffs of recent years. The drums are steadily in sync, the bass holds firm and for the first time on the album the lyrics are great, describing the life of a heroin addict and the desperation of the cravings with sharp accuracy. Of course Rose was by now an expert on the matter and Slash’s inspired playing comes straight from first hand heroin abuse. The riff is simply stylish beyond belief and has the ability to move any pair of hips in any bar room. The fact that this wasn’t even released as a single shows the strength of the album as a unit.

Track six is the much loved anthem Paradise City. Rose’s vocals once again aren’t great and although Slash’s intro is once again superb, his guitars aren’t as sharp as at other points on the album and have a distinctly lazy feel to them up until the improved jam in the final minute and a half. Even then it feels like simply that – a jam in which he is striking random notes to please himself. During the verses Rose’s distant vocals and both guitarists’ fatigued four note strums do not satisfy or live up to the songs considerable reputation. The final jam is briefly entertaining but that sentiment is soon replaced by one of disappointment.

The following track My Michelle begins with a curiosity-inducing melancholy guitar sound, Stradlin and Slash are seemingly taking a mellow approach before we are hurled into familiar territory and the good ol’ heavy metal tabs kick in once more. It is surprising that we are not bored to hear these tabs once again and that is a testament to the work of Slash and Izzy Stradlin. The rest of the song turns out to be another enjoyable hard rocker with Rose’s vocals improving as the song is tactically rushed. Think about You seems to carry on exactly where Michelle left off, kicking in almost immediately at an alarming pace and once again, sounds ‘live fast die young’ enough to appear unrushed. Another cracker, with an added bonus: Rose’s vocals. Some strange transformation has happened, the whine is still in the singer’s voice but it now seems attractive and with forty seconds left to go he suddenly breaks into a remarkable note-holder, and then a second one. It is a pleasant surprise and a nice alteration on Rose’s normal tendency to screech or scream over-aggressively. Fortunately he keeps it up in the next track.

‘Every successful album needs a super hit’ is a common theory, acknowledged by some and disregarded by others. If someone wanted to prove this an album they would probably have to mention is Appetite for destruction. The song on it, of course, would be Sweet Child O’ Mine. Considered by many as one of the ultimate rock-love ballads of all time, the song is beautiful in its performance and structure. That riff opens, followed by perfectly balanced bass and then drums kicking in about forty seconds in. The two solos are a joy to the ears and Slash truly excels himself without reward here (his only ‘best guitar solo’ win from The Rock ‘n’ Roll hall of fame came on November Rain). While Axl Rose isn’t the greatest of vocalists, something about his singing sticks in the head after hearing this, originally a poem he wrote about a childhood sweetheart. The guitars were created on the back of a jamming session in which Slash was ‘just playing around’ and created the masterwork that is instantly recognisable today. Although the single was released after the album, this definitely sold the album to many millions of people; the figures overlapping the 20 million mark last year and still going.

The heights of the previous track set the album up for its only fall, which happens sharply. The next two tracks are remarkably so-so, with You’re crazy and Anything Goes both returning with a lack of wit that had always been there but had before been tolerable. This time it is much more in-your-face and mocking you, making for almost unbelievable nuisance as the rest of the album seems far away. The final track, Rocket Queen, thankfully returns the wit, combining two songs which combine stories of Rose’s childhood romance (again) and a wild night of sex (this taken to literal extremes as Rose’s then girlfriend was brought to orgasm in the studio and recorded doing so) with slanging afters. The final three tracks do not bring us down gently but would be exceptional on, say, a Lostprophets album. The album is finished starkly but with no removal of effect.

[X-Nightcrawler]

That's interesting. I wasn't aware that Appetite was such a respected album (at least among music knowhows). I understand why though, simply fantastic from the first to the last track.

[Scorniro]

Well to be fair it isn't, probably because the band were a bunch of immature morons, and I tried to explain that in my article. Their lyrics did them no favours in being respected by more intelligent people, the only people who really cared remotely about that were Slash and Duff, and they were on so much drink and drugs at the time they wouldn't care at all about such things.