Who was more important/more talented in GN'R?

[Vincent Vega]

Who was the more important and/or more talented member?

[bacardimayne]

Judging by what they've put out since 1996, Axl.

[RocketKing99]

Top 5:

1. Axl

2. Izzy

3. Pitman

4. Slash

5. Fink

[The Glow Inc.]

1.Axl

2.Izzy

3.Slash

4.Buckethead

5.Finck

But as far as performing live goes, my list would be VERY different

[GUNSNROSES513]

classic guns was like a pizza. Izzy, Duff and Steve were the crust.... Axl was the Cheese and Slash was the sauce. You need them all for the full experience.

[seely]

As great as Slash is, Axl IS the heart of GN'R

[iluvduff]

Axl

[Rovim]

Like asking which part is more important in a car: the wheels or the engine.

I guess Axl has the edge but only because it's harder to replace the human voice in comparison to a guitar sound.

Make better polls, Miser.

Edited December 19, 2010 by Rovim

[sleeper]

I voted for Slash because he is wonderful! But in the mix of GNR I think they were equal. Maybe an edge to Axl as the great singer he is.

Edited December 19, 2010 by sleeper

[Roy_GNR]

Axl, he is the heart of GNR, one of the best vocalists in the history. Without him GNR couldn't become such a legend.

[SunnyDRE]

both.

neither would have "made it" without the other.......I think thats probaly the truth, behind all the animosity between the two.

[mrandyk]

Im not so sure Axl was as important to getting the band off the ground as all of you like to think. They were definitely much better off with him until he decided to quit functioning (all the great bands have messy break ups) though. Without Axl the music on Appetite is probably still there for the most part. Jungle wouldnt be the same thing at all because Axl is what makes the song, SCOM wouldnt have happened because Axl is the only one who saw it going somewhere, Anything Goes obviously would be gone, but the others would all still be there for some other singer to fill in the spaces. If Slash is gone then Jungle is gone as he wrote most of the music, Nightrain would be gone, Brownstone would be gone, Paradise City would be gone, SCOM would be gone, and Rocket Queen would be gone. It goes without saying that both are necessary to make a great band, Slash just contributed more than Axl. Id go as far to say that Izzy was as, if not more, important than Axl. But they likely wouldnt have gotten anywhere if you are missing any of the three.

[Bumble's Bridge Pickup]

Axl is the more talented guy. Slash is the nicer, friendlier person.

[Young_Gun]

both.

neither would have "made it" without the other.......I think thats probaly the truth, behind all the animosity between the two.

This.

You guys can harp on about Axl being the heart of the band or having the voice. But there would be no Sweet Child without Slash. There would be no Jungle without Slash or Axl. I can't downplay Izzy's importance either in writing the actual song structure. This isn't Megadeth, Guns were greater than their individual parts.

[Velvet-Rose]

When will people understand that Guns n Roses was not and is not a one man band.

Guns n Roses was a collection of insanely talented individuals coming together to create something even greater than could be achieved individually.

They have all produced some great songs since...but nothing as solid and consistant as Guns n Roses music.

Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff, Adler = Guns n Roses.

Each one's sound and imput is as important as the next. Dont rule out Adler either. His drumming sets AFD apart from any generic drumming out there. It has its own personality rather than being something that could easily be a machine beat.

Axl alone = Axl

Slash alone = Slash

Izzy alone = Izzy

Duff alone = Duff

Adler alone = A hole heap of crazy shit.

Together = Guns n Roses.

Rant over.

[mrandyk]

When will people understand that Guns n Roses was not and is not a one man band.

Guns n Roses was a collection of insanely talented individuals coming together to create something even greater than could be achieved individually.

They have all produced some great songs since...but nothing as solid and consistant as Guns n Roses music.

Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff, Adler = Guns n Roses.

Each one's sound and imput is as important as the next. Dont rule out Adler either. His drumming sets AFD apart from any generic drumming out there. It has its own personality rather than being something that could easily be a machine beat.

Axl alone = Axl

Slash alone = Slash

Izzy alone = Izzy

Duff alone = Duff

Adler alone = A hole heap of crazy shit.

Together = Guns n Roses.

Rant over.

Exactly

[sergiodefenders]

Both, but with out Slash, Guns would be like a garage band like Hollywood Rose nowdays (or something like that). If GNR sounded bluesy and heavy was because of Slash style. So, Axl was imporatnt to the Guns image and the message of the lyrics, but Slash defined the style of Guns n' Roses, that's why when he left, Guns lost his reconized sound.

Edited December 27, 2010 by sergiodefenders

[Vincent Vega]

Both, but with out Slash, Guns would be like a garage band like Hollywood Rose nowdays (or something like that). If GNR sounded bluesy and heavy was because of Slash style. So, Axl was imporatnt to the Guns image and the message of the lyrics, but Slash defined the style of Guns n' Roses, that's why when he left, Guns lost his reconized sound.

So, to you, Slash. Axl was just an image, nothing more. Gotcha.

[appetite4illusions]

Both were the key chemicals in the Guns formula. Guns as it was known needed all of them (even Adler) to work like the chain reaction it was.

Who is more Guns? Well, everything Axl does he does it from the perspective of Guns N' Roses, and I think his dramatic approach to how a song unfolds crafted the music from day one. Still, you can't rob Slash of his credit for having those searing melodies that dovetailed with Axl's voice like nothing else could. Axl was and is the mad director; so without him we've seen a lot of Slash's playing and music simplified to one degree on the solo albums. I say you need Axl to ultimately run the circus, he brings the soul together in a wild storm of production.

But to those who argue neither could have succeeded without the other? Slash was courted to join KISS when he was just a teenager, he was a phone call away from joining them. Axl and Izzy made a tremendous writing team and could have/did conquer the sunset strip. Duff could have stayed in Seattle and he would have headlined any one of the Grunge bands of the nineties. There never would have been Guns N' Roses as we knew it, but all these guys were shooting stars and would have gotten a shot one way or the other.

[GNR123GNR456]

Slash was more important. Slash is Guns N' Roses. Slash's post GNR work is better rock music than Axl's solo album.

I don't know how "Slash is Guns N' Roses" when he hasn't been in the band for 15 years.

[Orsys]

both.

neither would have "made it" without the other.......I think thats probaly the truth, behind all the animosity between the two.

This.

You guys can harp on about Axl being the heart of the band or having the voice. But there would be no Sweet Child without Slash. There would be no Jungle without Slash or Axl. I can't downplay Izzy's importance either in writing the actual song structure. This isn't Megadeth, Guns were greater than their individual parts.

But wasn't it Steven Adler, not Slash, that recognized Slash's finger exercise as a great rif which became SCOM? Actually, wasn't it Adler who identified which specific guys it would take to make a great rock band (according to Adler). Hey, it was down to Adler after all.

[Vincent Vega]

Axl and Izzy made a tremendous writing team and could have/did conquer the sunset strip.

The problem with your theory is before Slash and Steven joined Axl and Izzy had yet to come up with any epic songs and they had not yet "conquered" Sunset Strip.. As a matter of fact they were struggling to get bottom billing playing weeknights never mind headlining weekends which they eventually did after Slash and Steven completed the band and they played their first show together , June 6th 1985, at the Troubadour as the AFD era GnR. Even then they were not weekend headliners and had to work their way up to 'conquering" Sunset Strip.

Based on the evidence in Marc Canters incredible book GnR before Slash and Steven GNR was just another struggling band trying to make a name for themselves............

Yup....Axl is crap, we get it ClassicCrawker. Slash was GN'R and he wrote every single song, Axl just rode off his greatness. We get it buddy, we get it. Keep saying it.

[The Glow Inc.]

Slash is Guns N' Roses.

Then Guns n' Roses turned to utter shite after the Ain't Life Grand album IMO...

[FuddMckagan]

Axl and Izzy made a tremendous writing team and could have/did conquer the sunset strip.

The problem with your theory is before Slash and Steven joined Axl and Izzy had yet to come up with any epic songs and they had not yet "conquered" Sunset Strip.. As a matter of fact they were struggling to get bottom billing playing weeknights never mind headlining weekends which they eventually did after Slash and Steven completed the band and they played their first show together , June 6th 1985, at the Troubadour as the AFD era GnR. Even then they were not weekend headliners and had to work their way up to 'conquering" Sunset Strip.

Based on the evidence in Marc Canters incredible book GnR before Slash and Steven GNR was just another struggling band trying to make a name for themselves............

Yup....Axl is crap, we get it ClassicCrawker. Slash was GN'R and he wrote every single song, Axl just rode off his greatness. We get it buddy, we get it. Keep saying it.

Why would you make a thread that requires opinion then rag on people when they offer it?

C'mon now.

[Rachel Gunner]

Axl.