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Is Axl a good writer on his own?


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Do you think Axl is at his best writing on his own or with a partner like Izzy or Paul?

When you look at the songs he's written on his own it seems like they're either the really good tracks or the really bad ones.

He has soul writing credit on Estranged and November Rain which are two of the best GNR songs, but then you see he came up with Shotgun Blues and Breakdown on his lonesome as well. Seems like he's really hit or miss.

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Very capable but a guy being able to imagine the accompanying instruments (not just relying on putting a piano or synth everywhere) vs a guy who can play or at least do a decent hack at guitar, bass, drums, is the better option at the helm and this might be Axl's problem with productivity and not trusting others around him enough to explore concepts and structures to bring back to him or bounce off him for GNR.

Edited by RandallFlagg
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You have

One in a Million

November Rain

Dead Horse

Shotgun Blues

Breakdown

Estranged

My World and

This I Love

That's not too many songs actually, but IMO the majority of these are really good songs. Shotgun Blues and My World are the weaker ones.

Izzy and Axl seem to have some inexplicable chemistry which often result in greatness.

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you guys didn't watch making the fucking videos back in the day, did you?

the fact Axl is solo credited doesn't mean he did the songs the way you hear them.

check out what he says about Slash and Estranged. it doesn't take genious to figure out guitar made Estranged, Dead horse, Breakdown...what they are.

Guitar, piano and DRUMS made November rain what is was.

Go figure, none of the post Illusions songs would have made any of the first 4 albums, objectivly.

So where is Ax's greatness gone!?

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you guys didn't watch making the fucking videos back in the day, did you?

the fact Axl is solo credited doesn't mean he did the songs the way you hear them.

check out what he says about Slash and Estranged. it doesn't take genious to figure out guitar made Estranged, Dead horse, Breakdown...what they are.

Guitar, piano and DRUMS made November rain what is was.

Go figure, none of the post Illusions songs would have made any of the first 4 albums, objectivly.

So where is Ax's greatness gone!?

Of course Axl didn't write every single guitar lick or bass line in the songs he's credited for. If he was, there wouldn't have been the need of a band. If he was capable, Axl would be the hard rock equivalent of Trent Reznor.

The fact is that Axl wrote the melody and lyrics for these songs, which gives him songwriting credits. Take away the bass, guitar (not in Dead Horse, Axl wrote that riff) and drums, and you'll still hear the same song. Not the exact same way, but the melody and words are there.

I believe the question was if his songwriting skills are good enough on his own or better with a partner, and I believe Izzy might be his best songwriting pal. November Rain and Estranged are arguably two of GN'R greatest songs, but there are others up there with them which Axl wrote together with someone. Coma with Slash is a contender for all-time best song.

This is not to take away all the great work done by Slash, Duff, Matt, Finck etc. They did more to the songs Axl wrote, but the groundwork was done by one man.

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I would say he is a good songwriter however I think that his songs are elevated to something better with other musicians like Slash coming up with their own parts to those song ideas. Estranged being the glaring obvious example of this

Edited by WhazUp
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'Estranged' is awesome, but what is is without the guitar parts? We've all heard that original instrumental piano demo.

Slash got jobbed on a writing credit, in my view.

It's borderline credit yes. I believe that's why Axl thanked Slash especially on that song.

The guitar parts from the final version is so defining of how we're used to hear that song. Still, if you listen to the piano demo, the chord progression throughout the whole song is there, written by Axl. Slash came in afterwards and did his magic on top of that.

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Slash should've been co-writer imo, his leads make the songs in addition to Axl's lyrics, melody and vision. Yes, someone else could've come in and done a great job, look at CD's results but would Estranged and NR be as iconic? Who knows. No one could've replaced Axl but a voice is a lot more difficult to mould around if it's as unique as Axl's.

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'Estranged' is awesome, but what is is without the guitar parts? We've all heard that original instrumental piano demo.

We have, and it's absolutely beautiful in its own right.

It isn't my place to declare Axl a good writer. But what I can say, is that no other musician has tapped into my imagination in quite the same way.

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It would've gone further against the nature of GNR, well we've had one record in 15+years anyway, but I was disappointed Axl didn't seem to pick up any other instruments, like he wouldn't have had to play them consistently live but he might've got farther along if he learned some guitar or drums, christ knows he had the time and resources to branch out.

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He has soul writing credit on Estranged and November Rain which are two of the best GNR songs, but then you see he came up with Shotgun Blues and Breakdown on his lonesome as well. Seems like he's really hit or miss.

Hmmm....he really put his soul into it then?

#assholepost #grammarpolice

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I like most of the Axl-on-his-own songs--I'm especially fond of Dead Horse and Estranged, but I agree that Axl and Izzy were a great combo. If they had continued writing together, I think they could have had a catalog somewhat comparable to Lennon/McCartney.

I don't think so. It is clear Izzy was Gn'R.

November Rain sucks ass. No wonder Stephanie left or whateverthefuckhername was. Axl should have given up his man-card right then and now. But never fear, that officially happened with This I Love.

If his man-card would have been revoked for writing piano ballads, wouldn't he have just gotten it right back for all the girls that it got him? :)

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i think axl is a good songwriter, but like every good writer he make mishaps and fuck ups along the way. i think sometimes even the best writers need someone to lend a helping hand and a pair of critical eyes to look things over. it would have been great to have someone tell axl that the breakdown chorus was awful as was the ending bit.

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Guest Len B'stard

Depends what you mean by good. He's good in that he can make passable songs, even some good ones but like, enough to carry a good band or a great band on his own? No, unfortunately not. He's good and he has a good ear for music but he needs the counter-balance of someone like an Izzy to bounce off, on his own he ain't all that.

A big part of the problem is, in terms of lyrically at least, he doesn't really have anything interesting to say or a particularly original perspective. I mean what pulled Appetite off in that regard was that it felt so real and authentic but he wasn't saying anything new or different and after that, from Illusions through to Chi Dem, it's just like an Axl journal predominantly, which isn't ever such a bad thing for an artist it's just that he doesn't appear to have anything really interesting to say, it's a lot of very remote self involved stuff and it kinda sucks the joy out of the music.

He just seems to like, pull of his version of certain archetypes, be it Industrial or...y'know, whatever genre. Which again isn't such a bad thing, The Clash did that very same thing...the difference is that it just appears to be a bunch of musicians trying to pull off an idea that they've been presented with, as opposed to it being the result of any kind of natural synergy between a bunch of musicians where they just kinda sat down and jammed and happened upon like, i dunno, a funk track or something. As a result it comes across as kinda forced.

I could never quite understand the stigma of how Axl was a bad songwriter, because I've yet to find one who is better.

John Lennon, Joe Strummer, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits...in the field of like, 'big names', in terms of songwriter, Axl is somewhere near the bottom for me.

Out of interest though, what about the lyrics you posted make you think that they are evidence of Axl being an exceptional songwriter? Seemed kinda trite to me, just sayin'.

Edited by sugaraylen
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He needs a Stradlin or a Slash. Left to his own devices, Axl produces masturbation. Give him a greasy blues player and you get gold. Even on his solo songs this is true (just imagine Estranged without those Slash guitar lines).

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