foghat43 Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) When one considers the history/evolution of hard rock music…the great rock bands/artists like the Stones, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Sabbath, etc...where does GnR fit in? How do they compare…do they even deserve to be in the conversation/debate about the “greatest rock band”, or are they at a level far below the competition? Obviously (or at least IMO) they were far superior to their peers (Motley Crue, Skid Row, the 80’s “hair bands”, etc.), but how do they fare when compared with the real heavy weights such as Zeppelin or the Stones…AFD vs. Sticky Fingers, etc.?I realize it's very subjective, not necessarily apples to apples comparisons, and that it really boils down to personal preferences...but I'm interested to hear other's opinions on where GnR fits when you look at the overall history of the genre...and from a quality not a quantity perspective (obviously Guns doesn't have a huge catalog). Edited December 18, 2015 by foghat43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 On a list of top 100, i'd put them somewhere between 75-100, probably nearer 100If it's strictly hard rock, they move up a bit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's an interesting question. While they're one of my favorite bands ever, I doubt most people would consider them in a conversation about "greatest band ever". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's an interesting question. While they're one of my favorite bands ever, I doubt most people would consider them in a conversation about "greatest band ever".It's hard for most to come with a list of, say top 25 "best" bands ever and try not to include your favorites and try not to exclude your non-favorites.I'm not a Beatles guy at all. I despise Pink Floyd and U2 but i'd be fooling myself if I didnt put them on such a list and probably way up on it.Nick Cave is my personal favorite but I wouldnt put him in the top 100 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Too few albums unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 ...I despise Pink Floyd...This hurts me more than any other post I've ever read. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Dude Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's an interesting question. While they're one of my favorite bands ever, I doubt most people would consider them in a conversation about "greatest band ever".Who would you say is the greatest band ever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 ...I despise Pink Floyd... This hurts me more than any other post I've ever read.I don't get the appeal. At all. And I have listened to every album multiple times. I just don't get it. Same with U2. At least The Beatles, I understand. It makes sense. Floyd to me is just babble disguised as high art. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Dude Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) It's an interesting question. While they're one of my favorite bands ever, I doubt most people would consider them in a conversation about "greatest band ever".I'm not a Beatles guy at all. I despise Pink Floyd and U2 but i'd be fooling myself if I didnt put them on such a list and probably way up on it. I sometimes have those thoughts as well, but they always subside when I go back and listen to the records. I think sometimes the bloated image and widespread popular acceptance of those bands overshadows their actual artistic merit. The cynical contrarian in me wants to hate them though. Edited December 18, 2015 by Mr. Dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babooshka Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's tough. They don't have the catalogue, yet if you were going to create a top 10, or even 5, list of hard rock albums, AfD has got to be there.So their album is a classic, but the band itself has underachieved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 ...I despise Pink Floyd... This hurts me more than any other post I've ever read.Floyd to me is just babble disguised as high art.This one hundred thousand million billion times....the bold bit times infinity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Dude Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's tough. They don't have the catalogue, yet if you were going to create a top 10, or even 5, list of hard rock albums, AfD has got to be there.So their album is a classic, but the band itself has underachieved.I think they actually have more material than most people give them credit for. There's 3 albums worth of material on the Illusions alone. You could make the case that there's two albums worth on CD. That's 8 albums right there. They probably have almost as many songs as Zeppelin and the quality of the output is much higher than a band like the Stones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat43 Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Too few albums unfortunately.Fair point...but in my original post I intentionally specified that I wanted to limit the scope of the conversation to the quality of the music, not the quantity...so for example, if you considered GnR at their best (whatever you consider that to be) and compare that to Zep/Stones at their best (whatever you consider that to be), how does Guns hold up? Edited December 18, 2015 by foghat43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 ...I despise Pink Floyd... This hurts me more than any other post I've ever read.Floyd to me is just babble disguised as high art. This one hundred thousand million billion times....the bold bit times infinity!As the young white girls say: I literally can't even right now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-W.A.R- Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 there isn't another band that has captured me like GNR did. So honestly i'd rank them as the best ever.obviously i'd probably get abuncha crooked looks....but whose to tell me another band is better?....thats why all-time list about music is stupid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSoftie Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Too few albums unfortunately.I think they should have been up there with Queen, Zeppelin, Stones etc, but this^ is a major issue as to why they probably aren't.Fronted by one of the most unique singers and frontmen of all time and a one of the most unique guitarists of all time, they should be legendary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNRmello77 Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Well maybe a way to look at it, is that GN'R especially back in the day were able to cover any other bands songs in a pretty good way,made hit songs with live and let die and KOHD, but there is hardly any band or singer who can cover GN'R right, GUNS have one of those unique unmistakeable sounds and they pretty much revived hardrock/classicrock on their own,and really made some timeless songs so you could give them a good place in rock history maybe as the best band of the 80's/90's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaghetti Guy Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Too few albums unfortunately.it is always sad to think what could have been if they were able to work it out & stick together & kept making albums on a regular basis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgy Zhukov Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 They could have been easily written off as another 80's hair band with AFD. But tracks like Patience, November Rain, Don't Cry, Coma and pretty much everything on UYI showed they were much more than that. Axl set himself apart from other frontmen at the time and Slash set himself apart from other guitarists. They were both above them all and did their idols proud. There's Izzy too, he brought the best out of Axl and Slash, him leaving really hurt the songwriting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Too few albums unfortunately.Fair point...but in my original post I intentionally specified that I wanted to limit the scope of the conversation to the quality of the music, not the quantity...so for example, if you considered GnR at their best (whatever you consider that to be) and compare that to Zep/Stones at their best (whatever you consider that to be), how does Guns hold up? It is difficult avoiding that subject though. For every album Guns possess, the other great acts have three! All that can be said is Appetite is one of the best rock n' roll/hard rock records ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Second behind Zepp. CD II could take them over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I do not even like Zeppelin yet I would struggle to place Guns up there with Zeppelin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liers Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I think in the top 10... You have the rolling stones, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Journey, U2, The Doors, ACDC, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Queen, The Beatles... Etc. GnR has to rank up there with them. Their quantity may not be a lot but they do have a lot of hits off of the few albums they do have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I don't class Stones or Beatles as Hard Rock. Pink Floyd aren't hard rock. Eagles aren't hard rock. Guns can mix it with ACDC and The Cult as a hard rock band but then they have some epic songs that get them closer to Zepp. Even Aerosmith don't have as much depth of material as Guns or Zepp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Zeppelin though have eight original studio albums. GN'R had only four and one of them is tiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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