Nintari

Rio 3 for the hype alone.

Axl exploding from the side of the stage for Bohemian Rhapsody, and then his We Will Rock You performance was, in retrospect, the absolute high-water mark of his career; it was his peak.

It would be cool, if only because we might actually see them play that If the World/Slither mash-up live. Always thought that was way better than either originals.

Catcher is my favorite off the album. Now I'm depressed. lol

Finally SIDHY is going to die. Finally lol.

On 4/15/2022 at 5:17 AM, Tom2112 said:

Are you saying there's kids into rock music that aren't aware of Metallica/Maiden?

No, I'm saying rock isn't relevant, and most "kids" would rather listen to Harry Styles than the stuff we like. Also, the reason bands like Metallica are getting asked to headline things is because people like us will buy tickets. It's not because seven out of ten sixteen-year-old's demand them. One look at GNR's shows, and you quickly get the picture. When I went in 2016, I thought naively that it would still be like it was in the early 90's. I was in my late 30's at the time, and only noticed like three people who were younger than me. The rest were all grey old men and women, sipping beer casually and nodding politely as if they were listening to fucking easy-listening radio or something. It was sad and more than a little sobering.

Our bands are cool to us. Not so cool to with teens. Yes, there are those outcasted teens who still walk around, worshiping Nirvana etc, but those are few and far between. Few and far between.

On 4/15/2022 at 12:55 AM, Stay.Of.Execution said:

What? Rammstein is one of the biggest bands in the world, selling out stadiums within minutes.

Yes, but those stadiums aren't packed with mostly teens and early 20's anymore. It's old has-beens like us.

I think it's a cool vibe, but it seems sort of like a Weird Al parody thing. Hard to get into it if it's all just a joke lol.

On 4/12/2022 at 2:23 PM, ©GnrPersia said:

Wrong assumption.

Metallica, Iron Maiden, Tool, Korn, Foo Fighters, Rammstein and many more are still active, releasing FULL albums and relevant.

I would say that maybe the Foos are somewhat relevant... but that's it. All the others you listed there are "who?" types of bands to gen Z. But that doesn't negate your point about putting albums out. The Scorpions, AC/DC... lots of acts that are way past the point of being "hip" or "relevant" are still doing it; most of them because it's something they actually like doing (creating art).

Kinda telling, isn't it? I think GNR (sadly), is just in it for the money now. What was once a fierce force of creative and artistic merit has been reduced to little more than a brand. Ugh.

Since I Don't Have You needs to go, now. It isn't a punk/rock song, it was likely only added to create a single, and it's just extraordinarily cringe. 

On 1/15/2022 at 6:03 AM, Tom2112 said:

Nobody expects Axl to have raped somebody. That's not the rock n roll bad boy. Regardless, the storyteller seems genuine but then you hear alternate sides of the story and you reconsider. I don't know, but it's possible so I'm not about to say she's just trying to cash in. Hopefully it has no truth to it and that's not because I like GNR. 

Gnr back in the day being told by them is pretty honest in what they were doing but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a protection bubble put around them when they were signed to a major label

Thing is, what isn't socially acceptable today was totally acceptable in the past. For instance, back in my grandfather's day, adult males routinely married girls who were 13, 14 and 15 years of age (Elvis, anyone?), quickly knocked them up and no one cared. Now if someone tries to do that, they're called a pedophile and sent to jail, socially shunned for the rest of their lives and ruined.

So for me, I always look at the context. In this case, there are probably lots of things that GNR did in the 80's while drunk and high or whatever that would be considered wrong today. But were they wrong then? Outright rape yes, but short of that? I don't know. Seems like that scene was all about male-dominance and female-groupie-subservience. Most of those women on the strip knew what they were getting into and they did so willingly. This woman here, though we will never know for sure, probably falls into that place. She was young, thought it was the right move to allow herself to be used up like a blow-up doll at the time and then later regretted it like I'm sure most women do. Now, viewing it through a new lens, she thinks of it as horrendous and wrong and wants Axl to be held responsible for something she willingly went along with... but that ain't how shit works.

Fitting that Coma and Estranged are going to win: they are the two most creative (artistically speaking) songs in the band's catalogue.

9 hours ago, mystery said:

He's a major recording artist who doesn't have any of his music or performances officially on YouTube. It's interesting with him because he decided to start his own music service in 2014 called GhostTunes that eventually got bought by Amazon.

His approach is kind of backwards to me in that he's really limiting future generations in discovering his music. Guns N' Roses at least have their full catalog on YouTube but they need to step it up with the live videos. 

I was referring to the whole "artist" thing. Take a look at the song-writing credits. The man hardly wrote, so for me, that's outside of my definition of what constitutes as an artist. Singer and entertainer sure. But artist? When your best-selling album is almost entirely written by a ghost writer, you sort of lose that moniker.

On 4/1/2022 at 8:46 PM, mystery said:

Garth Brooks as an artist has also steered clear of YouTube.

Garth Brooks was an artist? Funny, I had a look at his song-writing credits and had the complete opposite take...

On 3/26/2022 at 8:35 AM, DoMw94 said:

Fair point. I guess either or would've been the way to go, I've just always been puzzled by the decision to include the 'same' song twice, especially when there's likely to have been a bunch of entirely different songs left out completely

I remember back in late 1991, or early 1992, seeing both versions on MTV's daily top 10 (as voted on by viewers) countdown at the same time. Yes, that really happened lol As a matter of fact, I think Live and Let Die was either number one or number two that day as well (it was battling with Smells Like Teen Spirit at the time).

On 3/25/2022 at 8:44 AM, SoulMonster said:

Shotgun is a rocker, So Fine is a ballad. That's the short of it. I also don't like Duff's singing, the general melody, how boring it is and I can't help but picture bloated, bleached Duff in leather while hearing it. 

The truly bizarre thing for me is how in the book, it's dedicated to a dude...

14 hours ago, Ixtlan said:

Estranged is the magnus opus. However, the fact GNR has 2-3 in such a short career is incredible. 

I can see that. But for me, Coma takes it due to the the complexity and subject matter. Izzy needed a chord chart just to play it live. Slash said the arrangement was so bizarre that it forced Axl out of his comfort zone. It's a semi-autobiographical take on Axl's attempted suicide as well. All of that surpasses Estranged (for me), which is complex as well (though not as much), but when you boil it down, is also just another break-up song, dealing with Erin again. I would agree that melodically, Estranged has the edge. Oh, and the video as well. I know it gets hate, but it's one hell of a spectacle. Almost a mini-movie. But apart from that, I'm sticking with Coma.

At least Shotgun Blues is a hard-edged, angry punk song with balls. So Fine sounds like a One Direction track.

Most predictable round ever lol

Deserving. It's the most profound artist statement on the entire record imo. It may even be their magnum opus.

7 hours ago, Nice Boy said:

It’s not as simple as looking at other artists and saying “well so and so is 75 and they are still touring”.

Think about how difficult it is for him with his naturally low speaking voice, trying to pull off really high rasps, in x years’ time

There’s no point saying “but Steven Tyler / Robert Plant..” etc, they have naturally high speaking voices, it’s way easier for them to still sing their material.

I wouldn't like it, but what about the Elton rout? Maybe they could tune down a full step, see if it helps? If Axl could sing better in that key, maybe it would be worth trying.

My favorite album is the one in my aviator, but Appetite is no-doubt objectively their best.

On 3/9/2022 at 2:44 AM, janrichmond said:

Disagree. Try telling a black/gay/asian person that. 

Calling a word racist is like calling the gun someone used to kill someone a murderer. A word is not alive and does not have consciousness, therefore it can not be racist. Words can be used by a person who harbors racist viewpoints, but the word itself is just a word.

And let's not even get into intent and context.

32 minutes ago, TeeJay410 said:

The lyrics are outright racist and homophobic and it’s no accident that it was left out of the box set. 

Words can't be racist and homophobic. People can, though. But the young man who penned these words obviously wasn't racist (Slash is half-black and Axl's body guard was full-black), nor homophobic (two of his favorite artists of all time were gay, one of them, Elton--an openly gay man with a husband--he even performed with multiple times).

The song itself is about a confused, scared Indiana hick, trying to deal with the mind-fuck of having to move to LA and live on the streets without any help. It's a truthful window into mindset of those who are raised on bigoted, closed-minded ideals, trying to make sense of a whole new world... which makes it a great piece art, since the best art is always most truthful art.

The reason it was left off the box-set is probably because he's tired of repeating the above sentiment, and for that, I don't blame him. If it were me, and I was his age, I might just do the same.

Or I might not.

On 3/6/2022 at 12:44 PM, invisible_rose said:

The song was of its time. We've moved on since then. Clearly Axl has, and had done so probably before he even wrote that song. 

Have we though? Outside of the woke people--who are really more like trolls in the garbs of angels--people don't seem to give much of a damn. In 1988, the N word was considered wrong, and the people who used it (Marge Schott) paid the same price that people today pay when they use it. The only difference between the world then and the world now, is corporations have decided to--for reasons beyond me--appease the woke trolls by pretending they're on their side. Everything else, as far as the stuff we're talking about here, is pretty much unchanged.

Yes, and it's a great piece of art. Great art is not suppose to make you feel cozy. It's suppose to make think and feel, and that song definitely makes a person think and feel.

I would, however, make sure to take the time to explain why Axl said what he said so the person doesn't get the wrong impression. lol