Was "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" worthy of being a GN'R album?

[Vincent Vega]

Would "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" have made a good Guns album? Musically, it seems most of the album was written and recorded by Slash and Gilby in early 1994 to be the next Guns album (You can ever hear an early version of "Back and Forth Again" in GN'R's Making of Videos tape). Interviews from the period confirmed that musically the album was recorded before Eric Dover wrote any lyrics or sang over anything, so essentially musically what was released was probably almost exactly what was presented to Axl--Making it basically a "Lost GN'R album". Add This I Love to it and you probably have what GN'R would've released in 1995 or '96 had Axl agreed to use Slash and Gilby's material.

Looking back, do you think musically it could've made for a good GN'R album?

Edited October 23, 2010 by Indigo Child

[inthisriver]

I picked no.

[Towelie]

It's a pretty weak record, if you ask me.

It's sub-par material at best and Axl knew it. There's nothing on the album which holds a candle to stuff like Coma or Locomotive or YCBM.

I like to think if you combine Contraband and CD together it would be an accurate representation of what GNR would sound like had Slash stayed with Axl.

I can imagine Axl singing Fall To Pieces, You Got Not Right and Suckertrain Blues and I know Slash would sound great on Street of Dreams, This I Love and Better.

[Guest Satanisk_Slakt]

It wasn't at the same level as the GN'R albums, but it's way better than CD.

[Towelie]

It wasn't at the same level as the GN'R albums, but it's way better than CD.

Are you serious?

IFOCS has dated horrendously. The only good track is the first one, the rest is just.... dreadful. Bad lyrics, bad riffs, bad songs.

[American Psycho]

No.

[J Dog]

no

[FuddMckagan]

No, but I can imagine Axl singing on songs like Back And Forth Again, Lower, and Take It Away. I imagine the lyrics probably would've been a bit better as well.

Good album though.

[appetite4illusions]

Wasn't anything dynamic about it. It sounds exactly like an aborted Guns album that was never fathered by Izzy.

There's a lot of going nowhere on the first Snakepit record. (For the record, I liked the guitar compositions better on ALG, but hated the singer more.)

[highend88]

None of Slash Album is worthy of being considered as a GNR Album.

[Dead Flower]

Some awesome guitar and music on It's Five O'Clock. Slash had that dirty blues rock sound nailed down.

Worthy of being a GnR album? Go back in time and get Slash, Axl and Duffman hammering out the material together, and I'll tell you.

Still listen to Neither Can I, Beggars, Good To Be Alive and Lower quite a bit. Not bad for an album that was released in '95.

[Vincent Vega]

Axl's mistake in retrospect was NOT going with Slash's vision. Why do I say this? Because had Axl entertained Slash's ideas and released It's Five O'Clock Somewhere with some of his own songs and lyrics, and it flopped, he could then say to Slash, "See...My vision was the better one. Let's try my idea now" and Slash really wouldn't have been in a position to say "No." if his idea flopped.

Then you could've had a mid '90s Slash led Guns album, and a late '90s Axl led Guns album, with something of a compromise like Contraband meets CD coming out in the early '00s.

Really, if Axl had said yes to the Snakepit songs, it would've saved the original GN'R in the long run.

[Spoon87]

With input from Axl and Duff tweaking the material, too, then it would have gotten even better and truly worthy of the GNR name. That's pretty obvious.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Spoon87

[RisingTides]

No. Fucking. Way. Nothing Slash (or any of the original members besides Axl) has done post Appetite has been worthy of the GNR name. Axl set the benchmark with his compositions and the other members failed to meet it. Simple as that.

Edited October 24, 2010 by RisingTides

[Izzy_Stradlin_XX]

I don't think so...

But the record is 10 times better than CD.

It shows that Slash can also make cool Rock N Roll Riffs, but they were to r´n´rlish to Axl sing on them.

[Lose Your Illusions]

Fuck No.

And to the people who say its better than CD are most likely saying that because CD isnt your typical rock record, while Snakepit most certaintly is. Its hard for alot of old Guns fans to accept a totallly new sound.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Lose Your Illusions

[RisingTides]

Chinese Democracy says otherwise my friend. It's the only record GNR have put out worthy of AFD's legacy. The UYI's were dominated by poor songwriting from everyone except Axl.

[RisingTides]

So sales mean everything? Better toss my copy of Trout Mask Replica in the bin then.

[RisingTides]

Axl doesn't make music for the fans, he makes the music he wants to make. Does an artist paint the pictures he thinks the public want to see?

[RisingTides]

Agreed not too many musicians make their music to cater to fans but sales it can give you a pretty good guage as to the quality of the music.

Wrong on two levels. Firstly, most musicians today make music to cater to the fans. KISS, AC/DC, Metallica, Motely Crue etc are all making esentially the same album time and time again in orrder to pander to the public. Secondly, many great albums have performed poorly on a commercial level. If you think commercial success is correlated with artistic achievement you need to be saved by Jesus my friend.

[sweetness]

If Guns N' Roses had actually worked with Slash on it, it could have been better than the illusions

Chinese Democracy says otherwise my friend. It's the only record GNR have put out worthy of AFD's legacy. The UYI's were dominated by poor songwriting from everyone except Axl.

you canNOT be serious...

Edited October 24, 2010 by sweetness

[bacardimayne]

If Guns N' Roses had actually worked with Slash on it, it could have been better than the illusions

You mean the Gilby/Sorum/Dizzy GNR?

Naw.

[moreblack]

With input from Axl and Duff tweaking the material, too, then it would have gotten even better and truly worthy of the GNR name. That's pretty obvious.

yeah

[sweetness]

If Guns N' Roses had actually worked with Slash on it, it could have been better than the illusions

You mean the Gilby/Sorum/Dizzy GNR?

Naw.

Yup.

The weakest thing about Its 5 O'clock Somewhere was definitely the vocals and lyrics, replace the mediocre Eric Dover with the legendary Axl Rose and tell me the album wouldn't have been fucking awesome. Slash was on top of his game in the mid 90's, imo the guitar on Its 5 O'clock Somewhere has some of the best shit he's written including Guns material, the only thing he was missing was the all star lineup and chemistry he had with GNR to make it a home run.

Not to discredit Its 5 O'clock Somewhere, I think its an awesome album, but it could have been a GREAT Guns N' Roses album. You could say the same thing about Aint Life Grand, Contraband, Libertad, even Chinese Democracy

oh well

[Vincent Vega]

I actually prefer "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" to Chinese Democracy.

Given that it has Slash, Gilby, Matt and Dizzy on it--4/6ths of Guns at the time it was recorded--and the fact that Slash wrote it specifically for GN'R, and Axl had changed his mind and wanted a lot of the songs after Slash recorded them, I consider it essentially a GN'R album just released under a different brand name. It basically is a "Lost GN'R album" in all but name.

It's a GN'R album under a different name and with a different vocalist. It rocks.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Indigo Child