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What's your unpopular GN'R opinion?


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Pretty Tied Up is awful. In fairness, I didn't feel that way initially. I had a job where the radio was on all day. The local rock station was getting ready to shift to an alternative format (they are back to rock now) and they were really phoning it in. So rather than mix it up, they played Pretty Tied Up seemingly twice an hour. As much I love Guns, I grew to despise that song. I've skipped it whenever it comes up in my rotation even all these years later. I'll give in and give it another listen. I'm guessing I'd enjoy it again now that I'm over a couple decades removed from having it run into the ground. 

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Wow great topic.  Let me take a swing at this.  I'm probably forgetting something:

  1. If Axl, Slash and Duff record a new album/song I am positive it will be underwhelming and I'll be incredibly frustrated by the fans claiming its their "best material" to date.
     
  2. No matter how talented Buckethead is, he turned GNR into a joke in the eyes of the media and public. 
     
  3. Shotgun Blues is a juvenile song and every time I hear it I cringe at the awful lyrics.
     
  4. I love TSI, but I don't believe for a second that there wasn't some studio magic done to make Axl's vocals sound the way they do.  During the UYI tour his vocals were shot many nights. 
     
  5. As much as I've enjoyed seeing the NITL performances, they are just that.  Performances.  Gone are the days of improvisation and going with the flow.  These shows are so choreographed its disappointing.  
     
  6. I love YCBM but damn Axl you have never been able to sing that song live.  I thought Myles did a better job singing it.  Retire it or just break it out for special occasions.  
     
  7. Replace every single crappy cover with deep cuts we never hear.  Don't Damn Me has never been played live and it shouldn't take much of a toll on Axl's vocals (I don't think this is unpopular).  Duff is back so play So Fine and You Ain't the First.  
     
  8. We don't need a new thread/mention every time WTTJ is played at a sporting event.  
     
  9. I cannot comprehend how people are excited about hearing the CD remixes.  
     
  10. As a huge GNR fan I can't understand why Axl didn't give the same focus, attention and effort to his own songs than he did for AC/DC.  I'm not a musician and maybe the AC/DC songs are easier than GNR so feel free to correct me on that one Axl.  
     
  11. I LOVE Libertad.
     
  12. I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed in GNR than when they excluded One in a Million from the AFD box set.  The song is a part of your history.  I understand people change and you may not agree with the messaging of the song anymore, but you have to own it. 
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1 hour ago, Chester 524 said:

 

Izzy Stradlin is a butthead (dont think I can use the word I want on this forum, but it has to do with the butt part of the body)

GNR are way better than Led Zep.  (IMO)

Um, have you read some of the language on this forum?😄  Ass is a soft lob around here.  Besides, they would've banned my username if it wasnt.

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21 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

I am a huge Beatles fan but I still enjoy long Axl lyrics, like Estranged, Coma and Locomotive.

You're one of the good ones then!

19 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Yeah, and he had praised GnR and Axl's lyrics:

Guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan from Guns N’ Roses are featured as musicians and co-writers on several tracks on “Brick by Brick.” [Iggy] Pop praised the band for its understanding of the punk attitude. 

“They really have the energy of a good punk band, and, lyrically, that guy [singer Axl Rose] actually does what a good punk lyricist tries to do,” he said. “He describes what’s bugging him, no matter how out there it is, and he describes what’s going on around him faithfully.”  [L.A. Times, 1990]

  Reveal hidden contents

BXeyyYAX_o.jpg

That was before Coma, though :P

I like the last part of Coma and the "psychedelic" part in the middle, but the song as a whole, I don't know, I don't think it's as great as other people think.

Locomotive, though, I think it's great and one of Axl's top moments lyrically - long and superb.

Thanks for sharing the quote and scan. Makes sense to me that Iggy could pick up on that fidelity. Wonder what he thought of NR not too lang after that quote? Or Coma like you say :lol: I actually think he'd like Coma!

It had never occurred to me before yesterday that a bunch of Guns die hards could not be excited over Coma, but Id rank Locomotive higher as well. Locomotive is so good that it rarely, if ever, gets included in discussions abut Axls regrettable lines of lyrics. They are, in totality, a really great set of lyrics. And the outro is peak experience music. :headbang:

7 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

I think Axls power lies not in songwriting, in fact probably least in songwriting, in terms of lyrics, I can't really talk about composition but being as how it takes him 15 years to make an album one can assume its hardly his strong suit.  Where his power does lie though is in the ability to belt out a song and make it powerful and sound like he means that shit, which to me is enough to sustain greatness, I mean Elvis had that and not much besides and he was the King, the voice and the image.  I don't have a problem per se with long lyrics I just don't think that many people are good at it and lots want to be and are not.  Pete Townshend is fantastic at that shit. 

Iggy could write long too but I just feel like he had more respect for the process, if you look at the album American Ceasar he does kinda does do the verbosity thing and handsomely at that.  Perhaps the biggest problem with Axl is that he has shit taste in music and wants to make shit in the vein of Queen and Elton John and Nazareth which, I dunno, the odd track is cool but...Use Your Illusions is best described as lyrics written by a man who seems aware of being position as the next voice of a generation...and they suffer for it.  When he was just street scum writing from the heart it was a lot more powerful.

I can get behind a lot of what you say here. I do think Axl has written a lot of great music, but it has taken a while most of the time! Ive sometimes entertained the notion that Axl stumbling across that voice of his is a bit of a curse for him, that of course it will make him famous and in demand, but like we see in that UYI stage rehearsal video where Axl is struggling to hit the voice for Coma. And then he gets pissy at the camera man ("yeah, laugh" he says angrily). Axl might be lazy or non-prolific as a writer, but you are right his performances sell it - Id call them mesmerizing. Bit of an odd place to fins ones self in the context of rock music, nothing to say but an amazing way to say it? Explains why he's done as many covers as a country artist.

I think I have American Caesar on vinyl squirrelled away somewhere, will have to give it a fresh listen. I dont agree that Axl has shit taste in music - he likes Iggy for instance!! 

8 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

Use Your Illusions is best described as lyrics written by a man who seems aware of being position as the next voice of a generation...and they suffer for it.

Yup. That and also it was his first time be afforded the opportunity to sit at the mixing console and ask questions. A kid in a candy store. Some of Axls ad libs are cringy like the musical interlude/guitar solo in The Cures Friday Im In Love - which the cure regret greatly. But others are kinda an honest portrayal of the artist. Like "Cool ranch dressing" somehow fits and gives us that much more insight in to one W Axl Rose, imo.

But for me that actually all adds to the excitement when he finally cuts the shit and runs with the pack in the outro of Coma!! :headbang:

8 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

When he was just street scum writing from the heart it was a lot more powerful.

I dont buy the street scum thing - it seems they were always housed and had numerous people meeting all their needs. They like to highlight how strippers fed them, but then theres Canter... with a deli!! :lol: But thats a conversation for a dedicated thread. Ill never start it because everyone will hate me for it :lol: That and my "in defence of Scrapped" thread are both gonna remain in the vault!

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Yup. That and also it was his first time be afforded the opportunity to sit at the mixing console and ask questions. A kid in a candy store. Some of Axls ad libs are cringy like the musical interlude/guitar solo in The Cures Friday Im In Love - which the cure regret greatly. But others are kinda an honest portrayal of the artist. Like "Cool ranch dressing" somehow fits and gives us that much more insight in to one W Axl Rose, imo.

But for me that actually all adds to the excitement when he finally cuts the shit and runs with the pack in the outro of Coma!!

I think they suffered as well by having like, an abundance of history behind them?  All the great bands grew in small increments, sometimes increments so small that you can hardly notice them until you're like...an afficianado.  If The Beatles had tried to go from Please Please Me to The White Album they could've never managed it, they grew in tiny increments, like OK, the next album we've got this chord, ooh, a new chord.  The next album we've got a song with a middle eight in it...and so on and so forth until you get to the stage where you're sitting at the mixing desk with fuckin' orchestras behind you, there's an entire body of work between Please Please Me and Revolver/Rubber Soul where the experimentation REALLY began where they were progressing with a small p.  Trying to go from Appetite and Lies then right into doing Illusions is asking too much, as incredibly talented as The Beatles were they were also human and quite careful with their shit and, most importantly, they worked their fuckin' bollocks off, in the studio as well as whilst touring.  And if you don't put it that work and earn your stripes it shows.  Thats my feeling anyway, as I said earlier I sometimes feel slightly ridiculous pontificating about what professional musicians and engineers and such should have done with work that was like, million selling and internationally adored, me with my fundamental orifice hanging out the back of my trousers :lol:

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4 hours ago, EvanG said:

I think it's one of Izzy's finest compositions on UYI. Also one of the few good lyrics he brought in for those records. 

I just wish Izzy back to GNR to can listen this beautiful song, but sadly not will happen it 😕

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6 minutes ago, EvanG said:

He gets away with some of his lyrics because the songs are still good, but when you read some of the lyrics without the music, it's pretty awful.

Don’t debate me on Izzy, it’s useless. :lol:

He’s no Shakespeare but do check his lyrics like „Box“ or „I know“ or „Waiting“ or „Baby Rann", that’s kinda funny. (Do read „Here comes the rain“ though. It’s, well, on point. lol Izzy’s a simple lyricist. No bs, no internal self-searching but yet honest, direct, percieving, describing life. His lyrics are about not giving a fuck about lyric-expectation. I like that side of it. Also, I’m sure, his lyrics are more sarcastic-humorous than most think.

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3 minutes ago, Tori72 said:

Don’t debate me on Izzy, it’s useless. :lol:

He’s no Shakespeare but do check his lyrics like „Box“ or „I know“ or „Waiting“ or „Baby Rann", that’s kinda funny. (Do read „Here comes the rain“ though. It’s, well, on point. lol Izzy’s a simple lyricist. No bs, no internal self-searching but yet honest, direct, percieving, describing life. His lyrics are about not giving a fuck about lyric-expectation. I like that side of it. Also, I’m sure, his lyrics are more sarcastic-humorous than most think.

I read them, it's just not my cup of tea. I like poetic lyrics more, and even if they are simple they can still be good, but I don't think lyrics are Izzy's forte. From the GnR songs I only like 14 Years, come to think of it. Think About You and Patience are great songs, but the lyrics read like a teenager's first love letter, or they are actually even more sappy than that. But each to their own.

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1 minute ago, EvanG said:

I read them, it's just not my cup of tea. I like poetic lyrics more, and even if they are simple they can still be good, but I don't think lyrics are Izzy's forte. From the GnR songs I only like 14 Years, come to think of it. Think About You and Patience are great songs, but the lyrics read like a teenager's first love letter, or they are actually even more sappy than that. But each to their own.

I get you, like poetic lyrics, too. But then they have to be GOOOOOD otherwise it’s just embarrassing. (Like Axl’s lyrics on CD). Poetic lyrics wouldn’t fit to Izzy’s music that’s why it works to me. As you said, to each their own.

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52 minutes ago, EvanG said:

He gets away with some of his lyrics because the songs are still good, but when you read some of the lyrics without the music, it's pretty awful.

If you decontextualise almost all rock lyrics they are awful, they belong with musical accompaniment, name five rock stars whoose lyrics work as substantial pieces of poetry, you can’t cuz they don’t exist, I don’t care how many Nobel prizes Bob Dylan gets he’s not Arthur Rimbaud and never will be and he’s arguably the best the genre has got.  

32 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Izzy is GN'R's greatest lyricist.

Quite possibly but then again that ain’t sayin’ much.

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3 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

If you decontextualise almost all rock lyrics they are awful, they belong with musical accompaniment, name five rock stars whoose lyrics work as substantial pieces of poetry, you can’t cuz they don’t exist, I don’t care how many Nobel prizes Bob Dylan gets he’s not Arthur Rimbaud and never will be and he’s arguably the best the genre has got.  

Quite possibly but then again that ain’t sayin’ much.

Listen to ''Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands''. It is fairly incredible stuff in fairness. 

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Just now, DieselDaisy said:

Listen to ''Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands''. It is fairly incredible stuff in fairness. 

He has his moments, Chimes of Freedom is pretty fantastic, as is When The Ship Comes In but for all of those there are as many lazy tongue in cheek exercises is imagery pasting going on in his work.  My broad point is that if Dylan had not been a folk singer and this work work had to stand on its poetic merits it wouldn’t have much legs...and he’s arguably the one of the best rock music has thrown up.  Leonard Cohen is another good one.  The best of rock lyrics, speaking strictly about poetic merit, throw up little flashes of brilliance but I struggle to find a rock lyricist whoose work works as poetry...but then its not really meant to.  

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3 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

He has his moments, Chimes of Freedom is pretty fantastic, as is When The Ship Comes In but for all of those there are as many lazy tongue in cheek exercises is imagery pasting going on in his work.  My broad point is that if Dylan had not been a folk singer and this work work had to stand on its poetic merits it wouldn’t have much legs...and he’s arguably the one of the best rock music has thrown up.  Leonard Cohen is another good one.  The best of rock lyrics, speaking strictly about poetic merit, throw up little flashes of brilliance but I struggle to find a rock lyricist whoose work works as poetry...but then its not really meant to.  

I'm not sure I agree with you there. Dylan's lyrical work is not found wanting when compared with the best poetry has to offer. Some of it is quasi-gibberish word-play, much of it is satire, some of it is social-realism. From his golden era at least most of it is exceptional.

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12 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

He has his moments, Chimes of Freedom is pretty fantastic, as is When The Ship Comes In but for all of those there are as many lazy tongue in cheek exercises is imagery pasting going on in his work.  My broad point is that if Dylan had not been a folk singer and this work work had to stand on its poetic merits it wouldn’t have much legs...and he’s arguably the one of the best rock music has thrown up.  Leonard Cohen is another good one.  The best of rock lyrics, speaking strictly about poetic merit, throw up little flashes of brilliance but I struggle to find a rock lyricist whoose work works as poetry...but then its not really meant to.  

Jim Morrison comes to mind.  Oh, and GG Allin😄

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24 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

If you decontextualise almost all rock lyrics they are awful, they belong with musical accompaniment, name five rock stars whoose lyrics work as substantial pieces of poetry, you can’t cuz they don’t exist

Poetic lyrics aren't the same as real poetry, but there are plenty of lyricists in rock whose lyrics I enjoy reading without the music.

26 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

Quite possibly but then again that ain’t sayin’ much.

Lyrics have never been a strong point in GnR's music. I didn't start enjoying Axl's lyrics until he started writing about personal stuff, and then I don't mean the sexcapades that he felt the need to write about on AFD.

Izzy would be up there with Jon Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams in the most sappy contest.

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1. Guns N' Roses 2002 was one of the best ever.
2. Buckethead > Slash. 
3. Robin Finck was one helluva a player. 
4. If Chidem was released in 1996, people would respect it a lot more.
5. Guns N' Roses is Axl Rose n' Izzy Stradlin. 
6. The Human Being is the only mammal who, having songs like Atlas Shrugged n' The General, decides to release If The World and Scraped instead. 
7. Use Your Illusion I is just Appetite For Destruction Pt. II 
8. Slash copied the riffs of Zero The Hero n' the mob rules, to make Paradise City n' Welcome to the jungle, respectively. 
9. Frank Ferrer is a good drummer.
10. Tokyo 1992 is boring as fuck.
11. Axl acts like that because he's a maniac depressive.
12. Josh Freese n' Brain Mantia were the best drummers GN'R ever had. 
 

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