Guns N' Roses

A fantastic and very controversial rock band for the brief time they were together. GN'R was a welcome break from the big hair pop metal bands of the mid '80s, and they had a major impact on hard rock in the late 1980s and early '90s.

Founded by frontman Axl Rose, guitarists Slash, Izzy Stradlin, and Duff McKagan, and drummer Steve Adler (later replaced by Matt Sorum), Guns N' Roses cranked out blues-influenced hard rock with a gritty, dirty, angry edge that pop bands like Poison and Warrant couldn't dream of duplicating (not that they didn't try...).

GN'R released three major albums ("Appetite for Destruction", "Use Your Illusion I", and "Use Your Illusion II"), one EP ("GN'R Lies"), and an album full of punk rock cover songs ("The Spaghetti Incident?").

At their best, Guns N' Roses were capable of producing everything from blistering rock riots ("Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "You Could Be Mine"), beautiful love songs ("Sweet Child O' Mine", "Patience", "Don't Cry", and "Estranged"), funk/blues/metal combos ("Breakdown", "Bad Obsession", and "You Ain't the First") and more ambitious works like "Civil War", "Rocket Queen", the breathtaking "November Rain", and the epic "Coma".

The band was no stranger to controversy. Critics claimed that "Mr. Brownstone" promoted drug use and "Used to Love Her" was misogynistic, but the racism and homophobia that oozed out of "One in a Million" was much harder for fans to dismiss.

Eventually, creative differences and the surging popularity of grunge killed the band, though Axl's overblown ego and hedonism didn't help things much.

Personal note: I've forgiven GN'R for every pompous song, every late concert, every trashed hotel room, even for Axl's politically incorrect beliefs. Guns N' Roses changed my life for the better, shaking me out of my small-town slumber, giving me a tool to break free of the labels I'd been branded with in high school, and convincing me to grow my hair long. They get my eternal thanks for that, if nothing else.

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Discography!
1986: Live?!*@ Like A Suicide
1987: Appetite for Destruction
1989: GN'R Lies
1991: Use Your Illusion I
1991: Use Your Illusion II
1993: The Spaghetti Incident?

If this "new" GN'R album sounds any good, I'll add it here. Honestly, they'll have an uphill battle to convince me that it's really Guns N' Roses and not just an Axl vanity project.

There is a new incarnation of Guns N' Roses these days. With an album unfortunately titled Chinese Democracy that is never to be released and featuring all sorts of mismatched stars including, Robin Finck of NIN, Buckethead (a friend of Primus) and Brain, the most recent drummer for Primus.

To be totally accurate, the previous writeup should include Dizzy Reed as the keyboardist, as he was an official member of the band, and Gilby Clarke, Izzy Stradlin's replacement.

The current incarnation of GN'R could also include Tommy Stinson of The Replacements and Josh Freese from The Vandals who has since moved on to A Perfect Circle.

The story is essentially that Axl Rose woke up from his 9 year hiatus and encountered a world that did not need Guns N Roses. Maybe, for a brief time in between Warrant and Nirvana, the world needed Guns N' Roses, but times have changed and no one needs the phony witticism of a phrase like "Chinese Democracy". Axl Rose is not going to be the guy to talk to me about world power structures, especially not using pseudo-clever oxymoron attempts to do so.

I saw a bootleg video of their performance at "Rock In Rio" earlier this year. Axl's hair isn't gone, but who cares about that considering that his voice is totally shot. Buckethead wears a KFC chicken bucket on his head which he did long before he did anything with GN'R, but he inadvertantly looks like he is mocking Slash's tendency to wear top hats on stage. Some of their new stuff sounds like that crappy song from the 80's, Final countdown, by Europe. Intolerable.

Guns n' Roses Discography

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Guns n' Roses was a brilliant Rock band, they have split up now and all gone is their own separate directions, like slash (Ex GnR Guitarist) did Slash's Snakepit, they released 2 albums. After Snakepit Slash went onto bigger things, the band Velvet Revolver is his newest project.

Anyway back on topic, Guns n' Rose's Discography. I will tell you the release data and rate them with my own personal opinion.

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Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This was released in 1987 on July 31st. Its tracks consist of:

1. - Welcome To The Jungle - 4:32
2. - It's So Easy - 3:21
3. - Nightrain - 4:26
4. - Out Ta Get Me - 4:20
5. - Mr - Browstone - 3:46
6. - Paradise City - 6:45
7. - My Michelle - 3:38
8. - Think About You - 3:49
9. - Sweet Child O' Mine - 5:54
10. - You're Crazy - 3:16
11. - Anything Goes - 3:25
12. - Rocket Queen - 6:14

I rate this the best album they have released. The album name was thought up by the whole band, it was recorded when they were young guns and they had an 'Appetite For Destruction'. This album was Guns n' Roses break though album, it added a whole new element to hair metal. The album sold 16 million records and its still selling to this day. 5/5

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Next up is

Guns N' Roses - Lies

This was released in 1988, its tracks consist of:

1. - Reckless Life
2. - Nice Boys
3. - Move To The City
4. - Mama Kin
5. - Patience
6. - Used To Love Her
7. - You're Crazy
8. - One In A Million

This is an amazing album, its very acoustic and brilliant to relax to.

4/5

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These next 2 albums both got released on the same date 1991, September 17.

Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I, and Use your illusion II.

The tracks consist of:

Track Listings

Use your Illusion I:

1. - Right Next Door To Hell
2. - Dust N' Bones
3. - Live And Let Die
4. - Don't Cry (Original)
5. - Perfect Crime
6. - You Ain't The First
7. - Bad Obsession
8. - Back Off Bitch
9. - Double Talkin Jive
10. - November Rain
11. - The Garden (Featuring Alice Cooper)
12. - Garden Of Eden
13. - Don't Damn Me
14. - Bad Apples
15. - Dead Horse
16. - Coma

I think this album showed a turning point in Guns n' Roses, this album has more of a variety of songs, they didn't leave the hard rock tendancies but they added more bluesy and countly styles to their sound. Guns n' Roses also started writing ballads, they had made songs on 'Use Your Illusion I' that were 8 and 10 minutes long, November Rain and Coma. 5/5

Use you illusion II

Track Listings

1. - Civil War
2. - 14 Years
3. - Yesterdays
4. - Knockin On Heavens Door(Bob Dylan Cover)
5. - Get In The Ring
6. - Shotgun Blues
7. - Breakdown
8. - Pretty Tied Up
9. - Locomotive
10. - Estranged
11. - You Could Be Mine
12. - Don't Cry(Alt - Lyrics)
13. - My World

These 2 albums don't have 1 bad track on them in my opinion, well except 'My World' but that just somthing Axl Rose just concocted from nothing I guess.

5/5

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Next up,

Guns N' Roses - The Spaghetti Incident?

This was released in 1993, this is a covers album.

Track Listings

1. - Since I Don't Have You
2. - New Rose
3. - Down On The Farm
4. - Human Being
5. - Raw Power
6. - Ain't It Fun
7. - Buick Makane
8. - Hair Of The Dog
9. - Attitude
10. - Black Leather
11. - Arms Around A Memory
12. - I Don't Care About You
13. - Look At Your Game Girl

When I first listened to this album I wasnt too keen, but it has certainly grown on me. The alnum name comes from an old joke with Guns n' Roses and Steven Adler, ex-gunner's drummer.

3/5

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Guns N' Roses - Live Era 87-93

Is an album full of live songs from Gn'R, its Brutal, Raw and exciting, it captures to true esscence of what Guns n' Roses used to be. *sob*

Track Listings

1. - Nightrain
2. - Mr - Brownstone
3. - It's So Easy
4. - Welcome To The Jungle
5. - Dust N' Bones
6. - My Michelle
7. - You're Crazy
8. - Used To Love Her
9. - It's Alright
10. - November Rain
11. - Out Ta Get Me
12. - Pretty Tied Up
13. - Yesterdays
14. - Move To The City
15. - You Could Be Mine
16. - Rocket Queen
17. - Sweet Child O' Mine
18. - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
19. - Don't Cry
20. - Estranged
21. - Paradise City
4/5