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Locomotive vs Breakdown vs Pretty Tied Up

RONIN
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RONIN GOD

RONIN

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It's time for another Illusion era Face/Off. Three of the coolest rock epics from GnR that perfectly reflected their newer, sophisticated songwriting. 

I love all three so this is a tough one. The lyrics and guitar on all three are spectacular.

Locomotive -- The chorus is weak and Axl has that cat being strangled voice but it also has the immortal coda "Love's so strange" which might be the coolest jam GnR has ever done imho. The chugging riffs of Slash are GODLY on this.

Breakdown -- The banjo opening sounds suitably log cabin-ny. Epic verses and Slash solos. Weak chorus brings it down a bit as does the ending with Axl talking over Slash's incredible solo. There's too much going on here unfortunately. This song is kickass but I feel like it would have been a masterpiece had they shortened it a bit and revised the chorus.

Pretty Tied up -- A Stradlin' masterpiece. Cool Ranch Dressing. Trust Izzy to write a song about BDSM and predict the future of Nu GNR (time went by and it became a joke). I wouldn't change a thing about this song -- even the Axl overdubs work well within the confines of Pretty Tied Up (albeit excessive perhaps).

 

Pretty Tied Up is probably the better song but I have to vote for Locomotive simply because the Coda might singularly be the best piece of music the band has ever composed imho.

What is best in life? King Arnold would say that the last 2 minutes of Locomotive is better than crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you and hearing the lamentations of their women.

Edited by RONIN
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SoundOfAGun
SoundOfAGun

Locomotive, although Breakdown has some cool lyrical imagery. Locomotive is the direction that I always hoped GN'R would have taken had they stayed together; epic, heavy and complex. 

DieselDaisy
DieselDaisy

The lyrics for ''Pretty Tied Up'' are an almost premonitory depiction of the demise of Guns N' Roses, Deadpan. Brilliant lyrics.

wasted
wasted

Breakdown is something special. It's the thing GNR do or can do that I'm not sure any other band has really done. 

oaka Senior

oaka

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I voted for Breakdown. Along with Estranged it's my favourite song from the Illusion albums. The opening lyrics "We all come in from the cold / We come down from the wire" make me feel shivers down my spine. 

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SoulMonster LEGEND

SoulMonster

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Locomotive. Fantastic lyrics. Love the choruses, Axl's numerous vocals and the chorus riffs. Fantastic when the guitars double on the last chorus ending. Maybe the most headbanging moment of UYI (together with DDM). Slash's verse riffs is lovingly different from what you expect from GN'R. Locomotive may be my favorite GN'R song.

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scooby845 GOD

scooby845

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Breakdown...but not by far from Locomotive...Pretty Tied Up third place... Breakdown I still consider one of the best openings of a song on UYI records...it is immense song all together..while Locomotive has sick outro!!

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dcon Full

dcon

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2 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

Locomotive, although Breakdown has some cool lyrical imagery.

Locomotive is the direction that I always hoped GN'R would have taken had they stayed together; epic, heavy and complex. 

Great description.  I agree.  Also love the 'freestyling' kind of drums in the verses. (Not sure how an actual musician would describe it but I know what I mean:lol:)

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Tom-Ass FRONTMAN

Tom-Ass

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Almost impossible to pick between Breakdown and Locomotive but I picked Loco.. Reasoning was just the nonsense from Axl at the end of Breakdown but they are still both amazing songs. Would love to see one of them replace Coma or a CD song.

Pretty Tied up is pretty good but not even on the same planet as those two in my eyes.

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killuridols LEGEND

killuridols

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I'm not sure why 'Pretty Tied Up' is in the question, I don't see any similarities with the other two so for me, the battle is between 'Locomotive' and 'Breakdown'. I ended up voting 'Breakdown' because that's the mood I'm currently in but other times I'm more into 'Locomotive'.

They are both great songs with few weak parts, like some of you mentioned before, they both have some of the best lyrics Axl ever wrote.

I really look forward to more songs like that in the future but I'm not sure Axl is spiritually in that place anymore :shrugs:

Edited by killuridols
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Padme FRONTMAN

Padme

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7 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Locomotive. Fantastic lyrics. Love the choruses, Axl's numerous vocals and the chorus riffs. Fantastic when the guitars double on the last chorus ending. Maybe the most headbanging moment of UYI (together with DDM). Slash's verse riffs is lovingly different from what you expect from GN'R. Locomotive may be my favorite GN'R song.

This! I agree with every word you said :thumbsup:

10 hours ago, RONIN said:

It's time for another Illusion era Face/Off. Three of the coolest rock epics from GnR that perfectly reflected their newer, sophisticated songwriting. 

I love all three so this is a tough one. The lyrics and guitar on all three are spectacular.

Locomotive -- The chorus is weak and Axl has that cat being strangled voice but it also has the immortal coda "Love's so strange" which might be the coolest jam GnR has ever done imho. The chugging riffs of Slash are GODLY on this.

Breakdown -- The banjo opening sounds suitably log cabin-ny. Epic verses and Slash solos. Weak chorus brings it down a bit as does the ending with Axl talking over Slash's incredible solo. There's too much going on here unfortunately. This song is kickass but I feel like it would have been a masterpiece had they shortened it a bit and revised the chorus.

Pretty Tied up -- A Stradlin' masterpiece. Cool Ranch Dressing. Trust Izzy to write a song about BDSM and predict the future of Nu GNR (time went by and it became a joke). I wouldn't change a thing about this song -- even the Axl overdubs work well within the confines of Pretty Tied Up (albeit excessive perhaps).

 

Pretty Tied Up is probably the better song but I have to vote for Locomotive simply because the Coda might singularly be the best piece of music the band has ever composed imho.

What is best in life? King Arnold would say that the last 2 minutes of Locomotive is better than crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you and hearing the lamentations of their women.

Good topic, those are three of my favorite songs. I wish I could listen to them live at some point during this tour :headbang:

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nonok Senior

nonok

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Locomotive is tied with Coma as the all-around all-time best GNR composition - it's a Slash and Axl masterpiece with brilliant soloing and riffs (one of Slash's strongest moments on the wah pedal imo) and kickass lyrics and vocal delivery from Axl (although he never quite decided which of the 3-4 voices he uses in the song to do live). And yes, the coda is something that is the closest thing to drugs since drugs. :lol: Locomotive is a monster and gets my vote.

I love Pretty Tied Up as well - it's got that signature Izzy intro and it's an eerily foreshadowing song. The only thing I don't like about it is the last verse, simply because it's hard to relate to millionaires and their existential crises (a bit like Bad Apples). A great rocker and would undoubtedly get the crowd going if they played it now.

Breakdown is a great song with a cool instrumental, but Axl's vocals and lyrics in the chorus are a bit annoying. Also the piano is a bit too excessive imo and doesn't fit in quite right. But that's just my opinon.

So yes, Locomotive ftw! :headbang:

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pugachev DEMI-GOD

pugachev

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Considering Axls vocals in 2016, I think Pretty Tied Up would be he best addition to their set lists. I prefer that song over the other two. The Tokyo performance of PTU is sublime. 

Edited by pugachev
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