How and why you got interested in GN’R?

[D4NNY]

Saw a recent post regarding what age group is the most popular in terms of the current fan base.

It got me thinking about what age I was when I was first introduced to the band and what made me so intrigued with them and quickly and inevitably obsessed! 
 

There is a lot of negativity on here nowadays so how about we go back to our early fandom roots, discuss and reminisce the happy days 😎🤘🏼
 

Q1 - How/when did you find them?

Q2 - How old were you?

Q3 - What was it about the band you found so incredible?

Edited May 31, 2022 by DustNBones1990

[Sweersa]

1 - Heard their classics, thought they were alright. I was maybe a casual fan at most, initially read their name for the first time in the back of a van as a child on a cassette. Really discovered them after hearing Chinese Democracy mentioned on the radio on or around 2006 or 2007 (Alice Cooper radio show) Downloaded the leaks at the time, including Better and some live versions of other CD songs, Better got me hooked.

2 - 17 or so

3 - I found it incredible that a song as good as Better hadn't been released yet.

[martinb33]

1 - KOHD (among others) used to be played a lot in my house when I was a kid

2 - 4 or 5, but a fan since I was 13

3 - The magnetism and bipolarity of Axl's voice mainly

[Stoymatic]

2002 vma’s

[Birdman]

1. Saw Jungle on Headbangers Ball in the fall of 1987. Remember thinking it was cool. A buddy of mine had the album and heard it start to finish in 1988 around the time Sweet Child was released. That’s when I got hooked.

2. 10

3. At age 10, I didn’t relate to the lyrical content much, but the music and vocals kicked ass. I particularly like the gritty guitar sound on AFD.

[thelostrose]

1. Thru a classmate.

2. Age 11

3. Axl's voice and Slash's guitar. The lyrics didn't matter back then.

[Lethalis]

7 hours ago, DustNBones1990 said:

Saw a recent post regarding what age group is the most popular in terms of the current fan base.

It got me thinking about what age I was when I was first introduced to the band and what made me so intrigued with them and quickly and inevitably obsessed! 
 

There is a lot of negativity on here nowadays so how about we go back to our early fandom roots, discuss and reminisce the happy days 😎🤘🏼
 

Q1 - How/when did you find them?

Q2 - How old were you?

Q3 - What was it about the band you found so incredible?

I'm 41 years old... funny thing is that I've already heard of them when I was young, but my taste in music at the time was more alternative. I grew up listening to 90's music... Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Radiohead etc.

When I met my wife, I was 21 years old... and Guns N Roses was (!) one of her favorite bands. She still likes Slash, but Axl not so much anymore. 

For some weird ass reason I still didn't listen much to them, but then came Velvet Revolver. That changed everything for me.

I was a huge fan of Contraband. From there I started getting into GnR, Izzy's music etc.

So in short:

Q1. After VR's Contraband I read about the history and started listening to GnR.

Q2. At 23 years old I rediscovered them.

Q3. Slash And Axl's voice and anger / energy was great.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Lethalis

[Homefuck]

Q1: I have a faint memory of seeing the logo and knowing that the dangerous (and scary) older kids were fans of gnr from when I was like 6-7 years old. Didn't know much about them though until...

Q2: I saw the video to PC at age 15. Bought AFD. Loved everything about them. Knew all their albums by heart 6 months later.

Q3: the aggressive and catchy tunes, the almost cartoony quality of their characters. Their nihilistic approach to life.

[-W.A.R-]

I never really paid much attention to them and kinda figured they were one of those lame bands like Motley Crue. However one day i was listening to SCOM, still not really taking them seriously, and then the solo was like an explosion. There was so much emotion, i was moved  I started thinking there was more to the band than i was giving it credit for.

Things really clicked by the time i got to track 3 on AFD.

[GNRfanMILO]

Hearing WTTJ on GTA San Andreas' Radio X.

Also thanks to my parents for letting me play that game at 8 years old 

[axlvai]

12 hours ago, DustNBones1990 said:

 

Q1 - How/when did you find them?

Q2 - How old were you?

Q3 - What was it about the band you found so incredible?

1. it was around 1991 with my friends... when T2 was released. And 1 of that friends got a copy of UYI 2.... in a 60 min cassette.... with YCBM cut in ..."another reason to cry!!!". We missed Dont cry Alt and My world a lot of time we got a full album... what a era!

2. I was 9 years young.

3. Axl's power voice, amazing guitar, powerfull live performances.

[Jabberwocky]

1. Watched the video for Welcome To The Jungle in 87 at my cousin's house cause he had cable. It was at some ungodly hour of the morning.
2. 12 years old
3. It was the tunes overall. They were so much beyond all of those interchangeable LA glam bands., I HATE glam metal and it was a breath of fresh air.

[lame ass security]

45 minutes ago, Gibson87 said:

Honestly, I loved the attitude and the individuality. They did whatever they wanted musically and didn't give a fuck if anyone liked it.

You're half right.

[opalho]

1 - Had heard SCOM and November Rain before, but when I was around eleven, my dad got a record player as well as a couple of vinyls. One of them was Greatest Hits, and one listen and I was hooked.

2. 11 - 12 y/o

3. Attitude lol. I thought WTTJ was such a badass song, with this great riff. 

[megaguns1982]

My mates older brother had UYI2 playing in the garage, this was about 1993, he was going to see them at eastern creek raceway (Sydney)  and we were hanging out, get in the ring came on and being 12 year olds,  we thought it was the most bad ass thing ever lol.  Pretty much was hooked from then on.

I missed basically all of their productive years and spent alot of time and money as a teenager buying rock magazines just to read some updates, then in high school my mate gave me the magazine cutout that slash had quit.

[Bitchisback]

I was born in 83 but honestly my first memory of GnR or really any music is the Paradise City music video, Axl wearing that white leather jacket.

 

Years later my father passed away and my mom gave me a lot of their cds as i was getting more into music.  I was probably 13 or 14.  Of course I knew all their hits off AFD but the stuff like Easy, Brownstone and RQ really got me.  What an amazing album. By this point I had to go pick up the illusions. I remember buying them both the same day and being totally amazed that this band had so many great songs.  Eventually I picked up lies and TSI and as I researched the band more (knowing they weren't together anymore) I found Axl was trying to put a new band together and that became my obsession. Following the trainwreck that followed.  I remember in 99 picking up live era on launch day and the end of days soundtrack and just listening to OMG obsessively.  I was a bit fan of NIN and groups like Static-X, Spineshank and PM5K and really loved the sound of OMG.  I really wish the rest of CD sounded like that. Even tho I love CD.  My first GnR show was supposed to be Philly in 2002 but we all know what happened lol.  

 

These are some great memories. What a band. 

[ssiscool]

Was watching kerrang! Tv in 2004 and November Rain came on. Was hooked since. Went out a few days later and got Greatest hits. My obsession grew from there and found this site in 2005. Was extremely active here from 05-14 then dropped off until recently. Have no major interest in NITL compared to like I would of in 2006/7. 

In 2004 I was 16/17. I remember buying the albums on cassette so I could listen in my car. 

 

My thoughts were same as now. How can the band be so raw and so good. And what happened for it to become what it is. I still love the band and Nightrain will always be my favorite song of all time

[ToonGuns]

1. I was on a Scout camping trip and the “older kids” (who were probably only 13 or 14!) had them on the ghetto blaster non stop. UYI had just been released. Around the same time but a bit prior I had seen Days Of Thunder for a friends birthday party at the cinema so knew the KOHD song which was cool, but the scout camping trip (to the Isle of Arran) was what opened up the full album. I thought Get In The Ring was amazing!

2. Maybe 11

3. I just loved rock music for some reason. Someone had given me a copied cassette tape of Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son on one side, and Ugly Kid Joe on the other. I got sucked into the whole guitar / rock vibe early.

[axlslash]

I grew up listening to down the line "classic rock" - my parents raised me mostly on folk stuff like Dylan, Pete Seeger, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, and the Eric Clapton Unplugged album. When I was probably 8 or so, after listening to the unplugged Layla, my dad said "now listen to this" and threw on the Derek and the Dominos version. That was my entry point to Clapton's electric catalog, Springsteen, and that type of stuff. When I was in middle school, somewhere in the 2000-2002 range, I'd be working on homework and wanted to listen to the radio station that played that stuff. The only classic rock radio station in Chicago at that time was WLUP the Loop, which played some Clapton and Springsteen type stuff, but mostly it was heavier stuff. Ozzy, Metalica, Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue, Sabbath, Zeppelin, and of course GN'R. I remember hearing Jungle first, then Sweet Child, then Paradise City over the course of a couple of weeks. The combo of Axl's voice, the heavy edge that the music had, and the fact that the musicianship was still there even with the heavier sound I think was what really hooked me.

[Lies They Tell]

I was 7 years old when the UYI records were released and my brother had a cassette with the songs Don't Damn Me, Don't Cry and Bad Apples, so those were probably the first GNR songs I ever heard. I remember liking those songs already back then and singing along to them.

Later I heard You Could Be Mine on Terminator 2 and when I became a teenager I started to really listen to GNR and got all their records.

Around that time I started to read about the band and found out that Axl was working on Chinese Democracy. I listened to the live versions of Chinese Democracy, The Blues, Riad, Silkworms, Madagascar and Oh My God. I liked Chinese Democracy and Oh My God especially.

I started to visit these forums back then and the rest is history.

The thing that I've always loved about GNR the most is probably the fact that their songs are so different from each other. They're not like AC/DC who keep writing the same song basically over and over again.

I love the anger and energy in GNR songs, but of course the slower songs are great as well. Axl's voice is really something and he manages to get the best out of the guitarists that he's working with.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Lies They Tell

[t-p-d-a]

Q1:
In 2004 i played GTA San Andreas with my best friend. I listen to Radio X: Welcome To The Jungle. Boom. It happens...

Q2:
In 2004 i was 14 years old and now 31

Q3:
The fuckin' voice of this singer. Absoluty aggressive and hungry.

 

 

[liers]

I believe I was around 10 years old. This was around 2006. I was very interested in music and watching live performances. Every time I heard a song I liked I’d look up videos of the song being performed live. One day I was in the front seat of my dads truck when sweet child O mine came on the radio. My dad turned the radio way up and mentioned that it was a good song. When we got home I looked up live performances of it. The first one that came up was Tokyo 1992. I think I watched a 2002 performance too. I remember being fascinated by Axl and how he’d run around and basically own the stage. I was fascinated by his energy, rants and controversies. Nightrain, Patience, November Rain, Mr Brownstone, Paradice City, You could be Mine, and Welcome to The Jungle we’re all songs I instantly fell in love with. After a few years I eventually got deeper into the catalog and Coma, Better, Street of Dreams, and the Garden all caught my attention as well.

[Bitchisback]

On 6/1/2022 at 12:48 AM, Bitchisback said:

I was born in 83 but honestly my first memory of GnR or really any music is the Paradise City music video, Axl wearing that white leather jacket.

 

Years later my father passed away and my mom gave me a lot of their cds as i was getting more into music.  I was probably 13 or 14.  Of course I knew all their hits off AFD but the stuff like Easy, Brownstone and RQ really got me.  What an amazing album. By this point I had to go pick up the illusions. I remember buying them both the same day and being totally amazed that this band had so many great songs.  Eventually I picked up lies and TSI and as I researched the band more (knowing they weren't together anymore) I found Axl was trying to put a new band together and that became my obsession. Following the trainwreck that followed.  I remember in 99 picking up live era on launch day and the end of days soundtrack and just listening to OMG obsessively.  I was a bit fan of NIN and groups like Static-X, Spineshank and PM5K and really loved the sound of OMG.  I really wish the rest of CD sounded like that. Even tho I love CD.  My first GnR show was supposed to be Philly in 2002 but we all know what happened lol.  

 

These are some great memories. What a band. 

Kinda funny to think when I got into GNR the illusions were only 6/7 years old and GnR was just releasing singles a few years prior because they always felt like a classic rock band to me. Even tho I really just missed the time they were together. I guess because their sound is more like Zep and Aerosmith than what was mostly out in the 90s 🤷‍♂️