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Rate: Izzy Stradlin's Guitar playing on AFD, Lies and UYI


Izzy's Guitar Skills  

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Curious to see what people think of Izzy's guitar playing contributions to the classic GnR cannon. Some people really find his work underrated. Others seem to consider him a bedroom guitarist that's barely able to play like Paul Tobias.

If you like his work - what songs stand out most for you? How good are his guitar skills?

If you don't care for his playing - why? Is it because he isn't a technical genius like Buckethead?

I'll start - I like Izzy's playing on the intro riff to Welcome to the Jungle. I love the dueling guitar of Izzy vs Slash. To me...that's Guns N' Roses. 

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Don't get me wrong... I love Slash as a guitarist. Really! I do think he's great...
But (like it was already said a couple of times) the playing with Izzy on AfD was legendary. There surely were some great songs on UYI. Even some that were typically Izzy.  But IMHO Slash and Axl had way to much to say at that time and that typical "Izzy sound" was gone.

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awesome, epic power chords sequences throughout. some notable examples:

- RNDTH

- reckless life

- nice boys

- out ta get me

- one in a million

they are easy to learn and play (not a common trait with GNR music), but nevertheless they are among the coolest guitar licks in the entire catalogue and will make you sound like a guitar badass.

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I miss him terribly.

A fucking legend.  A LIVING legend. 

NITL Tour is raking in the cash and the accolades, as it should.  But the tour isn't nearly as good live as it could be...

With Izzy.

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I'm kinda in between. I wouldn't consider him legendary by any means because he's too average for that as a guitarist. What made him stand out is his songwriting abilities and the great riffs/licks that he wrote.

Purely judging his guitar abilities, he's fine for a rhythm guitarist but nothing special.

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14 minutes ago, EvanG said:

I'm kinda in between. I wouldn't consider him legendary by any means because he's too average for that as a guitarist. What made him stand out is his songwriting abilities and the great riffs/licks that he wrote.

Purely judging his guitar abilities, he's fine for a rhythm guitarist but nothing special.

I kinda agree with you.

My main problem with Izzy is his solo carreer. Slash has a bunch of great songs under his solo stint. And by great I mean innovative, interesting, different. Izzy seems stuck in the same sound since leaving GNR. I consider most of his songs mediocre at best.

Also, when he joined Axl's solo band, he lookd a lil lost with the live playing.

So.. I love the guy for his GNR work but his solo music is bad and he seems to have worsened as a guitar player over the years.

Would love to see him on stage with the guys, obviously.

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6 minutes ago, Sunset Boulevard said:

"Izzy is a good guitarist, but Fortus is a massive upgrade."

THIS should be on the list because it's the truth.

 

You know, Guns N' Roses are not an electrical appliance?

Stradlin is the heart and soul of that band. 

PS

I like some of Slash's solo stuff but there is no comparison with Izzy's.

Edited by DieselDaisy
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4 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

You know, Guns N' Roses are not an electrical appliance?

Stradlin is the heart and soul of that band. 

PS

I like some of Slash's solo stuff but there is no comparison with Izzy's.

I would say that both Axl and Izzy were responsible for the bands success. But they don't need Izzy to sell out stadiums and arenas. AC/DC without Malcolm Young works very well as well.

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None of the above really fit my opinion of him. I really like his contributions to early GN'R (just listen to his parts on WTTJ and his electric work on OIAM) and it really was too bad he didn't get to shine more on UYI, although that was probably his own fault mostly. That beign said, since then he had adopted a less interesting guitar playing style.

All this being said, I still rate him as a better song writer.

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23 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

None of the above really fit my opinion of him. I really like his contributions to early GN'R (just listen to his parts on WTTJ and his electric work on OIAM) and it really was too bad he didn't get to shine more on UYI, although that was probably his own fault mostly. That beign said, since then he had adopted a less interesting guitar playing style.

All this being said, I still rate him as a better song writer.

I agree with you on this. It seems that Izzy was equally to blame for his relative absence on UYI. 

And to all the people who are clamoring for Izzy to be the rhythm guitarist for NITL I would really suggest that you watch a show from '91. Except for a few songs GNR is basically a one guitar band on that tour. You can't hear Izzy at all. And I still contend that I haven't heard a note from his guitar on any NUGUNS guest spots. 

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Had to go wth first option because when Izzy is audible on UYI its as awesome as ever - Dust n Bones, RNDTH, YCBM, Bad Obsession, DTJ, and others Im forgetting.

And in many cases those are just a few bars here and there when he's audible and they are still incredible!

It is a crime how he was mixed out by Slash and Axl.

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In my opinion there is no better guitar chemistry in Rock n' Roll than there was between Slash and Izzy.. It is a damn shame we didn't more of it.. Some of the songs on the UYI's records definitely suffered from lack of Izzy.. They all should have been as powerful as You Could Be Mine.. 

7 minutes ago, soon said:

 

It is a crime how he was mixed out by Slash and Axl.

It certainly is

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A mix of options one and two (I voted for two). I don't necessarily think he's a legendary player - in fact he's quite underrated in the rock guitarist. His songwriting is more important to the band than his live playing. I don't think the UYI albums suffered from his guitar being mixed lower (although I would have preferred the interplay of Appetite), but you at least need him there to add his input.

Izzy is the man but I was also happy with Gilby. An album with songs by Gilby and Slash might have been equally as good. Another "what could have been" in GNR land.

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6 hours ago, TOS--LOA said:

I agree with you on this. It seems that Izzy was equally to blame for his relative absence on UYI. 

And to all the people who are clamoring for Izzy to be the rhythm guitarist for NITL I would really suggest that you watch a show from '91. Except for a few songs GNR is basically a one guitar band on that tour. You can't hear Izzy at all. And I still contend that I haven't heard a note from his guitar on any NUGUNS guest spots. 

Truth.

He couldn't be heard onstage because he couldn't play, so the band turned his amp off.

With Fortus, we HEAR him onstage and we hear him LOUD : as loud as Slash.

Why? because Fortus can fucking play! That's it.

Edited by Sunset Boulevard
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50 minutes ago, Sunset Boulevard said:

Truth.

He couldn't be heard onstage because he couldn't play, so the band turned his amp down.

With Fortus, we HEAR him onstage and we hear him LOUD : as loud as Slash.

Why? because Fortus can fucking play! That's it.

I can hear Izzy as clear as day on all the videos I watch.. 

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