Rawk Or Not Vol. 2: Guns 'N' Roses

[Karlifornia]

Michael Jackson 50.00%


Michael Jackson proved to be half rawk and half....Wacko Jacko. Evidently, having the greatest selling record of all time can't entirely make up for skin-bleaching, facial reconstruction, and child molestation lawsuits...


Anyhoo, we move on to round two of RAWK..OR NOT

Guns 'N' Roses exploded onto the scene in the late eighties. "Appetite For Destruction" gave metal a rebirth and spawned a legion of adoring fans. "G'N'R Lies" and "Use Your Illusion I & II" helped to cement their place in rock history. Mercurial lead singer Axl Rose's egotism helped dissolve the band, and now he's an overgrown leprechaun.

So, the question is....Is G'N'R rawk...or not?

[tanglewood]

Overrated.

[Groundhog]

Loved them when I was 9 or 10. These days I'll sing a long with them on the radio or something, but I consider them a cheesy musical relic of my past.

[Joe]

f them

[IwasHere]

Too many ballads for me.

[Drake]

Out of curiosity: how old are you guys? I'm 35, which means I was in high school when GnR broke onto the scene, so I might have a different perspective. That perspective, simply put: one of the top 5 rock bands of all time.

[scooper]

Rawk. Appetite has a permanent spot in my play list. The Use Your Illusions and Lies make an occassional appearence as well. I bought the double live CD in 99. Loved it.

[Julio Riddols]

You may never get an answer from me, because I am waiting for Chinese Democracy to come out before giving an opinion.

[Crapshoot]

You may never get an answer from me, because I am waiting for Chinese Democracy to come out before giving an opinion.

Well played.. ;)

[Daimyo]

Overrated. They have a couple great songs, but IMO the appeal to them is mostly nostalgic and I'm just a bit too young (28) to get it. I imagine they'll do very well here as my impression is that there are a lot of people in the 30-35 age range.

[scooper]

Overrated. They have a couple great songs, but IMO the appeal to them is mostly nostalgic and I'm just a bit too young (28) to get it. I imagine they'll do very well here as my impression is that there are a lot of people in the 30-35 age range.

If it were all about nostagia, we'd be talking about Bang Tango or Dangerous Toys. Usually, rock music requires something to become timeless. For many rock fans, GNR is indeed timeless.

[Swaggs]

Definitely rocked. When I was in junior high.

[Drake]

Definitely rocked. When I was in junior high.

Oof. You make me feel old.

[rkmsuf]

Definitely rocked. When I was in junior high.

Exactly. I think I was first year of high school when they broke out. They were cool because they said the f word. "It's so easy...so f-ing easy!"

Great timing by GNR to break away from the "hair" bands.

[Maple Leafs]

Rawked huge. Still do.

Appetite is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Illusion is a combination great rock album sprinkled with wicked awesome power ballads.

It's too bad they all died in that plane crash in 1994. Man, what might have been.

[Schmidty]

Never could stand them.

[Vince]

I'm 24, and I think GnR rawked like no other, and I still love them.

[Schmidty]

By the way, it was never really their music that I hated, it was Axl Roses voice that I hated. It was like Edith Bunker singing in a hair band.

[scooper]

By the way, it was never really their music that I hated, it was Axl Roses voice that I hated. It was like Edith Bunker singing in a hair band.

There are other things about Axl that I hated, and still do. That's a true test of music, when I can love the songs in spite of a douche bag front man.

I mean, when Gary Glitter was caught with kiddie porn, I burned my .45 of Rock and Roll part 2. But I'm willing to overlook Axl beating up fans, alienating some great musicians and pairing of a catcher's vest with a kilt if it means I can blast My Michelle.

[sabotai]

Rawked hard core!

I still listen to Appetite a lot. That entire album is one of the few albums (CDs...) that I can listen straight through and not skip atleast one song. The entire thing is great.

[cartman]

I remember going to see INXS in concert, and G'n'R was the opening band. This was when Appetite for Destruction had just been released, and hadn't caught on yet. They were all stoned out of their minds, and absolutely sucked on stage. What a surprise it was to find out that the guys who crafted the awesome album were the same ones that were stoned out of their gourds and were so awful.

[Ksyrup]

They were definitely a fleeting infatuation for me. My aunt was a groupie out in San Fran, so I actually heard about GnR before they hit it big on MTV. I loved them for about two years, around 1989-1990, but after Lies I never bought another album. I still haven't heard the entire Use Your Illusion albums and don't care if I ever do.

Having said all of that, based strictly on the music, they have a far higher credibility factor for that era than most bands. If you factor in the soap opera stuff and the follow-up album 12+ years in the making, less so. But strictly on the music, I'd have to say rawk, even though they were all but non-existent to me once I graduated from high school.

[Ksyrup]

Rawked hard core!

I still listen to Appetite a lot. That entire album is one of the few albums (CDs...) that I can listen straight through and not skip atleast one song. The entire thing is great.

Man, I haven't heard that album since probably 1990 or 1991. Seriously. I had it on tape in high school and never even thought to buy it on CD when I made the switch in college. I'm almost a tad curious to see how the rest of the album (aside from the couple classic rocks station staples I hear prety frequently) stands up 15 years later. Almost. IIRC, I think Mr. Brownstone was the only song of theirs that outlasted their appeal.

[Raiders Army]

Appetite is a classic. Use your Illusion I and II were bloated pieces of shit. It's a toss-up in my mind, so I'll decline to vote.

[SelzShoes]

Huge peak value, very little career value. I'd go Rawk because the peak was so high, you can't deny it.

[Schmidty]

Huge peak value, very little career value. I'd go Rawk because the peak was so high, you can't deny it.

I'm sure you've been asked this before, but do you really sell shoes? If not, are you just a big Ed O'Neill fan? Just curious.

[cartman]

I'm sure you've been asked this before, but do you really sell shoes? If not, are you just a big Ed O'Neill fan? Just curious.

Here's the rest of the story:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=41776&highlight=selzshoes

[SelzShoes]

Here's the rest of the story:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=41776&highlight=selzshoes
I actually was going to look for that when Erin came up in the HON: Classic thread.

[Schmidty]

Here's the rest of the story:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=41776&highlight=selzshoes

Ah, that's a pretty cool name then. :)

[Maple Leafs]

Use your Illusion I and II were bloated pieces of shit.
Somewhat true. But you could make one kick-ass album out of those two, so that should count for something.

[BYU 14]

Somewhat true. But you could make one kick-ass album out of those two, so that should count for something.

agree with that, imagine one album with
Civil War, Don't Cry, November Rain, estranged,etc.....

Axl's lunacy detracts from their legacy somewhat, but definitely Rawk!

[Hurst2112]

Appetite was filled with great, sleazy rock songs.

New GnR is stupid.

[Maple Leafs]

agree with that, imagine one album with
Civil War, Don't Cry, November Rain, Estranged,etc.....

... 14 years, Yesterdays, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Breakdown, and of course You Could be Mine.

That would be a great album.

[judicial clerk]

in reality, most musical acts barely put together one albums-worth of good songs in their whole career. gnr did it in one shot. definitely rawk.

[st.cronin]

This was the band that proved to me that in rock and roll, the singer is completely irrelevant. Not only is it possible for a band to succeed when the singer doesn't bring anything to the table, it's possible for a band to succeed when the singer is an appalling no-talent abomination, who's not even remotely entertaining in any way.

[Lorena]

Definitely top 5 for me. They broke out when I was in high school and all my friends listened to them. When a group of friends of mine rented a limo for our prom, that's all we listened to. Nostalgic? Yeah, definitely.

LOVE THEM!!! Definitely rawk.

[st.cronin]

By the way, I don't really listen to rock radio anymore, so about the only time I ever hear gnr is when I've got the Jim Rome show on. Does anybody know where all his musical cues come from? The only two I know are gnr and the Jesus Lizard. There's a couple others that sound really good, but I don't know them.

[Karlifornia]

By the way, I don't really listen to rock radio anymore, so about the only time I ever hear gnr is when I've got the Jim Rome show on. Does anybody know where all his musical cues come from? The only two I know are gnr and the Jesus Lizard. There's a couple others that sound really good, but I don't know them.

Another one is definitely Iggy Pop & The Stooges-Lust For Life

[st.cronin]

Another one is definitely Iggy Pop & The Stooges-Lust For Life

Forgot about that one - I do know that one as well.

[Karlifornia]

Jim Rome also uses Foo Fighters-Alone+Easy Target

[stevew]

definately rock.