GnR & the youth of USA

[W 23 Axl III]

I see kids singing along to GNR songs all the time

WHY? How do they know Jungle, SCOM, PC and some others?? Is it all from Guitar Hero?

Its pretty incredible how popular those songs are amongst the youth today. Im talking 7 yr olds singing Sweet Child, its crazy! How can Axl capitalize on this fact?!

I guess the only real way to make cash these days is to tour and get these kids to come to the show, along with us.

Edited August 8, 2010 by W 23 Axl III

[Encore]

i teach my younger brothers about GnR, and they tell their friends....

[ManetsBR]

I see kids singing along to GNR songs all the time

WHY? How do they know Jungle, SCOM, PC and some others?? Is it all from Guitar Hero?

It is. I first listened to Guns N' Roses on Guitar Hero 2, when I was 11. Love at first sight.

Edited August 8, 2010 by ManetsBR

[Gordon Comstock]

I think I was in 4th grade the first time I heard Appetite.... My dad played it in the car. Sometimes, you just 'get it', I guess....

[ManetsBR]

i teach my younger brothers about GnR, and they tell their friends....

me too.

[FuddMckagan]

You know them because you know them. I remember I knew songs like Summer Of '69 and We Are The Champions when I was a kid, I only knew a few of the words but I knew the melody.

All of those songs are timeless, so kids will have probably heard them somewhere and liked it.

[raebbit]

My kids (4, 6 and 7) know at least the chorus to Paradise City. During a 3 day nightmare car ride, I played the song every hour to stop them from fighting. They had to sing along whenever it was played. Unfortunately, my youngest calls it Parasite City.

[Slash'd]

My Dad always had Appetite on the stereo, and he always had (and still does) some sort of 80's music going. it just depends what your brought up around and what kind of music you like

[Guest gunns5]

my fathers -sisters- husbands- brothers- nephew- in -laws- childs-baby sitter knows a little of this i love, but shes not a yank

Edited August 8, 2010 by gunns5

[Guest Len B'stard]

Its pretty incredible how popular those songs are amongst the youth today. Im talking 7 yr olds singing Sweet Child, its crazy! How can Axl capitalize on this fact?!

By getting with the people who made them? And its not incredible in the least, they're songs and people remember them 20 years later, that's like saying the existence of classic rock radio is miraculous...they're good songs, good songs stick around, it's not incredible it's pretty usual.

[GN'R Forever]

I was a huge Gn'R fan when I was younger, and this was before there was Guitar Hero. My mom would just always play the Appetite tape and I loved it. Paradise City was my jam.

[Death Star]

Got into GN'R way before Guitar Hero and mygnr. I think it was back in 1998 or 1999. My first GN'R record was either UYI1 or 2. Before that I knew only one or two GN'R songs. Nightrain and I think Live and Let Die. Then my bro got a guitar and I heard him playing this real cool riff (SCOM). He told me it was Sweet Child. He played me the AFD version then the Live Era version. Then my bro made a Rock and Roll mix cassette tape which had some GN'R material on it from AFD which included SCOM and a few tracks from UYI1 and 2. After hearing those tunes I fell in love with GN'R.

Edited August 9, 2010 by Death Star

[prez]

When I was 7 (1992), my older brother used to blast November Rain and Don't Cry all the time, so that's how I was introduced to them.

[rockrecord]

.

Edited August 11, 2010 by rockrecord

[bloodyhell1]

different generation back then, todays wouldnt know there ass from there elbow

[Lose Your Illusions]

Number of reasons.

Main one is GNR are a very simple straight foward rock n' roll band yet MODERN sounding (still till this day it sounds fresh.)

everyone has their own opinions about taking one band over another but its hard to argue that GNR dont sound a hell of a lot more modern than any 80s rock band (crue, aerosmith, etc)

and this sounds stupid coming from a hardcore GNR fan but look at the Expendables trailer. Whyd they choose that song? It kicks ass and it sounds modern. much like every GNR song. thats why GNR appeals to the youth still to this day.

Edited August 9, 2010 by Lose Your Illusions

[rocker rockstar]

Those songs are still played a lot on the radio. I think they are timeless and will continue to be popular.

[dalsh327]

I see kids singing along to GNR songs all the time

WHY? How do they know Jungle, SCOM, PC and some others?? Is it all from Guitar Hero?

Its pretty incredible how popular those songs are amongst the youth today. Im talking 7 yr olds singing Sweet Child, its crazy! How can Axl capitalize on this fact?!

I guess the only real way to make cash these days is to tour and get these kids to come to the show, along with us.

It's like asking why Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, and GNR are still popular. I think Pink Floyd are more popular now than when they were together as a band. It's something that I saw grow over time. They were one of the biggest bands of the 70s because of Dark Side, but when Animals came out, a lot of casual listeners passed on it because of the length of the songs. When the Wall came out, they had a #1 hit. But I think the movie "The Wall" being played as a rite of passage, as well as the 1988 and 1994 tours and the MTV videos, put them in the mainstream. AC/DC, Queen and Eagles - I can go anywhere in the world and find their music on a jukebox or sung in a karaoke bar. There's 20 songs I can think of that I can go anywhere and someone will know it, regardless of what language they speak.

What's kind of funny is that if you grew up near where the band was from, you feel like it's "your" band, even though you could fly to some remote part of the world, and hear it in a third world country.I'm pretty sure Axl in his travels during the "missing years" picked up on this. That's when you know you really made impact. Sure, stadiums and arenas packed with people and sold out shows show that, but going somewhere to a place that's as remote as possible, and seeing something you created because some missionary rock lover left it behind has to be a head trip.

Between radio play, mix CDs, movies, Pop Idol (or American Idol), cover versions, and just borrowing the CD one day and listening to it, people discover old music on a daily basis.Guitar Hero from what I noticed exposes kids to rock music that have zero rock CDs or downloads in their collection. A GNR fan can look like anyone, be of any age, race, and sex and be able to enjoy the listening experience with other people. In the late 80s-early 90s, a GNR concertgoer might have had a more specific look at that time.

It's exposing kids to music instruments and branding, which is def. not lost on guitar makers.

[ags_rule]

It's simple - Guns N' Roses were, at their height, the biggest band in the world. That is an inescapable fact, so the music is something that will never be forgotten. I truly believe GNRs music is timeless, which is something that cannot be said for a lot of 80s rock bands!

[Duro]

Because they are some of the greatest songs ever made, by a very special band. The songs do not grow stale, or sound dated. The subject material is easy to relate to.

[SunnyDRE]

Not a single mention of CD or any song off of it, in any of the posts in this thread.

Edited August 9, 2010 by SunnyDRE

[Guest deleted_19765]

I don't think that's amazing at all. Between commercials, GH/Rock Band, and the fact that FM radio only plays 100 songs or so, it isn't at all remarkable. Seven year olds have ears and will remember something they hear over and over again. It doesn't mean much in terms of Axl's fanbase.

[GunsNRevolvers2]

I was in 6th grade when a kid I had just met was talking to me on the first day of school, we were talking about what kind of music we like and such, and at the time I liked your typical AC/DC, Led Zep rock and like eminem and 50 cent. He showed me Appetite for Destruction. I bought the CD that afternoon, haven't stopped since then, that was 7 years ago.

[W 23 Axl III]

Its just strange b/c think back to 1995-1999....we were promoting gnr to a world that didnt care, and kids back then had no idea who gnr or axl rose was...

It just seems like there was this revival of GNR in the early to mid 2000s....its cool to like GNR again, at any age.

The kids I see jamming to Jungle, aren't "playing daddy's classics"...these songs are real and legit to these kids........its pretty impressive actually! There isnt a "nostalgic" feel going on, its as if they just came out and are as creditable and legit as ever. GNR just doesnt feel old.

[dalsh327]

Its just strange b/c think back to 1995-1999....we were promoting gnr to a world that didnt care, and kids back then had no idea who gnr or axl rose was...

It just seems like there was this revival of GNR in the early to mid 2000s....its cool to like GNR again, at any age.

The kids I see jamming to Jungle, aren't "playing daddy's classics"...these songs are real and legit to these kids........its pretty impressive actually! There isnt a "nostalgic" feel going on, its as if they just came out and are as creditable and legit as ever. GNR just doesnt feel old.

GNR were the heavyweights of rock of the early 90s. After TSI, GNR disappeared. In a way, it was expected that they were going to take a long break. It's not like people stopped listening to GNR, but keep in mind they were played relentlessly from 1988 to 1994 on radio, on MTV, in your cars, at home. By '94, some people were just looking to get their kicks elsewhere, TSI had its hits, but I think people had burned out on them after hearing the music over and over.

I think after people had that break from their music, and the hits came out, people revisited the old songs.

As far as kids discovering "old" music - which should be considered "timeless" music - they find things in rock history that they think is cool, and can identify with regardless of when it was recorded. Just because Bob Dylan wrote a song in 65, doesn't mean someone in 2010 feels it's dated material. How old is "Knocking on Heavens Door"? Almost 40 years! "Live and Let Die"? Almost 40 years! It's when people put slang in a song that makes a song sound dated. Who's "Feelin' Groovy"?

AFD was the first CD for a lot of people, came out at a time when vinyl was being phased out of stores, def. didn't fly off of shelves when it first came out. The sound quality sounds as good now as it did when it came out, there might be one or two songs that might not have held up in time, but the overall listening experience from beginning to end still resonates. It has edge and bite to it, yet also have melody and the most important element , heart to it.

There's a TON of music from the 80s that might have been big at the time, but over time became forgettable, and even embarrassing to own a copy of.

Teenagers also have way more access to a wider variety of music than ever before. They might start out liking a band they saw a video of, or heard the song in a movie, but over time the music collection grows and discover old and new along the way.

Just because the creator of a song is 70, doesn't mean the song he wrote when he was 20 isn't going to affect the listener's connection to it. There's songs from the Depression era that still resonate and mean something to someone out there. People don't like the Beatles just because they're told they're the greatest rock band ever. The songs and what they mean to people is the real reason why. Someone might hear about Pet Sounds being the greatest album ever, but there's stuff on there that someone young can connect to. And in the same token, the older crowd finds one or two new songs to enjoy and connect to as well.

When you see families going to a hard rock concert, it might be part nostalgia act,but when they're all screaming along to the song, it's because they all have a connection to it, in different ways. You know you made impact on different generations when the audience is across the board agewise. I've been to shows where the audience was growing old along with the band, and those are bands that will prob. face extinction and be long forgotten in a decade or two. No interest in reissuing, just fade away into the ether, and maybe be on one of those PBS specials mixed in with 50 other groups.