GnR’s place in hard rock history?

[Iron MikeyJ]

The biggest flaw with the small discography argument is that they have a ton of hits. It doesn't matter if you released 1 or 20 albums, the amount of hits you have will help determine your all time rank.

Here are gnr's hits

1. Jungle

2. Scom

3. Paradise city

4. Patience

5. YCBM

6. Knocking on heavens door

7. Live and let die

8. Don't cry

9. November rain

10. Civil War

That is 10 bona fide classic rock readily played hits. Plus you through in brownstone and nightrain (which also get played once in a while), it helps build the case.

Sure bands like Van Halen, aerosmith, as/dc, zeppelin, etc have a few more. But not really THAT many. Honestly gnr has more songs that are radio friendly than probably Pink Floyd, The Who, Kiss, sex pistols, ramones, nirvana, pearl jam, red hot chili peppers, etc. So while the dicography is small, it's packed with quality. Then when you add songs like Rocket Queen, Estranged, and what not it just makes their case even stronger. Quality supersedes quantity. I'm not saying gnr is #1, but as far as hard rock/metal goes, they are top 10.

[Mr. Dude]

Zeppelin though have eight original studio albums. GN'R had only four and one of them is tiny.

GNR actually have almost as many songs as Zeppelin. A lot of older records- and a few by Zep are only around 30-40 min long- 8-9 songs. The Illusions had what 30 songs? That's like 3 albums. CD has close to two albums of material.

Milk is brilliant.

I didn't care for the movie.

[Trin9498]

I think if you were around in late 80's early 90's you have to say in the top 10. They brought is all - good music, great frontman, cool image, and a sense of dangerousness at their shows. Post break-up can't be considered for this question.

[Rovim]

All I know is AFD is one of the best hard rock albums of all time. It is retro as fuck, but it doesn't matter cause it's timeless. It masterfully fulfilled the promise of bands that had the vision and talent to come up with a certain style that fitted the melting pot.

So I think the band that was responsible for an album of such magnitude has to be one of the best. For that particular moment in time. Just for Appetite imo.

They've never recorded another unified album together. This makes them like a one hit wonder if we're talking about the best hard rock bands in history. Than it becomes not even close.

My personal opinion is that The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the best hard rock band that ever was.

[Mr. Dude]

I think Chinese Democracy is what elevated them into consideration with the all-time greats.

[SlashElvisTCB]

I think GnR made too few album to leave a big mark and even though they were still huge in the early 90s, many 'alternative' bands had already taken over and GnR weren't taken that seriously anymore with all the rock star bullshit and drama that surrounded them.

Are you serious? too few albums? You realize that 3.4 million tons of bombs were dropped during world war 2, but it took only 2 10,000lb Nuclear bombs to end it!.

Point is EVERY ONE of GNR's albums are those nuclear bombs!. GNR were the band to beat back in the late 80s & early 90s. Also the importance of Grunge music is SEVERELY overstated, it was not nearly as popular as history states and it never replaced traditional rock as people said it did. The people who say that are just writers who are fans of Grunge.

Edited December 18, 2015 by SlashElvisTCB

[EvanG]

I think GnR made too few album to leave a big mark and even though they were still huge in the early 90s, many 'alternative' bands had already taken over and GnR weren't taken that seriously anymore with all the rock star bullshit and drama that surrounded them.

Are you serious? too few albums? You realize that 3.4 million tons of bombs were dropped during world war 2, but it took only 2 10,000lb Nuclear bombs to end it!.

Point is EVERY ONE of GNR's albums are those nuclear bombs!. GNR were the band to beat back in the late 80s & early 90s. Also the importance of Grunge music is SEVERELY overstated, it was not nearly as popular as history states and it never replaced traditional rock as people said it did. The people who say that are just writers who are fans of Grunge.

Yes, I am serious and that is my opinion.

Also, I was talking about alternative bands, not grunge bands... I don't even know what a grunge band is, it's just a made up word by a journalist to describe bands from Seattle. But it makes no sense, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice In Chains... those were bands with a different sound and were all operating in a different rock genre, but they were all considered grunge... go figure. I was only making a point by saying that some of those bands had become more popular than GnR in the early 90s.

Edited December 18, 2015 by EvanG

[shotsfired cro]

absolute top!

4 albums, 4 EPIC albums, EPIC monster tour, unseen tour to that date as a matter of fact.

[EvanG]

absolute top!

4 albums, 4 EPIC albums, EPIC monster tour, unseen tour to that date as a matter of fact.

Basically two albums... UYI should have been released as a double album and not sold seperately, that was just their way of cashing in even more so. And Chinese Democracy is a fine album, but that's not GnR obviously.

[uncivil war]

IMO, top 10 definitely, and had they lived up to they're potential, could have been one of the greatest of all time.

[Apollo]

Zeppelin though have eight original studio albums. GN'R had only four and one of them is tiny.

Houses of the Holy has 8 tracks, Lies has 8 tracks?

We've been through this such a long,long time just trying to heal the pain.

But still Zepp has 2 more records if you don't count CD.

Early GNR have 6 records. Latter GNR have 2.

The hybrid reunion album could take GNR to the top.

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!

I'm a die-hard GnR fan since 1987. Been a member of this forum since 1999 or 2000.

And I had no ID that GnR at released 8 albums.

This is literally the best news I've had in years.

I have appetite and both Illusions. And SI. And the Lies EP. So that's basically 4.5.

I also have CD.

Can somebody please point me out to the other 1-2 albums the pre-breakup band released. And please, ASAP, send me info about the 2nd album that Axl has released in the last decade.

I can't believe there are 3 albums worth of material that I've not only never heard - but u had no idea they even existed.

Thanks in advance! Best Christmas present ever.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Apollo

[DIST]

GNR 87-93 the greatest that ever was.

That greatness will never happen again.

[Free Bird]

absolute top!

4 albums, 4 EPIC albums, EPIC monster tour, unseen tour to that date as a matter of fact.

Basically two albums... UYI should have been released as a double album and not sold seperately, that was just their way of cashing in even more so.

Basically not.

UYIs are two albums. Two. 2. Not 4. Not 1. It's 2 albums. And why shouldn't it be? 30 tracks and almost 150min full of music have every right to be on two separate albums.

Even Lies is an album. GNR are not the first band releasing an 8 track album...

So GNR in their prime had 4 albums. 3 great albums and an outstanding ultimate classic album. GNR made their name. They are amongst the best.

Maybe a class below The Stones, Pink Floyd, ACDC, Sabbath, Zeppelin.

On a level with Kiss, Aerosmith, Purple, Doors.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Free Bird

[GNRfan2008]

Setting aside the fact that the songs are overproduced and Sorum's drumming style just doesn't fit that well, if the band was smarter in editing the tracklist they could have ended up with the UYI albums being pretty much right there with Appetite. Just trim the fat (Shotgun Blues, Get in the Ring, My World, the cover songs, Don't Cry 2, etc.) and you have a ton of amazing material on those two albums. It amazes me how underrated songs are like Pretty Tied Up, Coma, 14 Years, Estranged, Breakdown, Locomotive, Don't Damn Me, Yesterdays, The Garden, Perfect Crime, etc.

A point to consider about Zeppelin and a lot of the older bands too. Zeppelin is my favorite band but I will be the first one to point out that their albums were usually around 40 minutes. Physical Graffiti was 80 minutes as a supposed double album. Each UYI album is 75 minutes for perspective. GN'R didn't put out a ton of albums but they gave you a lot of material to digest with each album. Their "short" album GN'R Lies was darn near as long as the full length albums that Zeppelin, Floyd, Beatles, and others were putting out in their heyday. But as I mentioned above, there is strength in restraint. Editing out some of the filler can be a great thing and I believe some of those classic bands did a very good job of this.

[Mr. Dude]

absolute top!

4 albums, 4 EPIC albums, EPIC monster tour, unseen tour to that date as a matter of fact.

Basically two albums... UYI should have been released as a double album and not sold seperately, that was just their way of cashing in even more so.

Basically not.

UYIs are two albums. Two. 2. Not 4. Not 1. It's 2 albums. And why shouldn't it be? 30 tracks and almost 150min full of music have every right to be on two separate albums.

Even Lies is an album. GNR are not the first band releasing an 8 track album...

So GNR in their prime had 4 albums. 3 great albums and an outstanding ultimate classic album. GNR made their name. They are amongst the best.

Maybe a class below The Stones, Pink Floyd, ACDC, Sabbath, Zeppelin.

On a level with Kiss, Aerosmith, Purple, Doors.

Actually UYI is 4 records....on vinyl...which was the primary format until cassettes eclipsed them in the 80s Just because you can fit more music on tape or CD doesn't mean you can fit more on records.

[Guns n' Swedes]

I think Axl is the one who truly give GNR an edge, thanks to his complex lyrics, amazing stage performances, unique voice and by being the kind of person he is.

[Apollo]

It's funny to see some people still confusing the concept of "your personal favorite" with "best of all time."

Calling CD a classic or masterpiece just invalidates your entire post. Arguing that Illusions and CD should be counted as two albums each in some weird attempt to make it seem like GnR has been prolific with their music releases......if you have to start pulling crap like that out to make a point- it's just silly.

Rolling Stones put out a lot of music. How do we know this? By looking at the list of albums they released and seeing how many total songs they've released. You don't have to spend days arguing if their third album should actually count as two separate releases.

I think Axl is the one who truly give GNR an edge, thanks to his complex lyrics, amazing stage performances, unique voice and by being the kind of person he is.

Which is what most fans of most bands say about their favorite band's lead singer. Great White fans think that Jack Russell was the key to their success. Cinderella fans worship Tom Kiefer. White Lion fans love Mike Tramp.

Now what is your opinion on the actual topic?

[Rovim]

Whatever Gn'R's place in history might be, the sound of the original 5 was definitely unique and magical.

What's cool about the sound is that each member brought a lot of personality into the music, and I'm specifically talking about their playing styles.

Izzy with his roots in The Stones and punk. His guitar playing doesn't contain any bullshit. Riffs and songs that sound fairly simplistic, but could only come from his imagination.

Duff with his bass sound that no one had and perfect note choices. He knows where the song should go if he's into it.

Steven - coke groove and great drum riffs. It sounds right, Duff and him a groovy as fuck hard rock rhythm section.

Axl - infinite reasons

Slash - biggest part of the sound? at least as significant as Axl's voice to Guns.

I don't think Appetite will be forgotten. I think Gn'R made their mark with it. If Guns never made that album, My guess is no one would have.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Rovim

[Guns n' Swedes]

It's funny to see some people still confusing the concept of "your personal favorite" with "best of all time."

Calling CD a classic or masterpiece just invalidates your entire post. Arguing that Illusions and CD should be counted as two albums each in some weird attempt to make it seem like GnR has been prolific with their music releases......if you have to start pulling crap like that out to make a point- it's just silly.

Rolling Stones put out a lot of music. How do we know this? By looking at the list of albums they released and seeing how many total songs they've released. You don't have to spend days arguing if their third album should actually count as two separate releases.

I think Axl is the one who truly give GNR an edge, thanks to his complex lyrics, amazing stage performances, unique voice and by being the kind of person he is.

Which is what most fans of most bands say about their favorite band's lead singer. Great White fans think that Jack Russell was the key to their success. Cinderella fans worship Tom Kiefer. White Lion fans love Mike Tramp.

Now what is your opinion on the actual topic?

I think that in addition to what I wrote, GNR definitely broke a lot of ground with their grand videos and not being afraid to try different sounds and musical styles - most, if not all, I credit Axl for this.

Thus, I do think GNR have a big place in hard rock history compared to other bands who sold similar amounts of albums.

[dalsh327]

UYI was more for CD and tape than it was for vinyl, a big reason they came out in longboxes was because they could fit 2 side by side where records used to be (the stores like Costco kept carrying them).

The Stones usually recorded more than they needed for the album and those songs would wind up on future albums.

The problem in the 80s tied into music video and the influence it would have. A lot of people don't even watch music videos now.

[Mr. Dude]

UYI was more for CD and tape than it was for vinyl, a big reason they came out in longboxes was because they could fit 2 side by side where records used to be (the stores like Costco kept carrying them).

The Stones usually recorded more than they needed for the album and those songs would wind up on future albums.

The problem in the 80s tied into music video and the influence it would have. A lot of people don't even watch music videos now.

That's actually not true. There are several interviews where Axl talks about lining up the songlist so that it works best for vinyl.

[EvanG]

absolute top!

4 albums, 4 EPIC albums, EPIC monster tour, unseen tour to that date as a matter of fact.

Basically two albums... UYI should have been released as a double album and not sold seperately, that was just their way of cashing in even more so.

Basically not.

UYIs are two albums. Two. 2. Not 4. Not 1. It's 2 albums. And why shouldn't it be? 30 tracks and almost 150min full of music have every right to be on two separate albums.

Even Lies is an album. GNR are not the first band releasing an 8 track album...

So GNR in their prime had 4 albums. 3 great albums and an outstanding ultimate classic album. GNR made their name. They are amongst the best.

Maybe a class below The Stones, Pink Floyd, ACDC, Sabbath, Zeppelin.

On a level with Kiss, Aerosmith, Purple, Doors.

I suppose it depends on how you look at it. Other bands who released a 2-disk consider that as one album, the only difference with UYI is that they sold it seperately but released at the same time. For me UYI is one album. GnR Lies is an EP with 3 new songs on it, that doesn't qualify as an album to me. And "the Spaghetti Incident?" can be considered an album, I guess, but seeing as they were left over covers recorded during the UYI sessions, I can't see it as much more than that.

Edited December 19, 2015 by EvanG

[action]

in a "battle of the bands", in a hypothetical show off when all these bands were in their prime, GNR would blow them all away

[smoking guns]

Greatest American Hard Rock band ever. Aerosmith is #2 best American Hard Rock Band Ever.

[Apollo]

in a "battle of the bands", in a hypothetical show off when all these bands were in their prime, GNR would blow them all away

Lol. I'm guessing you were born in the 80s or 90s?