Was there even room for another GN'R album in the 90s after the Illiusions?

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

With the rise of alternative rock, even if the band stayed together, was there room for the sound of GN'R in the 90s beyond the first few years of that decade?

[SoundOfAGun]

We'll never know because the change of the season got to Axl and made him seek a new direction for GN'R. I have always thought that they were so popular initially for the exact reason that they were not doing what everyone else was, I am of the opinion that they could have put out a quality album, somewhere between the styles and ambitions of AFD and UYI to a good reception in 95/96; hypothetically (if they could agree on material etc). Saying "fuck what everyone else is doing, here's a Guns album" would have been the most Guns N'Roses thing to do IMO!

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

4 minutes ago, SoundOfAGun said:

We'll never know because the change of the season got to Axl and made him seek a new direction for GN'R. I have always thought that they were so popular initially for the exact reason that they were not doing what everyone else was, I am of the opinion that they could have put out a quality album, somewhere between the styles and ambitions of AFD and UYI to a good reception in 95/96; hypothetically (if they could agree on material etc). Saying "fuck what everyone else is doing, here's a Guns album" would have been the most Guns N'Roses thing to do IMO!

I agree 100%

[default_]

Of course there was, and it would probably have fixed all the daddy issues Axl had with grunge and industrial at the time 'cause all the fans would love it and it would still sell alot. The Stones, Aerosmith, even fuckin Motley Crue have released albums mid 90s without losing their shit. 

Had they released a mix of Five O'Clock, Chinese, Pawnshop Guitars and whatever Duff had at the time, Axl would have time to make up his mind and see that Guns N' Roses could still deliever it. Maybe not. But I sure think it would help him to see things clearly. 

[EvanG]

There's always room for good rock albums no matter what music style is popular at the moment.

Just look at Aerosmith, their sound wasn't necessarily popular in the early to mid 90s, but they scored some of their biggest hits (thanks to MTV) in 1993 and 1994. And even in the late 90s they were scoring hits.

[Lies They Tell]

I believe that's one of the biggest reasons why GNR broke up. I mean the pressure to stay relevant when the whole rock music scene is changing.

[gnr5]

I believe a proper UYI follow up with that lineup is the greatest record not recorded in history.

[Blackstar]

There are elements and ideas in some UYI songs which could develop into a sound that would still have been GnR and at the same time relevant in the 90s. Locomotive is a great example of that imo.

[action]

if there was room for the spice girls, there was also room for the gunners

[ludurigan]

8 hours ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

With the rise of alternative rock, even if the band stayed together, was there room for the sound of GN'R in the 90s beyond the first few years of that decade?

Are you nuts?

There is always room for good music

Specially from an well know act like GNR that has millions of fans and will ALWAYS get a minimun exposure for anything they release

===

Oh, and dont forget that Axl manage to tour the world with 8 or 9 aliens by his side calling himself GNR for 15 years.

If there ever was room for THAT...

Then you can say that there is room for pretty much ANYTHING GNR related

===

Oh and check what happened when Axl removed 3 aliens and brought Slash and Duff back -- he is making so much money right now that he must be laughing out of control on the floor right now as we speak

 

[Original]

9 hours ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

With the rise of alternative rock, even if the band stayed together, was there room for the sound of GN'R in the 90s beyond the first few years of that decade?

A 2-3 year break was probably needed for all to clean up.  Maybe a solo album or 2 by various guys....then they could have recharged the batteries and gotten back at it.  Unfortunately Axl went nuts/melted down/Beta/TB/Yoda etc....and what we had was 20+ years of the 'lost years'.  But- now we have our band back...better late than never.

[blackieloveless]

there would have been , had grunge not exploded and killed the era  .

[maynard]

There's always room for good music. I laugh at thouse who have little faith in the band and say things like grunge killed GNR, epic videos made them look like a joke, etc. Velvet Revolver and Audioslave managed to sell lots of records during the nu metal era. GNR would do just fine IMO. Axl wanted to go electronic and killed the band. It was not grunge, not the 90s, not the drugs, it was Axl.

[tsinindy]

1 hour ago, blackieloveless said:

there would have been , had grunge not exploded and killed the era  .

What....era?   GnR is a rock and roll band, not metal.  Grunge didn't kill metal or hair bands either, it was already dead...Guns killed them off...and the only thing to kill Guns was Guns themselves when they imploded during & after the UYI tour was over.

Edited December 8, 2016 by tsinindy

[blackieloveless]

2 hours ago, tsinindy said:

What....era?   GnR is a rock and roll band, not metal.  Grunge didn't kill metal or hair bands either, it was already dead...Guns killed them off...and the only thing to kill Guns was Guns themselves when they imploded during & after the UYI tour was over.

No Grunge didnt kill anything ., how silly of me 

[Mendez]

All that matters is the production of the music in my opinion. I mean you look at Nirvana's Nevermind which was released in the same year as the UYIs.

Nevermind in terms of production stood the test of time way more than UYI. The drums sound amazing on Nevermind. The guitar tone is decent.

Then you look at UYI, the drums have this horrible dated reverb applied to it. Izzy's guitar was extremely low in the mix so everything sounded too empty.

Neverminds drums sound like it was recorded in a big room, and UYI sounds like its trying to sound like it was recorded in a big room.

Then you have Dizzy and Axl jerking off on rock songs with pianos that don't need it and makes them worse imo (Pretty Tied Up and Civil War being the big ones). I look at a live Civil War played by Slash and Myles Kennedy and instrumentally the song sounds so much more raw and "rocking" without the pianos. The pianos only belong where the songs started out as piano songs, like November Rain and Estranged.

And then you have Axl doing 5 layers of vocal in different octaves on songs that would have benefited without it like Locomotive and Pretty Tied Up.

And then whoever the fuck added the digital farts to Garden of Eden.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Mendez

[moreblack]

The other big acts of the era, guys like U2, Metallica, RHCP were more or less too big to be affected by whatever the new bands were doing. GNR would've been no different.

[thunderram]

5 minutes ago, moreblack said:

The other big acts of the era, guys like U2, Metallica, RHCP were more or less too big to be affected by whatever the new bands were doing. GNR would've been no different.

 

This is essentially what I was going to say. Totally agree. GNR and Metallica certainly weren't affected by grunge at all. Like all hall of fame level music acts, they were impervious to whatever else was going on at the time. And unlike many of those 90's grunge era acts, they are still quite popular to this day.

Edited December 8, 2016 by thunderram

[tsinindy]

34 minutes ago, blackieloveless said:

No Grunge didnt kill anything ., how silly of me 

Correct, grunge was just a new sound that became en vogue, hair bands/metal was already dead other than the few that transformed the genres as mentioned by others.

[maxpax]

the main and only problem was Axl himself. The songs for a new album were written by Gilby, Slash, Duff, Matt... But Axl never put his vocals on it...

So, yeah there was room. 

[Nostalgia^]

There was absolutely room for guns I feel. The UYI albums were released at the same time grunge broke into the mainstream (same month and year as Nevermind was released) and still sold really well and kept Guns a popular band for three years on the touring circuit even wile grunge was "going on"...By around 1995 the grunge hype had died down anyways (at this point we were already talking about post-Grunge bands like Bush and others) and the style of some of the UYI songs with perhaps a more alternative edge or heavier sound to it could still have been a very good record.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Nostalgia^

[Feibo]

Being a huge fan since 1989, it's the thing I find hard to understand. One album in what is it now 20 years, that's just really sad. Can't believe that it has been already 8 years again that guns launched CD. I had expected so much more GNR music in the 90's and early zero's. Axl Rose solo albums with piano (like Elton John), more solo collaborations of him with other artists, another CD album and another one (from his Prince like music vault), a live ACDC album, a few quick tracks they had lying around when the started the reunion, and so on...

But, I won't be bitter about it. It's just a shame of such a great lead singer/artist to get so few music throught all those years. When I listen to Skid Row's Wasted Time, it reminds me of seeing them as support act before Guns, and all those other gems we could have had.
 

[Nick85]

12 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

We'll never know because the change of the season got to Axl and made him seek a new direction for GN'R. I have always thought that they were so popular initially for the exact reason that they were not doing what everyone else was, I am of the opinion that they could have put out a quality album, somewhere between the styles and ambitions of AFD and UYI to a good reception in 95/96; hypothetically (if they could agree on material etc). Saying "fuck what everyone else is doing, here's a Guns album" would have been the most Guns N'Roses thing to do IMO!

This. There's some bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Stones AND Guns, who despite not being what is considered mainstream could put out an album and have it eaten up because their sound is that iconic.  For example, Aerosmith's 1993 album Get a Grip had absolutely no business going 5x platinum at a time where grunge ruled the world.  Same with AC/DC and 2008's Black Ice, which also crushed it sales wise.  If Guns stuck it out and put out an album in 96/97, I still think it would have done very well.

Having said all that, I think there was more to it than simply musical differences that drove the band apart in the mid 90s.  I think it was part of the control war, but certainly not ALL of it. 

Edited December 8, 2016 by sofine11

[PsychoKiss344]

1 hour ago, blackieloveless said:

No Grunge didnt kill anything ., how silly of me 

No it didn't...it brought back real rock.

The 80's were a joke.

Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden beats everything from the 80's glam metal scene.

[PsychoKiss344]

1 hour ago, thunderram said:

And unlike many of those 90's grunge era acts, they are still quite popular to this day.

lol.

40,000 people.