Guns and Roses: Second most unfortunatate timing in history.

[MAJ Badmotherfarker]

Guns and Roses were a great band. I would argue that, besides the Ramones, they suffered from the second worst timing in music history. The Ramones met disco, and G&R met grunge.

They got classified as a "hair band", but they were just a harder version of the heroin/alcohol-fueled depression that was the early 90's. I feel that G&R really set the stage for what we saw in Peal Jam/Nirvana/etc.:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRC4H64EFk]YouTube - Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9O82ydYL_c]YouTube - Guns N' Roses - Mr. Brownstone (Ritz, 1988.02.02)[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-AYAv0IoWI]YouTube - Sweet Child O' Mine Music Video[/ame]

 

[Aaron]

For those few years, there's no doubt they were at the time, the world's greatest rock band. I agree they were the band that transitioned us from '80s hair bands into grunge.

I always dig a band that can flat out rock, then play something different like "Patience". "November Rain" is an epic!

 

[MAJ Badmotherfarker]

For those few years, there's no doubt they were at the time, the world's greatest rock band. I agree they were the band that transitioned us from '80s hair bands into grunge.

I always dig a band that can flat out rock, then play something different like "Patience". "November Rain" is an epic!

What has always killed me about G&R is how MTV made them look like a tool glam band, but the lyrics were dark as sh*t. Mr. Brownstone was one of the most honest songs about heroin I had ever heard back in 1990. They got caught up in the absolute shit that is the late 80's hair/butt rock, and never got a chance. Use your Illusion was another great album, but they were forever tied to hair/butt rock.

 

[memebag]

I've never bothered listening to Guns-n-Roses. When they came out I was listening to The Ramones still, and Pixies were the happening thing. Guns-n-Roses always sounded like MTV shite to me.

 

[goreds2]

Love Guns and Roses. They are on my XM Tune Select list.

 

[Evil_Ernie]

There's only one thing wrong with Guns N' Roses...Axl's ego.

 

[mrpacs]

Read Slash's Biography. It's very entertaining. How much of it is reality, well, that is anyone's guess. Good reading nonetheless.

 

[Casual Fan]

GNR had some good hard rock tunes but they were an average band. Axl is a great front man and Slash had some licks, but the rest of the band was horrid. I cringe at the simplistic bass and drum parts sometimes. And November Rain is a terrible, terrible, awful ballad. For some reason, every band feels the need to attempt Stairway to Heaven or the Rain Song. They almost always fail.

IMHO, "Wind of Change," by the Scorpions, "Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche, and "Love Song" by Tesla destroy "November Pain" err "Rain" in terms of a great late-80's/early 90's rock ballad.

 

[HecticArt]

I have to disagree a bit. G n R was absolutely one of the great rock and roll bands of our generation (certainly mine) but I don't think timing was as much of the problem as Axl's mental issues. He had a serious problem with LSD (Lead Singer Disease) was a control freak, threw temper tantrums, alienated his fans, and took way too long between albums. Then there was all the drugs and booze that wore them down.

I think they rode the line between rock, metal and grunge and could have kept going strong into the 90's if they didn't let the rock soap opera get the best of them.

Take the Metalica show where James got torched by the flash pot. Any normal band would have stepped up, done an extended set, helped out, and given the kids a show to remember. Instead, Axl throws a tantrum cuts the G n R show short, and next thing you know there are riots in Montreal.

If they could have kept their shit together I think they would still be puting out some great albums.

 

[semipenguin]

A lot of bands survived Grunge and Nirvana. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Beastie Boys. U2. Jane's Addiction/Prono for Pyros...:shock:

GnR imploded, or else they'd still be around. The whole was stronger then the parts. Had they been able to work out their issues, they would still have been going strong...

 

[Vargas]

I disagree with the fact that it was bad timing that destroyed GNR. It was AXL that detroyed GNR. GNR really had risen above the Hair Band personna that other bands like POISON seemed to be locked in at.

GNR could have easily survived if AXL hadn't been such a mental case.

 

[Jon]

Not only that, but AXL had bad timing with the loooooong drawn out release of Chinese Democracy. If he could have released it at a time when people still cared about GNR (or the Axl Rose band as this new incarnation should be called) then he probably would have sold more.

 

[TheScionicMan]

Yeah, they screwed themselves, especially Axl. What could you possibly be doing to go on 3 hours late for a 90 minute show? You could practice the whole set TWICE... or you could dance with Mr. Brownstone...

Oh, the irony:

The show usually starts around seven
We go on stage around nine

 

[kingchuck69]

Not only that, but AXL had bad timing with the loooooong drawn out release of Chinese Democracy. If he could have released it at a time when people still cared about GNR (or the Axl Rose band as this new incarnation should be called) then he probably would have sold more.

Plus, the CD was a Best Buy exclusive. Not every city in America has one, ya know...

 

[TheScionicMan]

And why the hell doesn't the CD have text info? The Metallica CD I got on the same day has it...