1989: The Most Important Year in GN'R History?

[Fashionista]

@RONIN could we collaborate on this?

I feel like 1989 is perhaps the most important year in GN'R's history. Let's go over things a bit. In 1988, GN'R went from being a pretty unknown band outside of the L.A. scene to being the most popular band on the planet virtually overnight. By the summer of 1988, Appetite for Destruction was selling literally a million copies a month in the US alone. They had been catapulted from obscurity to a popular on the scale of Beatlemania at its height with no warning. At the time, no one in the band was older than 26. They were all young guys with no education, really, just street smarts. To cash in on the hype and not let it burn out they release Lies in December while trying to figure out how to properly follow-up AFD. They quickly become between OIAM and the Donnington incident not only the most popular rock band on Earth, but also the most controversial.

The band decide, for whatever reason, to take 1989 off their roster in terms of touring (always a bad move for a popular band - kills hype) and focus on recording. Meanwhile, each of the band member's personal lives is beginning to spin out of control: Izzy's at the height of his addiction to heroin and is arrested for pissing on an airplane; the bust scares him and does a number on his psyche. Steven is beginning to also bury himself in Heroin addiction and has to be sent to rehab. Slash too is sent to rehab during early 1989 to deal with his own heroin addiction, and Duff is slowly beginning to drink. Axl is having severe relationship problems and all of his existing insecurities and anger problems are exacerbated by fame. Axl asks the band to meet him in Chicago in the summer of 1989 to record the next record. This is a city he knows apparently which he feels will afford them some level of anonymity away from clammering fans. Slash, Steven, and Duff agree (Izzy is on parole and is being ultra cautious) and go there - and Axl isn't there. They're in a city they don't know and have to make their way around the town. This pisses them off. But eventually they get to their lair and record what would become Coma, Locomotive, Civil War, Garden of Eden and other songs. All is progressing well for about a month without Axl or Izzy. Axl shows up and is in a bad mood and trashes their hotel and all progress comes to a halt. Izzy arrives the next day, sees the scene, and still fragile from the bust and newly sober, splits. Duff writes that in his opinion, Izzy stopped being a member of GN'R after this incident. He would continue to write songs for the band and contribute, but day to day, he was a ghost and his interest was basically done.

The band record the basic tracks for the UYI records throughout the year. As we can hear from the Mates Rehearsals and other demos from that year, Locomotive, Garden of Eden, Yesterday's, and Dust N' Bones were pretty much complete as were Civil War and Bad Obsession. They just needed that elusive vocal track and some lyrics and melodies. Izzy's disinterest grows even more. He has already laid down his parts and sees no reason that the record can't be completed. He's bored. He spends a year in Indiana having his house repainted while the other guys overdub and almost drown out his basic chords.

The band's bond, shaken greatly by the Chicago incident, goes back on the road for the first time in over a year in September 1989, as the supporting act for the Stones. Ideally, this should be a real bonding experience and awesome humbling moment for the band - The Stones are at the renaissance of their career, and they are personal heroes of most of the band. Instead, it turns into a nightmare. Axl declares these will be the last GN'R shows unless the band quits using drugs, and he forces Slash to apologize in front of a crowd of thousands of people, humiliating him, so the shows can go on. Duff writes that any sense of brotherhood the band had, any sense of friendship beyond the music they shared, died that night.

So in recap you have:
-Most of the UYIs is completed, and Izzy and the band grow restless waiting for Axl
-Izzy is arrested and sobers up and the bust fucks his head up, and makes him grow distant from the rest of the band who are currently using

-The Steven situation begins and will consume a year and a half of trying to get Steven to stay sober and functional

-The band is tested again and again in their loyalty by Axl and finally the LA incident opening for the Stones shatters the band of brothers into just work colleagues.
-The UYIs could've been released at the end of 1989 or at the latest in early 1990 and might've saved Izzy's interest in the band. Instead, they take two years to complete and by the time they're out, Izzy is virtually mixed out of the records, so gone is the guitar interplay of AFD.

-The two years the band spends off the road, combined with their lack of any new single outside of Civil War and KOHD in the summer of 1990, help kill the band's momentum. The UYIs were expected to sell as much as Thriller, and didn't. Perhaps if they had been released, toured and supported in 1989 or 1990 they would've done so. While the UYIs are successful, they're not the mega successes anyone at the record company or in the band was hoping for. They're also released right on the verge of the Grunge explosion, making them seem instantly dated. The procrastination kills the band's momentum and also perhaps their place in history. The Grunge explosion and the UYIs not burying AFD makes Axl insecure and feel that GN'R's brand of rock is dead and they need to radically evolve to survive...which leads ultimately to the Axl/Slash/Duff version of Guns N' Roses splitting apart in the mid to late 1990s.

I feel that more than other year, 1989 defined the future of the band. It was so mishandled and perhaps it was the one year that truly counted in terms of what the band would be for their next 5-10 years together. I'd love to have @RONIN give his two cents as well as the rest of you.

[EvanG]

45 minutes ago, Fashionista said:

 and Duff is slowly beginning to drink.

According to his book, Duff was already somewhat of an alcoholic when he was still living in Seattle. I think it was in 1989 in Chicago when he discovered he could drink even more with coke.

[ludurigan]

4 minutes ago, EvanG said:

According to his book, Duff was already somewhat of an alcoholic when he was still living in Seattle. I think it was in 1989 in Chicago when he discovered he could drink even more with coke.

i actually find 1989 pretty interesting and this topic looks fabulous but i decide to stop reading after the "Duff is slowly beginning to drink" line

yeah right!

[AncientEvil80]

All good points and surely a pivotal year in their lives and history of the band.

Indisputable is, after the monstrous success of 1988, they all went back "home" from touring and were left to manage on their own all the consequences that that success had brought. It was basically the period of the Hell House/AFD recording all over again, but on steroids, and this time it was too much for them. It cracked something, probably that personal bond that was apparent in the previous 3 years.. no matter how musically/artistically creative they still were, the magic was getting corrupted and altered by too many factors. Some good (more professionalism), many bad (substances abuse, egos, greed).

Who knows what really happened, and I don't think they even remember much of it at all, despite what we read on books etc...

 

[Len Cnut]

Quote

They had been catapulted from obscurity to a popular on the scale of Beatlemania at its height with no warning.

It must be comedy hour

[Fashionista]

On 3/22/2018 at 9:15 AM, Len Cnut said:

It must be comedy hour

How do you mean? Appetite was selling literally a million copies a month in 1988. It was everywhere. They went from being nobodies to appearing in films, there was even talk of GN'R doing movies. Go watch any random late 80s movie from 88 or 89 and there's likely a GN'R reference somewhere or a poster. They were pretty huge overnight.

[Len Cnut]

27 minutes ago, Fashionista said:

How do you mean? Appetite was selling literally a million copies a month in 1988. It was everywhere. They went from being nobodies to appearing in films, there was even talk of GN'R doing movies. Go watch any random late 80s movie from 88 or 89 and there's likely a GN'R reference somewhere or a poster. They were pretty huge overnight.

You might wanna go back and look at what Beatlemania was.

[mikeman5150]

I remember on their behind the music, it said the anticipation for the use your illusions hadn’t been seen since the Beatles. I know they did have midnight sales for those records. Apparently they sold something like 2 million records in 24 hours or something like that. 

[DeadSlash]

Um. yeah.  I am a huge fan but beatlemania?  Sorry but no.  That isn't a knock on GnR, it's just that beatlemania was a whole different world.

GnR was huge, but no need to get into hyperbole. 

[The Holographic Universe]

2 hours ago, DeadSlash said:

Um. yeah.  I am a huge fan but beatlemania?  Sorry but no.  That isn't a knock on GnR, it's just that beatlemania was a whole different world.

GnR was huge, but no need to get into hyperbole. 

There are similarities. I can’t think of one rock band outside of GNR that became a worldwide phenomenon after one album. Zeppelin, U2, The Stones, Metallica all took many albums and years before they reached global status, so I think that is what the poster was drawing a parallel to.

[The Holographic Universe]

5 hours ago, Fashionista said:

How do you mean? Appetite was selling literally a million copies a month in 1988. It was everywhere. They went from being nobodies to appearing in films, there was even talk of GN'R doing movies. Go watch any random late 80s movie from 88 or 89 and there's likely a GN'R reference somewhere or a poster. They were pretty huge overnight.

Len is british , so he takes it somewhat more seriously. Your speaking blasphemy and sacrilege to his ears.

[EvanG]

8 hours ago, The Holographic Universe said:

I can’t think of one rock band outside of GNR that became a worldwide phenomenon after one album. 

Nirvana?

Ok, Nevermind wasn't their first album, but most people didn't know that.

[DieselDaisy]

I'd personally choose 1987: they recorded and released Appetite for Destruction, their testimonial. 

[rocknroll41]

The OP makes some good points, but I don't agree completely. The UYIs may not have sold as much as Thriller, but they certainly weren't flops either by any stretch of the imagination. The hype was still there. People lined up around the blocks at record stores all over the country at midnight. Each album went on to sell over 15 million copies. Sure, both albums are flawed, but if they were THAT bad, they wouldn't have gotten to 15 million copies each. 

UYI hasn't aged well these days, and rightfully so (again, both records are flawed). But, going off of like every documentary and interview I see from the time, they were the albums that pretty much defined GNR from like 1991-1994.

also, as others have said here, I wouldn't compare GNR's success quite to beatlemania either. Yes, they became extraordinarily successful in 1988, but beatlemania made it so that anyone from a 5-year-old to their grandma could name all four Beatles.

but I agree with pretty much everything else the OP is saying. Maybe it wouldve been better if we got UYI in 1990 instead. I don't know. No sense in rewriting history, at this point. I think GNR's downfall and eventual return was inevitable anyway, and their legacy act status is cemented now, even with all the drama that ended up unfolding.

Edited March 25, 2018 by rocknroll41

[EvanG]

33 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

UYI hasn't aged well these days

I think they have.

[Ratam]

I think that already only with "November Rain" of UYI album with almost billon of views on Youtube they cemented his legacy respect UYI too,not just with AFD.

[RussTCB]

17 hours ago, DeadSlash said:

Um. yeah.  I am a huge fan but beatlemania?  Sorry but no.  That isn't a knock on GnR, it's just that beatlemania was a whole different world.

GnR was huge, but no need to get into hyperbole. 

I was thinking the same thing. 

People always use that "...since The Beatles" line though. Like you said, UYI was a big, big deal but no where on the same planet with Beatlemania. 

[rocknroll41]

7 hours ago, EvanG said:

Nirvana?

Ok, Nevermind wasn't their first album, but most people didn't know that.

As Captain America once said:

I understood that reference.

[The Holographic Universe]

8 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

The OP makes some good points, but I don't agree completely. The UYIs may not have sold as much as Thriller, but they certainly weren't flops either by any stretch of the imagination. The hype was still there. People lined up around the blocks at record stores all over the country at midnight. Each album went on to sell over 15 million copies. Sure, both albums are flawed, but if they were THAT bad, they wouldn't have gotten to 15 million copies each. 

UYI hasn't aged well these days, and rightfully so (again, both records are flawed). But, going off of like every documentary and interview I see from the time, they were the albums that pretty much defined GNR from like 1991-1994.

also, as others have said here, I wouldn't compare GNR's success quite to beatlemania either. Yes, they became extraordinarily successful in 1988, but beatlemania made it so that anyone from a 5-year-old to their grandma could name all four Beatles.

but I agree with pretty much everything else the OP is saying. Maybe it wouldve been better if we got UYI in 1990 instead. I don't know. No sense in rewriting history, at this point. I think GNR's downfall and eventual return was inevitable anyway, and their legacy act status is cemented now, even with all the drama that ended up unfolding.

Well GNR is probably the last band where most people could name almost all members. With the exception of Steven Adler I would say for a brief moment the average rock fan could name Izzy and Duff, how many bands now days can you even name more than the lead singer or guitar player?

[EvanG]

21 minutes ago, The Holographic Universe said:

Well GNR is probably the last band where most people could name almost all members. With the exception of Steven Adler I would say for a brief moment the average rock fan could name Izzy and Duff, how many bands now days can you even name more than the lead singer or guitar player?

I think that was also because they had names like cartoon characters... Steven was the only one with a normal name. They were like the Spice Girls in a way with those nicknames... almost everyone could name Ginger, Baby, Scary, Posh and Sporty........ oh my, I didn't even have to look that up!

[Silverburst80]

9 hours ago, EvanG said:

Nirvana?

Ok, Nevermind wasn't their first album, but most people didn't know that.

From memory Nirvana weren't even the biggest grunge band, Pearl Jam where as big if not bigger.

[EvanG]

Just now, Silverburst80 said:

From memory Nirvana weren't even the biggest grunge band, Pearl Jam where as big if not bigger.

Yes, by 1993 Pearl Jam were outselling Nirvana, but late 1991 and early to mid 1992 the Nirvana hype was HUGE.

[Silverburst80]

30 minutes ago, EvanG said:

Yes, by 1993 Pearl Jam were outselling Nirvana, but late 1991 and early to mid 1992 the Nirvana hype was HUGE.

Yes it was, i think the energy around GNR was a different beast though...never in the same bracket as Beatlemania but y'know new crews parked outside hotels to catch a glimpse of the band, news crews covering their concerts worldwide, getting massive print exposure outside of music press.

[The Holographic Universe]

1 hour ago, Silverburst80 said:

From memory Nirvana weren't even the biggest grunge band, Pearl Jam where as big if not bigger.

Kurt Cobain suicides impacted Niravana more than their musical ability. Nirvana would have been no bigger than STP, AIC, or Soundgarden had Kurt lived. 

[EvanG]

43 minutes ago, Silverburst80 said:

Yes it was, i think the energy around GNR was a different beast though...never in the same bracket as Beatlemania but y'know new crews parked outside hotels to catch a glimpse of the band, news crews covering their concerts worldwide, getting massive print exposure outside of music press.

I wasn't comparing the GnR hype to the Nirvana hype, though. I reacted to the poster who said that no rock band outside of GnR became a worldwide phenomenon after one album, and I think Nirvana was definitely that after Nevermind, especially because they were the first band from that alternative scene to break through in the mainstream... they even affected the fashion world and outside of the music press the whole ''Kurt and Courtney'' thing got a lot of attention.