The Guns N' Roses Album that could have been

[emilus]

Hello there! 

I have been trying to put together an ultimate ”Guns N' Roses album that could have been” out of the various releases the original Guns N' Roses-members have been involved in from -95 and onwards .

My aim hasn't just been to throw the best songs in there, but also to give the album a nice flow (equally important in my book). I've limited myself to a maximum runtime of 74 minutes (standard CD).

This is what I've come up with:

1. Chinese Democracy (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

2. Promise (Slash – Slash, 2010)

3. For A Brother (Velvet Revolver - Libertad, 2007)

4. Sweet Caress (Izzy Stradlin - On Down The Road, 2002)

5. Messages (Velvet Revolver - Libertad iTunes edition, 2007)

6. There Was A Time (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

7. Serial Killer (Slash's Snakepit – Ain't Life Grand, 2000)

8. Better (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

9. Come On, Come In (Velvet Revolver – Fantastic Four Soundtrack, 2005)

10. I.R.S (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

11. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver – Contraband, 2004)

12. Street Of Dreams (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

13. Slither (Velvet Revolver – Contraband, 2004)

14. Catcher In The Rye (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

15. Anastasia (Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – Apocalyptic Love, 2012)

(Runtime 73 minutes)

You can listen to the whole thing here if you want:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWy2ezRX9SyJ4F2-aOugonlElcoId49pQ

What do you think? How would you have done it?

[angriestwhopper]

Nah.

Half of Chinese is good if slash had input on it.

Slash's stuff is pretty hit and miss.

If it was half contraband half Chinese it would have been number 1.

[zombux]

I think this is maybe a nice "compilation" for the casual fans, but I'd go totally different way. most of the stuff you included is well known and released at quite common albums.

I'd either make a similar compilation from less known albums (I know, it's hard to decide which album is "common" and which is "not that common").

or do some more dirty work and try to create a compilation of songs, that never made it to "classic GNR" albums, were later released some other way, etc. sure, that would be quite a hard work and sometimes it wouldn't be realistically possible to guess if the given song was indeed considered for GNR, or was completely unrelated.

[soon]

I'd go with some 5 O'Clock stuff and no Libertad, personally. Maybe some Pawn Shop Guitars. Sweet Caress is a great song and Id toss in some Izzy rockers too.

[felixGNR]

1. Slither (Velvet Revolver)

2. Beggars and Hangers on (Slash's Snakepit)

3. Mean Bone (Slash's Snakepit )

4. Let it Roll (Velvet Revolver)

5. There Was A Time 

6. Shine (Slash's Snakepit )

7. Back and Forth Again (Slash's Snakepit )

8. Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver)

9. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver)

10. Better

11. Street Of Dreams 

12. Sweet Caress (Izzy Stradlin)

13. Ghost (Slash's )

14. Back to the Moment (Slash's Snakepit )

15. Serial Killer (Slash's Snakepit )

16. Flatline (Loaded)

17. Messages (Velvet Revolver )

[-Jaro-]

1 hour ago, angriestwhopper said:

Nah.

Half of Chinese is good if slash had input on it.

Slash's stuff is pretty hit and miss.

If it was half contraband half Chinese it would have been number 1.

Contraband was no1, didn t it?

[angriestwhopper]

Just now, -Jaro- said:

Contraband was no1, didn t it?

Can't remember, defo should have been.

What a fucking awesome album.

But massive lack of solos - where did they go?

[zombux]

3 minutes ago, angriestwhopper said:

Can't remember, defo should have been.

What a fucking awesome album.

But massive lack of solos - where did they go?

VR was never supposed to be like GNR, it was much more like STP kind of band, but still quite distant. you can't like Contraband, if you expect it to be GNR-ish. 

[Free Bird]

26 minutes ago, felixGNR said:

1. Slither (Velvet Revolver)

2. Beggars and Hangers on (Slash's Snakepit)

3. Mean Bone (Slash's Snakepit )

4. Let it Roll (Velvet Revolver)

5. There Was A Time 

6. Shine (Slash's Snakepit )

7. Back and Forth Again (Slash's Snakepit )

8. Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver)

9. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver)

10. Better

11. Street Of Dreams 

12. Sweet Caress (Izzy Stradlin)

13. Ghost (Slash's )

14. Back to the Moment (Slash's Snakepit )

15. Serial Killer (Slash's Snakepit )

16. Flatline (Loaded)

17. Messages (Velvet Revolver )

Good list. Aside from some little changes I'd go with that.

 

1. Slither (Velvet Revolver)

2. Beggars and Hangers on (Slash's Snakepit)

3. Shuffle It All (Izzy)

4. Neither Can I (Snakepit)

5. There Was A Time 

6. By The Sword (Slash)

7. Back and Forth Again (Slash's Snakepit )

8. Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver)

9. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver)

10. Better

11. Sorry 

12. Sweet Caress (Izzy Stradlin)

13. Anastasia (SMKC)

14. Back to the Moment (Slash's Snakepit)

15. Serial Killer (Slash's Snakepit )

16. Mother Maria (Slash)

17. Messages (Velvet Revolver )

Edited June 17, 2018 by Free Bird

[angriestwhopper]

I disagree. Most of that stuff was written without Scott when looking for a new singer.

Both albums were born out of Desperation to be relevant and back to the heights of GNR. 

Scott was the wrong singer but they did a good go of it.

They should have got a female singer like Hayley Williams. 

CONTROVERSIAL ALERT! CONTROVERSIAL ALERT!

[appetite4illusions]

1 hour ago, zombux said:

VR was never supposed to be like GNR, it was much more like STP kind of band, but still quite distant. you can't like Contraband, if you expect it to be GNR-ish. 

Originally VR was supposed to be very much like GNR. With the Buckcherry guys, they were looking to capture a dirty blues sound.

Then when Izzy came into the picture, they fashioned a whole album that Slash said "would have been the best Guns album, hands down." They gave that album to Scott Weiland who rejected it completely. He called it "Bad Company, gone wrong."

At that point, desperate to get Scott because they thought he was "the guy," they refashioned the nature of the music to make it sound darker, more alternative with more bass. Scott thought it reminded him of his first STP record, so that was how that happened.

[zombux]

5 minutes ago, appetite4illusions said:

Originally VR was supposed to be very much like GNR. With the Buckcherry guys, they were looking to capture a dirty blues sound.

Then when Izzy came into the picture, they fashioned a whole album that Slash said "would have been the best Guns album, hands down." They gave that album to Scott Weiland who rejected it completely. He called it "Bad Company, gone wrong."

At that point, desperate to get Scott because they thought he was "the guy," they refashioned the nature of the music to make it sound darker, more alternative with more bass. Scott thought it reminded him of his first STP record, so that was how that happened.

you are probably right in this. the surfaced demos with Kelly Schaefer and Dirty D have much more sleazy-ish rock feeling. (btw, are these two the only known pre-Scott Weiland demos available?)

[wasted]

I’ve spent too many nights up weeping to allow this to fly. 

[Amir]

Fall to Pieces could've been a GNR song according to Axl:

Quote

Slash played the key bits of 'Fall to Pieces' but once I showed some interest that was over

"Pleasin'" was a VR demo that would eventually be reworked as "Ghost" on the Slash & Friends album, featuring Izzy (not sure if Izzy was on the demo or not):

 

[DieselDaisy]

 

4 hours ago, emilus said:

Hello there! 

I have been trying to put together an ultimate ”Guns N' Roses album that could have been” out of the various releases the original Guns N' Roses-members have been involved in from -95 and onwards .

My aim hasn't just been to throw the best songs in there, but also to give the album a nice flow (equally important in my book). I've limited myself to a maximum runtime of 74 minutes (standard CD).

This is what I've come up with:

1. Chinese Democracy (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

2. Promise (Slash – Slash, 2010)

3. For A Brother (Velvet Revolver - Libertad, 2007)

4. Sweet Caress (Izzy Stradlin - On Down The Road, 2002)

5. Messages (Velvet Revolver - Libertad iTunes edition, 2007)

6. There Was A Time (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

7. Serial Killer (Slash's Snakepit – Ain't Life Grand, 2000)

8. Better (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

9. Come On, Come In (Velvet Revolver – Fantastic Four Soundtrack, 2005)

10. I.R.S (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

11. Fall To Pieces (Velvet Revolver – Contraband, 2004)

12. Street Of Dreams (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

13. Slither (Velvet Revolver – Contraband, 2004)

14. Catcher In The Rye (Guns N' Roses – Chinese Democracy, 2008)

15. Anastasia (Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – Apocalyptic Love, 2012)

(Runtime 73 minutes)

You can listen to the whole thing here if you want:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWy2ezRX9SyJ4F2-aOugonlElcoId49pQ

What do you think? How would you have done it?

Remove ''Promise'', ''For A Brother'', ''Come On, Come In'', ''Catcher in the Rye'' and ''Chinese Democracy'' and replace with ''Ghost'', ''Cure Me Kill Me'', ''Tijuana Jail'' and two more from Izzy, ''Gotta Say'' and ''Lotta Learn'' maybe, and we can agree.  

Edited June 17, 2018 by DieselDaisy

[wasted]

2 hours ago, angriestwhopper said:

I disagree. Most of that stuff was written without Scott when looking for a new singer.

Both albums were born out of Desperation to be relevant and back to the heights of GNR. 

Scott was the wrong singer but they did a good go of it.

They should have got a female singer like Hayley Williams. 

CONTROVERSIAL ALERT! CONTROVERSIAL ALERT!

Hell yes

 

[Towelie]

Take If The World, Riad and Scraped off CD and chuck on Messages, Slither and Serial Killer and you'd have a pretty cool fucking album.

[ElectricTear]

12 minutes ago, Towelie said:

Take If The World, Riad and Scraped off...

You've just said some horrible things.

Edited June 17, 2018 by ElectricTear

[NicoRourke]

5 hours ago, angriestwhopper said:

Nah.

Half of Chinese is good if slash had input on it.

Slash's stuff is pretty hit and miss.

If it was half contraband half Chinese it would have been number 1.

This. Hopefully there's a plan to work on a new album with this 'best of both worlds' approach in mind.

[default_]

For a 1994 album, assuming the lineup would be the same as the Illusions tour, I believe they could do great removing the weakest tracks from Five O' Clock like Jiz da Pit, Be the Ball and Good to Be Alive with stuff like:

Tijuana Jail and Skin N Bones (Gilby)

This I Love and some other Axl song (assiming he had another one). 

Six feet Under (Duff)

Fall to Pieces.

 

 

[zombux]

4 minutes ago, default_ said:

Six feet Under (Duff)

I think SFU wasn't there in 1994 yet, but Seattle Head certainly was.

[Towelie]

1 hour ago, ElectricTear said:

You've just said some horrible things.

If you'd take Riad, Scraped and If The World over Slither, Messages and Serial Killer then I can only assume you are mentally incapacitated.

[YourMother'sDruthers]

22 minutes ago, Towelie said:

If you'd take Riad, Scraped and If The World over Slither, Messages and Serial Killer then I can only assume you are mentally incapacitated.

Scraped is hands down the worst GNR song of all time. Worse than My World. I don't know which song is worse, GNR Scraped or NIN With Teeth. Me and a friend who are big fans of both bands often discuss which one would we choose to listen to on repeat for the rest of our lives if we were forced to choose one? It's a sickening thought.

[Grayfox]

I think the Izzy song ‘Ain’t It A Bitch’ could have been a pretty solid Guns song. Have a little reworking on the lyrics, throw in a few background Axl vocals and have him come in on the choruses. Either way a good song Guns or not

[ElectricTear]

2 hours ago, Towelie said:

If you'd take Riad, Scraped and If The World over Slither, Messages and Serial Killer then I can only assume you are mentally incapacitated.

IMO Riad and ITW are my favourite cuts from CD. I'm not trolling but I can honestly say it's actually the only GNR album without fillers, AFD and Illusion both have some bland rockers like Anything Goes or Dust N' Bones to mention few.

 

Edited June 17, 2018 by ElectricTear