Favorite Contribution From Every Member of GNR

[dogman]

Was thinking about it the other day - if I had to pick my favorite moment or contribution from each member of GNR's entire lineup, what would that list look like?  So here you go:

 

AXL - the following from Don't Damn Me.  Love the lyrics, love the voice Axl uses, love the melody, love the vocal effects - this part of the song is just great.

I know you don't want to hear me crying
An I know you don't want to hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your illusions
But your delusions are yours an not mine
We take for granted that we know the whole story
We judge a book by it's cover and read what we want
Between selected lines

SLASH - solo in It's So Easy.  A short but BADASS solo that matches the energy and attitude of the whole song.  Love it.

IZZY - Patience

DUFF - intro to SCOM

STEVEN - Mr. Brownstone

MATT - Locomotive - might be some of my favorite drumming in the whole GNR catalog.  Love the story about Matt using a little jazz kit on this song, too.  

DIZZY - Estranged piano solo...I guess

GILBY - his live performances...I guess

TOMMY - his fills on the second half of TWAT

ROBIN - Better

JOSH - his drumming during the TWAT solo

BUCKETHEAD - TWAT solo

CHRIS - Madagascar synth

BRAIN - his drumming on Shackler's

FRANK - his badass fill at the end of the Bucket solo in IRS

BUMBLEFOOT - his outro in CITR

DJ - his live performances...I guess

FORTUS - his contribution to the riff in the Better chorus

MELISSA - her live performances...I guess. (Her backing vocals on Madagascar)

 

Feel free to share yours.

 

[Sydney Fan]

None of the current lineup interest me except the main 3. I still dont know what melissa does, except for the odd background vocal live.

Matt for his contribution to the illusions and TSI albums.

Izzy and steven for lies and AFD.

Izzy for his vocals on 14 years and dustn bones and writing "think about you".

Dizzy for being the multi-instrumentalist that he is (bongos, maracas and piano 😛). The fact that is the longest serving band member of GNR...who would have thought.

Slash for the outro on nighttrain and intro to my michelle. Both solos on breakdown and solo on dont damn me. For having the balls during the illusion era to read every press interview and giving approval before allowing the magazine/paper to publish the interview with fear of being misinterpreted, and in the same breadth going on record as saying "fuck censorship").

Axl for the onstage rants 87 to 93, and for being a recluse during the lowtimes. Coming onstage during the US shows late last year, looking fatter than the michelin man. Hes now embraced his inner boomer and happy.

Ashba for being a 4th rate slash clone with the audacity to wear a tophat as well. I never knew whether he was being sarcastic wearing it or just plain dumb.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Sydney Fan

[History2010]

I'm just gonna do some members:

Axl - TWAT outro.

Slash - all of his playing on Estranged

Duff - his playing on Coma

Izzy -  everything about 14 Years, so badass

Adler - drumming on Mr. Brownstone

Dizzy - playing on Civil War

Sorum - drumming on Locomotive

Robin - TIL solo

Bucket - Sorry solo (special mention to his live Nightrain solo)

Edited May 3, 2020 by History2010

[MaskingApathy]

1 hour ago, dogman said:

Love the story about Matt using a little jazz kit on this song, too. 

What is the story?

[Zinia_29]

1 hour ago, dogman said:

Was thinking about it the other day - if I had to pick my favorite moment or contribution from each member of GNR's entire lineup, what would that list look like?  So here you go:

 

AXL - the following from Don't Damn Me.  Love the lyrics, love the voice Axl uses, love the melody, love the vocal effects - this part of the song is just great.

I know you don't want to hear me crying
An I know you don't want to hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your illusions
But your delusions are yours an not mine
We take for granted that we know the whole story
We judge a book by it's cover and read what we want
Between selected lines

SLASH - solo in It's So Easy.  A short but BADASS solo that matches the energy and attitude of the whole song.  Love it.

IZZY - Patience

DUFF - intro to SCOM

STEVEN - Mr. Brownstone

MATT - Locomotive - might be some of my favorite drumming in the whole GNR catalog.  Love the story about Matt using a little jazz kit on this song, too.  

DIZZY - Estranged piano solo...I guess

GILBY - his live performances...I guess

TOMMY - his fills on the second half of TWAT

ROBIN - Better

JOSH - his drumming during the TWAT solo

BUCKETHEAD - TWAT solo

CHRIS - Madagascar synth

BRAIN - his drumming on Shackler's

FRANK - his badass fill at the end of the Bucket solo in IRS

BUMBLEFOOT - his outro in CITR

DJ - his live performances...I guess

FORTUS - his contribution to the riff in the Better chorus

MELISSA - her live performances...I guess. (Her backing vocals on Madagascar)

 

Feel free to share yours.

 

so happy that you mention Don't damn me. One of my most favourites. Everything in this is perfect.

[ToonGuns]

1 hour ago, MaskingApathy said:

What is the story?

If you have a listen you can tell when he switches kits. More easily noticeable with the snare - he has a little piccolo snare for rolls etc before switching back to the badass reverb rock snare.

[Len Cnut]

Izzys guitar work.  i know this is often slung around by the whole 'they're nothing without Izzy' brigade (and that theory is not without its merits) but if you REALLY listen and break that shit down some of the stuff he is doing is amazing and its not just that old idea of Iz' the rhythm supremo juxtaposed with Slash and his lead work, a lot of what Iz' does is lead work, there's an incredible sense of groove to what he does, without which GnR is (and some might argue has been since he left) kinda flat whiteboy music.  Izzy is the shit you dance to, that makes your head bob (as opposed to bang).  Listen to all their Izzyless shit.  Its good don't get me wrong but there's little to it to make your head bob and that is the timeless shit in music, when its all said and done because eventually, when it comes to 'deep' lyrics or fuckin' marvelling at flashy shit, that dates, its just the way it is, eventually you just file it under 'understood' but that snappy toe tappy shit, that thing that makes you want to move, that lasts forever, thats why Appetite endures over and above anything GnR ever did, cuz it makes you want to move...and they rarely ever made you want to move again after it cuz they decided they wanted to be fuckin' Queen.  There's spots of it in Illusions, don't get me wrong, Locomotive has some groove to it...but that shit is few and fare between on the later shit.  Go onto youtube and check out those fuckin' isolated Izzy track shits, its some amazing work that he did on those records.

[2020_Intensions]

Dizzy - 14 Years piano 

[James Bond]

DJ Ashba - Quitting

Pitman - Quitting

[El Guapo]

3 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

Izzys guitar work.  i know this is often slung around by the whole 'they're nothing without Izzy' brigade (and that theory is not without its merits) but if you REALLY listen and break that shit down some of the stuff he is doing is amazing and its not just that old idea of Iz' the rhythm supremo juxtaposed with Slash and his lead work, a lot of what Iz' does is lead work, there's an incredible sense of groove to what he does, without which GnR is (and some might argue has been since he left) kinda flat whiteboy music.  Izzy is the shit you dance to, that makes your head bob (as opposed to bang).  Listen to all their Izzyless shit.  Its good don't get me wrong but there's little to it to make your head bob and that is the timeless shit in music, when its all said and done because eventually, when it comes to 'deep' lyrics or fuckin' marvelling at flashy shit, that dates, its just the way it is, eventually you just file it under 'understood' but that snappy toe tappy shit, that thing that makes you want to move, that lasts forever, thats why Appetite endures over and above anything GnR ever did, cuz it makes you want to move...and they rarely ever made you want to move again after it cuz they decided they wanted to be fuckin' Queen.  There's spots of it in Illusions, don't get me wrong, Locomotive has some groove to it...but that shit is few and fare between on the later shit.  Go onto youtube and check out those fuckin' isolated Izzy track shits, its some amazing work that he did on those records.

Yes, as I often say, Izzy brought the cool, musically and style wise. I feel like Steven's drumming style was just as important as well, that swing he brought makes you wanna move as well. Remove both these elements and it's a very different sound as a whole.

Edited May 3, 2020 by El Guapo

[Blackstar]

38 minutes ago, 2020_Intensions said:

Dizzy - 14 Years piano 

Axl plays piano on this, not Dizzy.

[soon]

Axl - Coma, outro (special mention to Breakdown, Rocket Queen, DDM, Estranged...)

Slash - Locomotive, writing and guitar work (special mention, DTJ solo)

Izzy - Night Train, writing and guitar work (special mention to Reckless Life, WTTJ and every gosh darn thing this master has ever touched!)

Adler - Reckless Life (special mention to Rocket Queen)

Duff - SCOM intro (special mention to Reckless Life)

Matt - DTJ

Gilby - SIDHY, acoustic guitar 

Dizzy - Civil War, piano (special mention to organ on Back and Forth Again)

Finck - TWAT solo (special mention to TIL solo)

Bucket - TWAT solo (special mention to Sorry)

Tommy - Street of Dreams, bass line

Brain - Shacklers, writing, arranging, drumming  

Paul - Catcher (TBH I dont know his specific contributions, but its a fantastic track and he's credited)

Mel - Sorry, vocals and synth 

Fortus - Better, guitar riff in chorus 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by soon

[Lies They Tell]

2 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

Its good don't get me wrong but there's little to it to make your head bob and that is the timeless shit in music, when its all said and done because eventually, when it comes to 'deep' lyrics or fuckin' marvelling at flashy shit, that dates, its just the way it is, eventually you just file it under 'understood' but that snappy toe tappy shit, that thing that makes you want to move, that lasts forever, thats why Appetite endures over and above anything GnR ever did, cuz it makes you want to move...and they rarely ever made you want to move again after it cuz they decided they wanted to be fuckin' Queen.  

Not sure what your point here is. November Rain and Queens music has stood the test of time just like the music of Appetite has. J. S. Bach's or Beethovens music isn't exactly danceable, but people still love it after all these years. That shit has proven to last forever. I agree that AFD is the most danceable GNR album and it's because of Izzy, but I don't think that danceable music endures any better than "deep" music does.

[Len Cnut]

2 minutes ago, Lies They Tell said:

Not sure what your point here is. November Rain and Queens music has stood the test of time just like the music of Appetite has. J. S. Bach's or Beethovens music isn't exactly danceable, but people still love it after all these years. That shit has proven to last forever. I agree that AFD is the most danceable GNR album and it's because of Izzy, but I don't think that danceable music endures any better than "deep" music does.

Beethoven and Bach are a completely different conversation though, I was talking about rock music here and my basic point is that the more elaborate stuff kinda falls in and out of favour but when you look at the stuff that is more geared towards what rock n roll was about in the first place i.e. making the joint jump, that stuff seems to endure, not just in the sense of the work itself but future generations.  If you look at it the era of elaborate (some might say pompous) rock music was relatively short lived and, some might argue, kinda signalled the end of the beginning of the end of rock as a genre.  

[Rovim]

30 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

Beethoven and Bach are a completely different conversation though, I was talking about rock music here and my basic point is that the more elaborate stuff kinda falls in and out of favour but when you look at the stuff that is more geared towards what rock n roll was about in the first place i.e. making the joint jump, that stuff seems to endure, not just in the sense of the work itself but future generations.  If you look at it the era of elaborate (some might say pompous) rock music was relatively short lived and, some might argue, kinda signalled the end of the beginning of the end of rock as a genre.  

but isn't that mainly cause hard rock was the final step in the lineage kinda? blues, rock n' roll, punk/rock, hard rock, metal, a few shit attempts (nu metal, progressive, etc) and that's it? Nirvana for example is punk but also hard rock. It is probably timeless.

Zeppelin is timeless as well and leans towards metal and is very elaborate especially Page's guitar work. Slash is not just one thing. He leans towards hard rock the most, but there are strong elements of rock n' roll in his lead playing, even punk imo but that is just more of a flavor.

You can't label a musician with a ton of personality as just one thing cause sometimes they're bigger than that and I think Slash is just as good as Izzy is in being himself, amazingly gifted but his gift is to sing through his guitar and he has a lot to say.

Izzy got the groove, the effortless  songwriting ability and his sparse approach to the instrument might speak to you more, but there's a reason why they sounded so good together and it came together so perfectly on Appetite: they both had the right stuff for it. Both understand rock n' roll and the importance of doing it tastefully (or at least had it at one point in time)

Edited May 3, 2020 by Rovim

[Len Cnut]

6 minutes ago, Rovim said:

but isn't that mainly cause hard rock was the final step in the lineage kinda? blues, rock n' roll, punk/rock, hard rock, metal, a few shit attempts (nu metal, progressive, etc) and that's it? Nirvana for example is punk but also hard rock. It is probably timeless.

Zeppelin is timeless as well and leans towards metal and is very elaborate especially Page's guitar work. Slash is not just one thing. He leans towards hard rock the most, but there are strong elements of rock n' roll in his lead playing, even punk imo but that is just more of a flavor.

You can't label a musician with a ton of personality as just one thing cause sometimes they're bigger than that and I think Slash is just as good as Izzy is in being himself, amazingly gifted but his gift is to sing through his guitar and he has a lot to say.

Izzy got the groove, the effortless  songwriting ability and his sparse approach to the instrument might speak to you more, but there's a reason why they sounded so good together and it came together so perfectly on Appetite: they both had the right stuff for it. Both understand rock n' roll and the importance of doing it tastefully (or at least had it at one point in time)

Oh Slash is pretty fuckin' amazing on all of those albums, don't get me wrong, just cuz a thing ain't one thing and becomes another don't mean to say the other has to be bad.

As for the timeless stuff, maybe I'm full of shit, I dunno, it's just an idea I thought maybe has some validity to it.  In terms of the lineage stuff, I think all popular music since rock n roll has all been kind of related.  There seems to be to be a direct thread from blues all the way down to hip hop, it has something to do with a reductive approach to rhythm, the same reason why the blues was considered back in the day, in my more snobbier circles, as thick black peoples music is much the same criticism levelled at hip hop.  People got very stuck on rock n roll because it was kind of the beginning of international youth culture but I think it kinda goes like...blues gave birth to rock n roll...then rock n roll to soul...then soul to funk & disco...then funk and disco to hip hop...and they're all kinda like versions of each other and the newer the permutation the more it kinda contains all the shit from the old ones.  Punk, Hard Rock, Metal, these things were almost like red herrings in a way, which is not to say that they were without merit.  

[Towelie]

Quick, someone, lock the thread before @Len Cnut starts waxing poetic about Chuck Berry for the gazillionth time.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Towelie

[Rovim]

3 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

Oh Slash is pretty fuckin' amazing on all of those albums, don't get me wrong, just cuz a thing ain't one thing and becomes another don't mean to say the other has to be bad.

As for the timeless stuff, maybe I'm full of shit, I dunno, it's just an idea I thought maybe has some validity to it.  In terms of the lineage stuff, I think all popular music since rock n roll has all been kind of related.  There seems to be to be a direct thread from blues all the way down to hip hop, it has something to do with a reductive approach to rhythm, the same reason why the blues was considered back in the day, in my more snobbier circles, as thick black peoples music is much the same criticism levelled at hip hop.  People got very stuck on rock n roll because it was kind of the beginning of international youth culture but I think it kinda goes like...blues gave birth to rock n roll...then rock n roll to soul...then soul to funk & disco...then funk and disco to hip hop...and they're all kinda like versions of each other and the newer the permutation the more it kinda contains all the shit from the old ones.  Punk, Hard Rock, Metal, these things were almost like red herrings in a way, which is not to say that they were without merit.  

mostly agree. I find myself thinking about it lately starting from the person who is the musician and less about the genre or combination of genres they belong to. If they are talented enough, at least something will resonate with me and I'll be able to connect. If they're brilliant, the genre almost doesn't matter. Not even originality. Just if they can express themselves perfectly and if there is the emotional weight there to say something cool. That makes it original in a way.

like The Stones. also, I think pop came from blues. Soul, r & b, etc. Just thought I'd focus on the guitar driven shit for this discussion.

[rocknroll41]

Axl - Estranged piano

Slash - Estranged guitar

Izzy - Patience

Duff - Sweet Child bass

Steven - Paradise City drums

Matt - YCBM drums

Dizzy - Street of Dreams piano

Gilby - Wild Horses live

Paul - TWAT piano

Finck - Better

Freese - Chinese title track riff

Stinson - Riad core music

Pitman - Madagascar “horns”

Bucket - TWAT solo

Brain - Best live drummer they had

Fortus - Better chorus

Bumble - IRS “extra” guitar

Ferrer - If the World drums

Ashba - Quitting

Melissa - Madagascar live backing vocals

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by rocknroll41

[Lies They Tell]

22 minutes ago, Len Cnut said:

Beethoven and Bach are a completely different conversation though, I was talking about rock music here and my basic point is that the more elaborate stuff kinda falls in and out of favour but when you look at the stuff that is more geared towards what rock n roll was about in the first place i.e. making the joint jump, that stuff seems to endure, not just in the sense of the work itself but future generations.  If you look at it the era of elaborate (some might say pompous) rock music was relatively short lived and, some might argue, kinda signalled the end of the beginning of the end of rock as a genre.  

But when you look at facts, people listen to Queen more than they listen to GNR. Queen is currently the 40. most listened to artist in the world according to Spotify. GNR is the 160. most listened. November Rain is easily the most viewed GNR song on youtube. Nobody can predict the future, but I just don't see any evidence that would support the idea that danceable music would endure better than "deep" music.

There's many reason why rock music "died", so I'm not gonna go into all that. When you're trying to write a hit song, there's no doubt that writing something catchy and danceable is the easiest way to be successful at that. But there's so many iconic and timeless songs that are not very danceable that I just don't see anything that would suggest that danceable tracks would endure the test of time better.

[adamsapple]

Axl - his songwriting, the codas, the arrangements and the lyrics, I actually like his composing and poetry more than his singing

 

Izzy - his songwriting and guitaring, simple but never stupid and always tasteful

 

Steven - his groove and feel, best drummer GNR ever had

 

Buckethead - I like his tone and choice of notes more than his skilled playing actually

 

Robin - his creativity and the courage to go outside the box, loved his contributions to the band and would have liked more songs (co-) written by him, Better is one hell of a great song

 

Don't care about the rest, don't hate em but their contributions just don't speak to me as much.

[2020_Intensions]

4 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Axl plays piano on this, not Dizzy.

Oh wow I did not know that! The piano during the last verse and chorus is sooooooo good 

[UsedYourIllusion]

Axl - probably the lyrics to NR

Slash - damn this is tough, probably Coma. Really builds the atmosphere that Axl is painting with his lyrics

Izzy - Dust N' Bones, hands down my favorite GN'R tune, live, the riffs, solos, lyrics. It's such a great tune that seems like one of the perfect amalgamations of the influences that drive this band

Duff - probably his riff on The Garden, soooo good.

Steven - Rocket Queen, no question

Matt Sorum - Locomotives drumming, probably really similar to the way Steven

Gilby - he jams really well with Slash on DTJ, and Wild Horses

Dizzy - not fucking up Estranged, decent playing on Move to the city

Brain - drumming on Better

Robin - TIL solo

Bumble - way he plays the ending ITW solo

Bucket - either the TWAT or acoustic ITW solos

[Hank Moody]

Axl - Coma and Estranged lyrics (I love most of his work, but those two are the ones that I connect more emotionally) / Jungle

Slash - His work on Estranged / but also most of the energy of the band live especially these days go through him. 

Izzy - 14 years (those lyrics are fucking gold) / Pretty Tied Up

Duff - It’s so Easy

Steven - the groove on Rocket Queen and Mr. Brownstone

Matt - Locomotive, but also giving a great energy live, you can see he was really into the shows. 

Robin - Better / TWAT 

Tommy - Goin’ Down

NuGuns in general - Chinese Democracy (the song)

Buckethead/Bumblefoot/Pitman - getting the fuck out, Ashba as stupid as he was, at least he was a fan of the old band. 

[©GnrPersia]

 

--

Jokes aside, from the NuGuns, I like Robin's TIL solo & Axl's vocals in TWAT and Blues.