I'm aware of Guns N' Roses, though they're not my sort of band, so I've never paid attention. The tracks I'm aware of are "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Sweet Child of Mine", and "Paradise City", though if those tracks were by this band or Bon Jovi or Aerosmith or any other of the big mainstream American "mock rock" bands I wouldn't with any certainly have said, because they all merge into one for me. But they are hugely popular, so I'm having a quick look to see what I'm missing (if anything).
Guns N' Roses are an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985 from L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. After signing with Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" lineup featured vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler.
Guns N' Roses gained a local following before releasing their debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987), which initially struggled until the breakout success of the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video. The album sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling debut album in the U.S., and spawned hits like "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine". Their follow-up, G N' R Lies (1988) combined earlier material with new acoustic songs and reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies globally, and featured the hit "Patience" and the controversial "One in a Million". In 1990, Adler was replaced by Matt Sorum due to drug issues, and keyboardist Dizzy Reed joined. Their 1991 twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted at numbers two and one on the Billboard 200 and sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide. The Illusion albums contained successful singles like "You Could Be Mine", "Don't Cry", and "November Rain", as well as a series of high-budget music videos.
After finising the record-setting Use Your Illusion Tour (1991–93), Guns N' Roses released the punk covers album "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993). They then entered a turbulent phase amid lineup turmoil; several members left, leaving only Rose and Reed from the Illusion years by 1998. The band was rebuilt with new recruits, including Robin Finck, Buckethead, Tommy Stinson, Brain and Chris Pitman among others. The various lineups worked on the long-delayed Chinese Democracy (2008), which cost an estimated $14 million, making it the most expensive rock album produced. In November 2004, Geffen released Greatest Hits (2004), it became one of the longest-charting albums in the history of the Billboard 200.[1] The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Isaac Carpenter, and keyboardists Reed and Melissa Reese.
Guns N' Roses is one of the best-selling musical acts of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 100 million records. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. After years of animosity, Slash and McKagan rejoined the band in 2016 for the quasi-reunion Not in This Lifetime... Tour, which became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Known for their volatile performances, media feuds, and provocative lyrics, Guns N' Roses cultivated a reputation as "The World's Most Dangerous Band". Their fusion of punk, blues, and metal helped shift late-'80s rock away from glam rock.
AllMusic:
Guns N' Roses are the bridge separating 1980s and 1990s hard rock, the band responsible for ushering in an era of grim, gritty rock & roll. Where such peers as Mötley Crüe reveled in the decadence of Sunset Strip sleaze, Guns N' Roses focused on the grimy underbelly of the urban jungle, with guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin cranking out mean riffs that matched the dark fantasies of Axl Rose, the vocalist who led GNR with a serpentine charm. Rose countered his nasty tendencies with a romantic side, one that flourished on "Sweet Child O' Mine," the soaring ballad that went to number one in 1988, turning the band into superstars in the process. Over the next few years, GNR's 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, sold in monstrous numbers, with "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" both reaching Billboard's Top Ten and "Patience," from the 1989 EP GNR Lies, also reaching that exalted position. During this peak, Guns N' Roses were lightning rods for controversy, so they avoided trouble by whiling away in the studio crafting their sequel to Appetite for Destruction, the sprawling twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Released simultaneously in September 1991, the Illusions still were rooted in hard rock, but Rose also pursued majestic, melodramatic balladry, a trait that reached its apotheosis in "November Rain," a ballad that became their last Top Ten hit in 1992. By that point, Guns N' Roses were no longer the paragons of grubby hard rock, not after Nirvana ushered in the grunge revolution of the early '90s. The rise of alternative rock coincided with the erosion of the original GNR lineup, a slow attrition that left Axl Rose as the lone remaining founding member by the end of the '90s. He spent much of the 2000s working on his magnum opus Chinese Democracy, which he delivered in 2008, by which point the group were so out of the mainstream that they weren't even considered retro-hip. The situation would eventually change. By 2015, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan rejoined Guns N Roses, providing the band with a core of original members that would help this be a stable lineup into the 2020s, when the group showed signs of returning to active recording status via the 2022 EP Hard Skool.
Albums
 |
| Appetite for Destruction (1987) |
A mostly rather ordinary "mock rock" album, which on release critics rightly dismissed as derivative and nothing special. But some of the singles were very popular, and the album became a huge seller, so critics are now more positive, and the album is often included on polls as one of the best hard rock albums of the Eighties (which was a particularly poor time for most forms of music). "Child O' Mine" is the best track - it is a well made and decent track, and I think it is that track which is responsible for both the success of the album and for the rest of the band's career.
The key tracks with official videos:
All tracks are written by Guns N' Roses, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Welcome to the Jungle" | 4:31 | |
| 2. | "It's So Easy" |
| 3:21 |
| 3. | "Nightrain" | 4:26 | |
| 4. | "Out ta Get Me" | 4:20 | |
| 5. | "Mr. Brownstone" | 3:46 | |
| 6. | "Paradise City" | 6:46 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Michelle" | 3:39 | |
| 2. | "Think About You" | 3:50 | |
| 3. | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | 5:55 | |
| 4. | "You're Crazy" | 3:16 | |
| 5. | "Anything Goes" |
| 3:25 |
| 6. | "Rocket Queen" | 6:13 |
AllMusic:
Score: 4
Score: 4
 |
| G N' R Lies (1988) |
This feels very like a quick, record company pushed, follow up to catch the success of the debut album. It's a short album, consisting of, side one - named 1986, when the tracks were recorded, the four tracks from the Live Like a Suicide EP released before the band signed to Geffin, and side two - named 1988 when the tracks were record, four hastily recorded acoustic tracks done when the singer, Axl Rose, was tired from touring, and his voice was rough.
It's not a good album. "Patience" was the single.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Reckless Life" | 3:23 | |
| 2. | "Nice Boys" (Rose Tattoo cover) | 3:01 | |
| 3. | "Move to the City" |
| 3:42 |
| 4. | "Mama Kin" (Aerosmith cover) | Steven Tyler | 3:57 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Patience" | Guns N' Roses | 5:56 |
| 6. | "Used to Love Her" | Guns N' Roses | 3:13 |
| 7. | "You're Crazy" | Guns N' Roses | 4:10 |
| 8. | "One in a Million" | Guns N' Roses | 6:09 |
 |
| Use Your Illusion I (1991) |
Essentially a double album released simultaneously as two discs, as used to sometimes happen in the early Seventies to allow buyers on a low budget to spread the cost. Due to the success of the debut album, and this being the first proper follow up (I don't think most folks were fooled by Lies) to the hugely popular debut, it sold strongly, but critics were (and are still not) impressed by the amount of filler. Essentially there's not a lot to like here. But people bought into the Guns N' Roses imagery, and in general enough people like mainstream mock rock (such as New York Dolls, Aerosmith, etc) for Illusion to be very successful.
The singles:
"Don't Cry" - a slow and somewhat boring "power ballad". The video is equally boring and cliched, and somewhat expensively overdone to no good effect. It is the band playing, interspersed with dramatic moments from Rose's relationship with his girlfriend. It reached the charts in several countries.
"Live And Let Die" - a poor cover of McCartney's modest but workmanlike theme song for the Bond film. The video is of the band playing on stage. Rose wearing a long kilt. It reached the charts in several countries.
"Cold November Rain" - a very long, boring, and cliched mainstream "power ballad". The video is the band playing (usually in slo-mo) either in the desert or in an ornate theatre interspersed with clips of Rose getting married. It was the most successful of the three singles, reaching top 10 or top 5 in several key countries.
There is a lot of cliched, everyday filler, and even the key tracks are dull. The best of the singles is probably the cover of McCartney's "Live And Let Die". "Coma" is hard and fast like metal, especially at the start, and if shorter and more daring could have been good, but it goes on way too long, squeezing out the same old ideas until it becomes rather thin and ragged at the end. "Right Next Door To Hell" is a rocky little number with decent lyrics, kind of like "Help", in which there are expectations on the narrator which he's having problems living with. It was written after Rose's neighbour falsely accused him of hitting her with a bottle, and he was arrested. "Double Talkin' Jive" is another decent speed rocker, full of energy, though soon fades from the mind when its done.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Right Next Door to Hell" |
| 3:02 |
| 2. | "Dust N' Bones" |
| 4:58 |
| 3. | "Live and Let Die" (Wings cover) | 3:04 | |
| 4. | "Don't Cry" |
| 4:44 |
| 5. | "Perfect Crime" |
| 2:23 |
| 6. | "You Ain't the First" | Stradlin | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Bad Obsession" |
| 5:28 |
| 8. | "Back Off Bitch" |
| 5:03 |
| 9. | "Double Talkin' Jive" | Stradlin | 3:23 |
| 10. | "November Rain" | Rose | 8:57 |
| 11. | "The Garden" (featuring Alice Cooper) |
| 5:22 |
| 12. | "Garden of Eden" |
| 2:41 |
| 13. | "Don't Damn Me" |
| 5:18 |
| 14. | "Bad Apples" |
| 4:28 |
| 15. | "Dead Horse" | Rose | 4:17 |
| 16. | "Coma" |
| 10:13 |
 |
| Use Your Illusion II (1991) |
A calmer and less interesting album than Illusion I, this does. though. have the decent cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", which was very popular around the world, though less so in the US. My main knowledge of Guns N' Roses is ":Knockin'". The single "You Could Be Mine" also had some reasonable success, largely due to its use in the mega successful Terminator 2 film.
Singles
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" - a big hit, and the best track on the Illusion albums. The video is Slash playing guitar interspersed with Rose walking along wet streets, and then jumping in the sea
"You Could Be Mine" - a fairly predicable hard rocker which got some success due to the tie in with Terminator 2. The video follows the familiar Roses format of the band playing live, interspersed with video clips - in this case shots from the two Terminator films. Ho hum.
"Yesterdays" - appeared on numerous pop charts across the world. A sober mainstream soft rocker. The video is the band playing in a studio stage. It was shot in black and white.
"Civil War" - video of the band playing live interspersed with clips of wars. Ho hum. It had limited success.
"Estranged" - video of the band playing live interspersed with clips
"Yesterdays" - appeared on numerous pop charts across the world. A sober mainstream soft rocker. The video is the band playing in a studio stage. It was shot in black and white.
"Civil War" - video of the band playing live interspersed with clips of wars. Ho hum. It had limited success.
"Estranged" - video of the band playing live interspersed with clips
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Civil War" | 7:42 | |
| 2. | "14 Years" |
| 4:21 |
| 3. | "Yesterdays" |
| 3:14 |
| 4. | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) | Dylan | 5:36 |
| 5. | "Get in the Ring" |
| 5:42 |
| 6. | "Shotgun Blues" | Rose | 3:26 |
| 7. | "Breakdown" | Rose | 7:04 |
| 8. | "Pretty Tied Up" ("The Perils of Rock n' Roll Decadence") | Stradlin | 4:48 |
| 9. | "Locomotive (Complicity)" |
| 8:42 |
| 10. | "So Fine" | McKagan | 4:08 |
| 11. | "Estranged" | Rose | 9:23 |
| 12. | "You Could Be Mine" |
| 5:43 |
| 13. | "Don't Cry" (Alternate Lyrics) |
| 4:45 |
| 14. | "My World" | Rose | 1:24 |
 |
| "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993) |
Covers album of mostly Seventies material. Interesting selection of tracks. I don't think Roses add much to them. This is an interesting curiosity rather than something essential.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Since I Don't Have You" | Joseph Rock, et al | The Skyliners | 4:20 |
| 2. | "New Rose" | Brian James | The Damned | 2:38 |
| 3. | "Down on the Farm" | Gibbs, Harper, Garratt | U.K. Subs | 3:29 |
| 4. | "Human Being" | Thunders, Johansen | New York Dolls | 6:48 |
| 5. | "Raw Power" | Iggy Pop, James Williamson | The Stooges | 3:12 |
| 6. | "Ain't It Fun" | Chrome, Laughner | Dead Boys | 5:06 |
| 7. | "Buick Makane" | Marc Bolan / Chris Cornell | T. Rex / Soundgarden | 2:40 |
| 8. | "Hair of the Dog" | McCafferty, Agnew, Charlton, Sweet | Nazareth | 3:55 |
| 9. | "Attitude" | Glenn Danzig | Misfits | 1:27 |
| 10. | "Black Leather" | Steve Jones | Sex Pistols | 4:09 |
| 11. | "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" | Johnny Thunders | Johnny Thunders | 3:35 |
| 12. | "I Don't Care About You" | Lee Ving | Fear | 2:17 |
| 13. | "Look at Your Game, Girl" | Charles Manson | Charles Manson | 2:34 |
 |
| Live Era '87–'93 (1999) |
It's an OK album.
All music and lyrics written by Guns N' Roses, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nightrain" (from Appetite for Destruction, 1987) | 5:19 | |
| 2. | "Mr. Brownstone" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 5:42 | |
| 3. | "It's So Easy" (from Appetite for Destruction) | Guns N' Roses, West Arkeen | 3:28 |
| 4. | "Welcome to the Jungle" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 5:09 | |
| 5. | "Dust N' Bones" (from Use Your Illusion I, 1991) | Slash, Stradlin, McKagan | 5:05 |
| 6. | "My Michelle" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 3:53 | |
| 7. | "You're Crazy" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 4:45 | |
| 8. | "Used to Love Her" (from G N' R Lies) | 4:17 | |
| 9. | "Patience" (from G N' R Lies) | 6:42 | |
| 10. | "It's Alright" (Black Sabbath cover) | Bill Ward | 3:07 |
| 11. | "November Rain" (from Use Your Illusion I) | Rose | 12:32 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Out ta Get Me" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 4:33 | |
| 2. | "Pretty Tied Up" (from Use Your Illusion II, 1991) | Stradlin | 5:25 |
| 3. | "Yesterdays" (from Use Your Illusion II) | Rose, Arkeen, James, McCloud | 3:52 |
| 4. | "Move to the City" (from Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, 1986) | Stradlin, Chris Weber, Daniel Nicolson | 8:00 |
| 5. | "You Could Be Mine" (from Use Your Illusion II) | Rose, Stradlin | 6:02 |
| 6. | "Rocket Queen" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 8:27 | |
| 7. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 7:25 | |
| 8. | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (from Use Your Illusion II) | Bob Dylan | 7:27 |
| 9. | "Don't Cry" (from Use Your Illusion I) | Rose, Stradlin | 4:44 |
| 10. | "Estranged" (from Use Your Illusion II) | Rose | 9:52 |
| 11. | "Paradise City" (from Appetite for Destruction) | 7:22 |
AllMusic:
Score: 3.5
Score: 3.5
 |
| Greatest Hits (2004) |
Useful.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Welcome to the Jungle" | Axl Rose, Jeffrey Isbell, Saul Hudson, Michael McKagan, Steven Adler | 4:32 |
| 2. | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan, Adler | 5:55 |
| 3. | "Shadow of Your Love" | Rose, Stradlin, Paul Tobias | 3:06 |
| 4. | "Patience" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan, Adler | 5:56 |
| 5. | "Paradise City" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan, Adler | 6:47 |
| 6. | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) | Bob Dylan | 5:36 |
| 7. | "Civil War" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan | 7:42 |
| 8. | "You Could Be Mine" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan | 5:44 |
| 9. | "Don't Cry" (original version) | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan | 4:51 |
| 10. | "November Rain" | Rose, Isbell, Hudson, McKagan | 8:57 |
| 11. | "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney and Wings Cover version) | Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney | 3:02 |
| 12. | "Yesterdays" | Rose, West Arkeen, Del James, Billy McCloud | 3:18 |
| 13. | "Ain't It Fun (LP version)" (Dead Boys cover) | Cheetah Chrome, Peter Laughner | 5:10 |
| 14. | "Since I Don't Have You" (The Skyliners cover) | Jackie Taylor, James Beaumont, Janet Vogel, Joseph Rock, Joe Verscharen, Lennie Martin, Wally Lester | 4:18 |
| 15. | "Sympathy for the Devil" (The Rolling Stones cover) | Mick Jagger, Keith Richards | 7:36 |
AllMusic:
Score: 4
Score: 4
 |
| Chinese Democracy (2008) |
Famous more for the long delay and expense, and that all the band members, apart from Rose had left the band, than for the music. It is long and tiresome; not that bad, but nothing really stands out for me. It puts me in mind of the Stone Roses long awaited second album, beautifully titled Second Coming. It was pretty universally slammed when it came out, as we'd waited so long for the second album by the most interesting, exciting, and influential band at the time, only to find they hadn't gone forward - they hadn't even stood still. They had gone backwards. Looking back, we were all a bit harsh, as it is still an inventive and magic album, and clearly stands head and shoulders over Chinese Democracy (other opinions are available), but I think it is hard for a band to produce a worthwhile album when you're not at the top of your confidence, and are closed by expectations and stress. Chinese Democracy and Second Coming lack playfulness and swagger, which both bands had in spades previously.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chinese Democracy" | 4:43 | |
| 2. | "Shackler's Revenge" |
| 3:37 |
| 3. | "Better" |
| 4:58 |
| 4. | "Street of Dreams" |
| 4:46 |
| 5. | "If the World" |
| 4:54 |
| 6. | "There Was a Time" |
| 6:41 |
| 7. | "Catcher in the Rye" |
| 5:53 |
| 8. | "Scraped" |
| 3:30 |
| 9. | "Riad N' the Bedouins" |
| 4:10 |
| 10. | "Sorry" |
| 6:14 |
| 11. | "I.R.S." |
| 4:28 |
| 12. | "Madagascar" |
| 5:38 |
| 13. | "This I Love" | Rose | 5:34 |
| 14. | "Prostitute" |
| 6:15 |
Discography
G N' R Lies (1988)
Use Your Illusion I (1991)
Use Your Illusion II (1991)
"The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993)
Chinese Democracy (2008)
Links
* Setlists
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