Tadsy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I believe the Piano is what stands GNR apart from all the other bands of that era and that's why they stand alone. Axl had the vision and knew this, and that's why GNR is still such a big band. Let's think about it for a minute, the band is still filling stadiums 30 years after they started, not many bands can say that. But why??? Well even though it's a small catalogue it's unique! There is something in GNR for everyone, my mrs loves NR, sweet child, the casual fan loves Jungle, PC or sweet child... The catalogue has a lot of different songs doing different things and the piano is a huge part of it. It shows that GNR had the ability to create new sounds and there was more than just one layer to them. I'd probably get bored of we had 4 albums in AFD style, as others have pointed out ac/dc have released more but you can get lost in it record to record and it just all feels the same. Also, I never saw the piano in the live setting as cheesy, I love it, and although Axl has struggled on NR recently I always saw him sitting down at the piano live as a symbol of the band being so epic, it's such a brilliant change up to see live and those epic 9 minute ballads is the band at its height of succes and awesomeness for me... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Bird Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I don't think piano is a bad thing. To me keybords are more of a problem. I love 14 Years, Civil War and the Locomotive outro as they are. The piano parts are awesome on them. Axl's ballads are based on piano. They are necessary as well. The Illusions suffer from other things than from the piano. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Get In the Ring Motherfker Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I don't mind the piano on the ballads and even some other songs, what bothered about the illusions is the production and mainly Izzy being turned down ft the most part 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadsy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 16 minutes ago, Free Bird said: I don't think piano is a bad thing. To me keybords are more of a problem. I love 14 Years, Civil War and the Locomotive outro as they are. The piano parts are awesome on them. Axl's ballads are based on piano. They are necessary as well. The Illusions suffer from other things than from the piano. This! Piano isn't the issue on illusions, it's all the little quirky things in each song that are unnecessary. From strange noises at 2:10 on KOHD that resembles some sort of gun reloading (I take it that's what it is) to the ending on don't cry that's not needed, to the strange noises Axl makes at the start of so fine with his mouth, to even the intro to civil war, the phone call spiel on KOHD, there's lots of little things that annoy me... Piano certainly doesn't come into it for me personally. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stress Fracture Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) The mistake was to not have any kazoo on UYI. Edited February 20, 2017 by Stress Fracture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkenchantress Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I only love the piano in rocker songs like 14 years, Dust and bones... My favorite UYI's song is You could be mine, I think I say it all since is the one that sounds more like AFD. Anyway, I have a very unpopular opinion about November Rain Give me Patience as the big GnR ballad over NR any day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
default_ Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I honestly think they did well adding the piano and Dizzy to the band at the time. Some say songs like Civil War didnt work with the piano lines, but speccialy in the outro it gives a great approach to the song, it feels more Rock N' Roll and less Heavy Metal, what I think is great. Had they stuck to heavy metal at that time they'd be just another one and maybe the album wouldnt be as huge as it were, piano have made things different, the extra effort have made things different, its a nice thing when not exageratted as CD. Great addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I love the piano on the UYI albums. I can't play anything on piano but let me tell you this: I can air play the SHIT out of the piano parts to Pretty Tied Up! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I don't think that on most of the ''rockers'' there is much piano on UYI. For me it definitely adds something, I like the piano, and Axl's piano parts are rather interesting on most songs. And a piano can definitely rock too... just listen to Breakdown or Civil War... those songs rock and so does the piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 5 hours ago, Tadsy said: I believe the Piano is what stands GNR apart from all the other bands of that era and that's why they stand alone. It's not like GnR were the only rock band that used the piano, even in their era. I think what made them stand out was having really good songs and charismatic bandmembers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Cavalerra Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 It was certainly not a mistake, what rock band that can create a piano masterpiece like Estranged? But the most important thing is even though Dizzy looks like a complete doofus, he actually an A class keyboardist, the outro of Locomotive is prime example of his great ability. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 2 hours ago, Magnus Cavalerra said: It was certainly not a mistake, what rock band that can create a piano masterpiece like Estranged? Queen... Aerosmith, just to name two. But the list is really long, though. I love Estranged, I think it's a genius song, but it's not like there aren't other rockbands with amazing piano songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderlineCrazy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I disagree with the idea of the piano being what set them apart from other bands of their time. There are bands like Cinderella that had piano too, even Motley Crue... In my opinion, what made GNR different from the other bands was the quality of their material. Their songs were just better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracii Guns Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I like the piano. I don't like UYI as much as AFD, but I don't think that removing the piano parts would have improved those albums. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Cavalerra Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 11 minutes ago, EvanG said: Queen... Aerosmith, just to name two. But the list is really long, though. I love Estranged, I think it's a genius song, but it's not like there aren't other rockbands with amazing piano songs. Is there any song with same vein like Estranged? I mean, a power/epic ballad not regular piano rocker ala Civil War, i would like to hear it. Few years ago i regularly searching "top ten power ballad" hoping to find something similar to Estranged but wasn't satisfied. The one that maybe fall in same category is that long Meat Loaf song, but that song is cheesy as hell. So maybe you know some obscure power/epic ballad that usually missed from popular top ten list please do tell, I'll apreaciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderlineCrazy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 5 minutes ago, Magnus Cavalerra said: Is there any song with same vein like Estranged? I mean, a power/epic ballad not regular piano rocker ala Civil War, i would like to hear it. Few years ago i regularly searching "top ten power ballad" hoping to find something similar to Estranged but wasn't satisfied. The one that maybe fall in same category is that long Meat Loaf song, but that song is cheesy as hell. So maybe you know some obscure power/epic ballad that usually missed from popular top ten list please do tell, I'll apreaciate it. I think what Slash did on Estranged made that song really unique, can't think of a similar song. Queen has great epic piano songs like Save Me or (especially) Bohemian Rhapsody, though, which might be the closest thing. Well, off the top of my head anyways. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auad Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 yes...it was. A minor error in the face of so many misunderstandings along the trajectory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanG Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Magnus Cavalerra said: Is there any song with same vein like Estranged? I mean, a power/epic ballad not regular piano rocker ala Civil War, i would like to hear it. Few years ago i regularly searching "top ten power ballad" hoping to find something similar to Estranged but wasn't satisfied. The one that maybe fall in same category is that long Meat Loaf song, but that song is cheesy as hell. So maybe you know some obscure power/epic ballad that usually missed from popular top ten list please do tell, I'll apreaciate it. Uhm... not exactly obscure, but you have Bohemian Rhapsody... I know that song has been overplayed like crazy, but it has everything... melody, metal riffs, piano ballad part, even an opera part. It's kinda like Estranged, just more complicated. Aerosmith's ''Dream on'' or ''Amazing'' can tickle your fancy perhaps. Edited February 20, 2017 by EvanG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top-Hatted One Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) 13 hours ago, Get In the Ring Motherfker said: I don't mind the piano on the ballads and even some other songs, what bothered about the illusions is the production and mainly Izzy being turned down ft the most part Yea the rockers suffered from either Izzy being turned down or his rhythm guitar not being present at all in some songs. The songs where Slash played rhythm guitar have very straight forward power chord rhythm. Those songs sound more like Slash solo songs than the dynamic guitar duo you get throughout AFD. Not sure if it was a power struggle or Izzy being MIA and slash taking it upon himself to redo Izzy's parts? Now listen to Slash's song Ghost which Izzy played on and the dynamics of the duo is all there loud and clear. Uncoincidently after that song was written Slash began Praising The special dynamics he and Izzy had together. Edited February 21, 2017 by Top-Hatted One 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top-Hatted One Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 8 hours ago, Tadsy said: This! Piano isn't the issue on illusions, it's all the little quirky things in each song that are unnecessary. From strange noises at 2:10 on KOHD that resembles some sort of gun reloading (I take it that's what it is) to the ending on don't cry that's not needed, to the strange noises Axl makes at the start of so fine with his mouth, to even the intro to civil war, the phone call spiel on KOHD, there's lots of little things that annoy me... Piano certainly doesn't come into it for me personally. I like the movie samples on civil war & kohd. I also love the long note at the end of Don't Cry and Smoke em if u got em at the end of Don't Damn Me. I like My World for what it is. These things make GNR who they are. Now the Get in the ring rant and crowd noise is a bit lame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Dog Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I dig the piano. The piano has been a part of rock damn near as long as the guitar. It's good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top-Hatted One Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 1 hour ago, BorderlineCrazy said: I think what Slash did on Estranged made that song really unique, can't think of a similar song. Queen has great epic piano songs like Save Me or (especially) Bohemian Rhapsody, though, which might be the closest thing. Well, off the top of my head anyways. I agree. Slash's feedback on those riffs is why the song is so unique. I wouldn't even bother comparing it to Bohemian, Dream On, Comfortably Numb or stairway. Without Slash's riff it would be comparable to those songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxlsFavoriteRose Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) 38 minutes ago, J Dog said: I dig the piano. The piano has been a part of rock damn near as long as the guitar. It's good. i love the piano! it goes well in rock IMO. give me a bluesy, rollicking piano and i am happy Bohemian Rhapsody, Light My Fire, Werewolves of London, Great Balls of Fire, Roadhouse Blues...i could on for hours! Edited February 20, 2017 by AxlsFavoriteRose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgnr Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Piano is good, piano is not the mistake, synths are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendez Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 To me, piano only sounds good when the song is piano centric song, meaning when it is initially written on piano (Estranged, NR, Breakdown) Piano incorporated into existing songs (Bad Apples, 14 Years, Dust n Bones, Civil War, Pretty Tied Up, Yesterdays) doesn't work for me. Clutters up the sounds space too much because Axl/Dizzy are trying too hard to be "present" on the track, while completely detracting from the guitars. Itd be like if there was a piano banging away on the root notes in the 5th octave on YCBM or WTTJ. While it may suit some, it doesnt suit me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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