UsedYourIllusion Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 The anniversary of UYI got me on a binge, and i just listened nearly to GN'R's entire catalog. For us, we might feel like Chinese Democracy is Axl's Magnum Opus, but is it really? Not talking about the quality of the album; is it as Slash suggested, 'the album he's always wanted to write'? Chinese Democracy might be flawed, or as one reviewer put "perfectly imperfect" but you can feel Axl laying his soul into that album, and expressing the last 15 years of his life up until that point. But, how does that fit in with UYI? Civil War, Estranged, Coma, November Rain; in the ballads from UYI he's largely expressing the same feelings. I'm not sure, if you asked him, which song or album he would pick as his best/favorite work. Considering how his outlook has changed over time, i'm sure in 1991 he felt it was November Rain. After the reunion, when all is said and done, looking back on things, it seems hard to pick an album, let alone a song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay410 Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 Axl always got too in his own way to ever make a magnum opus beyond appetite. There was one inside UYI if some fat were trimmed. Our own personal 70 min selections from UYI is as close as we’ll get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonKinight Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 1. Estranged 2. November Rain 3. The General Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Comstock Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 November Rain, Estranged and Prostitute are his best songs, IMO. Honourable mention to This I Love, the instrumental is fantastic, but the lyrics and vocal layers knock it down a couple levels. I think CD was supposed to be his magnum opus - 3 albums, bonus discs, alternate artwork - it could've been his Wall or Physical Graffiti, but because of leaks and labels and general insanity, it ended up being something totally different. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 It is 'Estranged' and I dont think he will ever be able to release anything like that again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverburst80 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 It would have to be either Estranged or November Rain composition wise. I think he reached his lyrical peak on tracks like Perfect Crime, Locomotive, Breakdown, Coma, Garden of Eden. So i think UYI is his peak as a musician. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson87 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 1. November Rain 2. Estranged 3. TWAT 4. Prostitute 5. The Blues 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsdrummer63 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) Estranged is a masterpiece. It also couldn't have been possible without slash. Slash took the piano and ran with it. The song is a gem not many people know about because November Rain overshadows it. I agree though that locomotive and breakdown and coma lyrically might take the crown. CD has potential. I don't mind the album and hearing slash and duff play some songs live show me that album could have been a hit. Prostitute is my favorite and I see it as a follow up to estranged in a way. TWAT could also be a follow up to estranged. And that sound has so beautiful solos but is a bit overproduced. I don't know if Axl can create a masterpiece without slash and or duff. I really would like to see CD redone with slash's parts and how that would sound. Edited September 23, 2018 by Gunsdrummer63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Estranged is a masterpiece because it's perfect in both senses: lyrics wise and music wise. None of the songs in CD can compete with Estranged in any way. Not even with November Rain (which is not my favorite) and of course, Coma is his masterpiece lyrics. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney Fan Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Gunsdrummer63 said: Estranged is a masterpiece. It also couldn't have been possible without slash. Slash took the piano and ran with it. The song is a gem not many people know about because November Rain overshadows it. I agree though that locomotive and breakdown and coma lyrically might take the crown. CD has potential. I don't mind the album and hearing slash and duff play some songs live show me that album could have been a hit. Prostitute is my favorite and I see it as a follow up to estranged in a way. TWAT could also be a follow up to estranged. And that sound has so beautiful solos but is a bit overproduced. I don't know if Axl can create a masterpiece without slash and or duff. I really would like to see CD redone with slash's parts and how that would sound. I personally think CD should have been released as is between 99 and 2001. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 1. November Rain 2. Estranged 3. Prostitute 4. Sorry (would be higher if it had better lyrics) 5. Catcher in the Rye Demo w/ Brian May (had the potential to top them all imho) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UsedYourIllusion Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 44 minutes ago, RONIN said: 1. November Rain 2. Estranged 3. Prostitute 4. Sorry (would be higher if it had better lyrics) 5. Catcher in the Rye Demo w/ Brian May (had the potential to top them all imho) I actually think Sorry isn't too bad lyrically, but the studio version just plain sucks. Live, Axl uses his baritone speaking voice and it's 1000% better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlingrl03 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I am very thankful that I got to hear Sorry live in San Antonio. I wasn't too sure of it at first but the more I heard it, the more I liked it. Definitely grew on me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 CD is the album Axl needed to make. This I Love is Axl’s definitive song. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovim Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I felt Catcher added a kinda fresh lyrical idea and the music reflected it well. on a lot of chinese tunes Axl revisited old ideas lyrically. the biggest challenge artistically could be the lyrics. it can't come off dishonest for the type of singer Axl is imo. I believe he cares about that aspect of a guns album that he'll find a way to make it sound true, no matter how silly some of the lyrics sounded like on chinese like Sorry for example, it was something Axl was aware of but it was effective so he used it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoymatic Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 14 hours ago, NeonKinight said: 1. Estranged 2. November Rain 3. The General The General #3? What makes you feel this way? 98% of us has never heard the song, but it's a major GnR ballad? Just curious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post killuridols Posted September 23, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2018 3 minutes ago, Stoymatic said: 98% of us has never heard the song, but it's a major GnR ballad? Correction: 100% of us has never heard the so-called "The General" 2 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sosso Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Stoymatic said: The General #3? What makes you feel this way? 98% of us has never heard the song, but it's a major GnR ballad? Just curious The name itself can already be considered as a mythos. But yeah, we have only heard bits and pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jacdaniel Posted September 23, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2018 The sad thing is that Axl even feels that music needs to be some kind of Magnum Opus. I think he drove himself crazy and lost his love for releasing music by trying so hard to write some kind of epic masterpiece. The best music of all time was written by people sitting and jamming together and making something awesome without trying too hard. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Propaganda Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Chinese Democracy is Axl's final outburst about his past relationships (Including band members). It's a journey through 15 years of not knowing what to do with his feelings, of being lost, and finally finding the path to release that hurt to the public, in the form of an album. The fact that various people contributed to the album, doesn't change the fact that the album is about Axl. Even though other band members might identify themselves with what is written on the songs. That is why I think this is a solo album. In any case I think the songs that capture Axl's spirit are "Street of Dreams", "This I Love", "Madagascar" and "There was a Time" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UsedYourIllusion Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 3 hours ago, Propaganda said: Chinese Democracy is Axl's final outburst about his past relationships (Including band members). It's a journey through 15 years of not knowing what to do with his feelings, of being lost, and finally finding the path to release that hurt to the public, in the form of an album. The fact that various people contributed to the album, doesn't change the fact that the album is about Axl. Even though other band members might identify themselves with what is written on the songs. That is why I think this is a solo album. In any case I think the songs that capture Axl's spirit are "Street of Dreams", "This I Love", "Madagascar" and "There was a Time" Something from UYI II that makes me feel a similar pattern of feelings with CD was Estranged "Maybe we'll find another way, Find another day, With all the changing seasons, of our lives, Maybe we'll get it right next time". Axl seems like the type, 'Do as i say, not as i do'; he tries his damndest to write a track about being comfortable with unrequited love, Estranged, and needing to move on. And yet, i'm not sure if it was his perfectionest nature to try and finish CD (and he wrote those songs about past loves when he still was vulnerable and the feelings were sincere) or he REALLY couldn't move past Stephanie until those songs were finished, and he had a cathartic feeling showing the World his final image of the songs. Not sure if he still missed her or felt grief in 2001/2002, or in 06-08. Who knows. Either way i'm interested to see new songs and new emotions from the band-in the same way they weren't writing AFD-esque songs in '91 and in their solo projects. I wanna see new stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Rovim said: I felt Catcher added a kinda fresh lyrical idea and the music reflected it well. on a lot of chinese tunes Axl revisited old ideas lyrically. the biggest challenge artistically could be the lyrics. it can't come off dishonest for the type of singer Axl is imo. I believe he cares about that aspect of a guns album that he'll find a way to make it sound true, no matter how silly some of the lyrics sounded like on chinese like Sorry for example, it was something Axl was aware of but it was effective so he used it anyway. I think Axl has talked about this before, having to live a while before having something new to say. But his lyrics do seem to fall into 3 category’s rants, chicks and socio-political states of bliss. The reason I think CD is the best album is that sometimes a song combines all three. Edited September 23, 2018 by wasted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, UsedYourIllusion said: Something from UYI II that makes me feel a similar pattern of feelings with CD was Estranged "Maybe we'll find another way, Find another day, With all the changing seasons, of our lives, Maybe we'll get it right next time". Axl seems like the type, 'Do as i say, not as i do'; he tries his damndest to write a track about being comfortable with unrequited love, Estranged, and needing to move on. And yet, i'm not sure if it was his perfectionest nature to try and finish CD (and he wrote those songs about past loves when he still was vulnerable and the feelings were sincere) or he REALLY couldn't move past Stephanie until those songs were finished, and he had a cathartic feeling showing the World his final image of the songs. Not sure if he still missed her or felt grief in 2001/2002, or in 06-08. Who knows. Either way i'm interested to see new songs and new emotions from the band-in the same way they weren't writing AFD-esque songs in '91 and in their solo projects. I wanna see new stuff. Yeah I think Axl is pretty goal oriented. He has a song that he wants to get out there. Like Nov Rain was about in some form before AFD. I think he said at some point he wanted Seymour’s son to know the truth through the record. But I’m not sure which songs show Axl’s undying love. There was a Time and Prostitute are more about being over it. Better too. The whole vibe is you wronged me but I’m over it. So I guess he wasn’t over it until he let the cornrows loose in 09. This I Love could be the catalyst for CD. I always thought it was more Everly era. But didn’t Axl think they were sisters in a past life. So maybe Axl saw them as actresses in a movie which would play into the soundtrack quality of CD. Edited September 24, 2018 by wasted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourMother'sDruthers Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Axl's magnum opus was TWAT. So much so that he actually played guitar on it, and actually, pretty good. He overproduced it and added too many distorted rhythm guitars layers on top... but he and Paul Huge, in my eyes, damn near justified that whole era with that masterpiece of a song.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiencepatience Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 I have my own thoughts but would like to give a shout out to this thread and the OP. Finally some good discussion and insight be shared and appreciated by all. Not a bunch of arguing, degrading band members, etc. Good work y'all. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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