Guns N Roses: A Radical Band In the Music Industry

[wasted]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

Edited November 16, 2006 by wasted

[mr. orangestone]

i made a poopy

[Gunzen]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

You may as well have written this in Japanese cause it made no sense whatsoever and I will be reading it again tonight f I am having trouble falling asleep.

[eschman]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

You may as well have written this in Japanese cause it made no sense whatsoever and I will be reading it again tonight f I am having trouble falling asleep.

[Forsaken]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

You may as well have written this in Japanese cause it made no sense whatsoever and I will be reading it again tonight f I am having trouble falling asleep.

ROFL...

...With that being said, i'm not sure what to think really, Wasted. I think Chinese Democracy will be different, yes. Hopefully it will change what's going on right now in music. But I doubt it.

[wasted]

Well, let's hope it's at least different enough to warrant breaking up the original band. It could be a conservative retread of all the lastest fads like grunge, industrial, hip hop, nu metal with some power ballads thrown in for commercial reasons.

[icet224]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

I think I get what your saying, and personally, I feel that the album will be more of an intermediate phase for the band, a blending of whats expected, and of the change they want, having dealt with former members of les Claypool bands, it could lead to more willingness to experiment with sound, I expect a few songs to be radical(i.e. Silkworms, definitely not something GN'R would be expected to sing) and a nearly equal number to be more like what would be expected (i.e. IRS, which has a GN'R ring to it that is noticeable and memorable of former Axl projects)

[wasted]

That's true it could be a mixed bag of old and new. I wonder how new. Like Silkworms to me is way out there. This has been why I want hear album, the new direction that was talked about. I really want to hear if it really is new direction or just updated GNR. So far it seems like updated GNR. But Bach mentioned Sorry which sounded like something interesting.

[Just_me]

Releasing two albums on the same day is hardly 'turning the industry upside down'. Yes it was a diffrent way of doing things, but its not like it had any real impact on the way the music buissness operated.

Also I think you missed out one of the the main reasons GNR were heralded as something new and diffrent when they first came out. They may not have been inventing a new style or bringing a style perviously unheard outside the underground circuit into the mainstream the way bands like RHCP or RATM did but what they did do was to combine a lot of diffrent existing styles, and make it work.

Most noticably at the time rock and punk were considered almost polar opposites. You played and listened to one, or the other but not both. And GNR found a way to combine the two, taking elements both stylistically and musically from both genres and combining them. It was only later, when grunge hit, that the punk influence in their music was forgotten and they were typically lumped in with the glam scene.

But it wasn't just punk and rock, they combined elements of all kinds of diffrent styles. The classical influence should be obvious, but theres also a lot of styles still seen in modern pop music, they experimented with samples and electronica, acoustic and even things like spanish guitar and sitar....theres bits of everything in there.

That for me is the most radical and rebellious thing they did. Its easy to stay within a style, no matter what that style is. But when you start trying to combine them you run the risk of confusing your fans (or potential fans) and scaring them off. Unfortunately the majority of people seem to like music to be devided clearly into neat groups. They settle on the idea that they like some groups and not others so they're unlikely to give something a chance if it sounds too much like something they've told themselves they don't like.

On the other hand if you get it right combining diffrent styles can allow you to create something that could appeal to everyone, and hopefully (in an ideal world) would inspire them to explore some of the diffrent kinds of music you're drawing on.

[SxRacer193]

i made a poopy

thats nice

but you should reali change your pants

or at least scrap some of the poopy out

[Manstis1604]

By radical I mean in terms of how do they conform to industry and how radical their music is.

I would say that intially GNR were the most "fuck you" band of the late 80s. It seems like they were going against the grain of what record companies wanted from their hair metal bands. Within that scene they were pretty radical but on broader musical landscape they were still a traditional rock band. So they brought a lot more in terms of attitude than actual radical musical direction.

In the early 90s, GNR were sort of lambasted by new bands for being too much like the old dinosaurs like Aerosmith/AC/DC and had no new slant on those bands. Politically all the same sexist attitudes were being prolonged by GNR and the same old rock n roll cliches were being relived by most members of GNR. Stumbling down the beach with a bottle of Jack at sunset, being junkies and having supermodel girlfriends was all reenacted without thye slighest hint of irony. While they still were reliving the excess of the 70s in their lifestyle their best known songs were almost complete rehashes of old classic rock songs which were pumped up by GNRs radical fuck you attitude of no shows and riots, bust ups and binge drinking.

Two records released on the same day really went against the industry again. As much as Appetite For Destrustion ruffled the feathers of the PC music industry and reminded kids about rock n roll again, the Use Your Illusion double release was much more a shot at the idustry itself. For it to go and sell record breaking numbers of copies was maybe much more radical than the music contained within.

Compared with rock bands like Primus, Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More the music on GNRs second full album was packed full of classic rock power ballads and Aerosmith meets AC/DC filler where these other bands were doing something stylistically ground breaking. So by the end of the 90s GNR had turned the music industry upside down but their music had never been radical. It was perfect for radio and never took the chances which other bands did.

Now that Chinese Democracy has come close to release the question is whether the new offering will install GNR as a radical band in terms of musical originality. Can Chinese Democracy really be a record which is held up as musical innovation which will back up the bands attitude which has unsettled the industry on so many occassions.

In many ways GNR are a radical band within the music industry. They have never compromised their integrity and have been a threat to way things have been done before. However, musically and sometimes ideologically they have not always been as original or ground breaking considering the musical landscape in which they live.

You may as well have written this in Japanese cause it made no sense whatsoever and I will be reading it again tonight f I am having trouble falling asleep.

No you're just too dumb to realize it made perfect sense. Everything he/she said was very observant and intelligent.

Releasing two albums on the same day is hardly 'turning the industry upside down'. Yes it was a diffrent way of doing things, but its not like it had any real impact on the way the music buissness operated.

Also I think you missed out one of the the main reasons GNR were heralded as something new and diffrent when they first came out. They may not have been inventing a new style or bringing a style perviously unheard outside the underground circuit into the mainstream the way bands like RHCP or RATM did but what they did do was to combine a lot of diffrent existing styles, and make it work.

Most noticably at the time rock and punk were considered almost polar opposites. You played and listened to one, or the other but not both. And GNR found a way to combine the two, taking elements both stylistically and musically from both genres and combining them. It was only later, when grunge hit, that the punk influence in their music was forgotten and they were typically lumped in with the glam scene.

But it wasn't just punk and rock, they combined elements of all kinds of diffrent styles. The classical influence should be obvious, but theres also a lot of styles still seen in modern pop music, they experimented with samples and electronica, acoustic and even things like spanish guitar and sitar....theres bits of everything in there.

That for me is the most radical and rebellious thing they did. Its easy to stay within a style, no matter what that style is. But when you start trying to combine them you run the risk of confusing your fans (or potential fans) and scaring them off. Unfortunately the majority of people seem to like music to be devided clearly into neat groups. They settle on the idea that they like some groups and not others so they're unlikely to give something a chance if it sounds too much like something they've told themselves they don't like.

On the other hand if you get it right combining diffrent styles can allow you to create something that could appeal to everyone, and hopefully (in an ideal world) would inspire them to explore some of the diffrent kinds of music you're drawing on.

You seem to think GNR is really eclectic or something. Yeah they threw in a few instruments here and there but I would never say they're classically influenced, at least not anymore than most rock bands. Combining rock and punk isn't really any big deal at all...punk is rock, the only difference is the delivery. I agree with the sentiment of the article, they haven't done anything musically groundbreaking or radical, but their status as a "radical" band comes from the way they do business, rather than the music.

[snuffkult]

some of you gnr/axl fans need to stop drinking the purple kool-aid and get out of the house more often

[burocks]

Well, let's hope it's at least different enough to warrant breaking up the original band. It could be a conservative retread of all the lastest fads like grunge, industrial, hip hop, nu metal with some power ballads thrown in for commercial reasons.

It WILL be different, but only if it has SHAQ rapping on it.

[rain_king]

i don't think the music will be as far out there as for instance claypool's stuff but if they actually do the surprise release thing they sure will leave their mark again on the way the record industry operates.

to the guy who said that punk=rock, you are thinking too much in the now, when gnr did it 20 years ago it was quite different to what was done by other bands, at least those that were in the mainstream.

[burocks]

It will be gnarly and radical

[Graeme]

It will be gnarly and radical

like, totally dude! Rad! Far out! B)

[Just_me]

to the guy who said that punk=rock, you are thinking too much in the now, when gnr did it 20 years ago it was quite different to what was done by other bands, at least those that were in the mainstream.

Thats what I was trying to explain.

Of course theres plenty of bands around now who combine the two and the lines have become blurred, but I'm talking about 20 years ago when that simply wasn't the case.

You could equally say that Hendrix wasn't anything special because theres tons of bands around today who play electric guitar and do weird effects.

[wasted]

The double release didn't turn the industry upside down but they did somehow highlight GNR attitude which works commercialy. In fact to me as a consumer at the time I bought Hysteria first and thought ok I like rock but then there was not much in the mainstream harder than that. But GNR came out with this record which was really raw for the time. AFD kicked the doors open for Nirvana. It was a complete reversal from those polished rock bands of the 80s. But it's true AFD combined hair metal with thrash bands like Megadeth. Like Axl had Ride the Lightening and Slash had Rocks. I used the word radical to try to the define it from original or novel. Like far out shit like Buckethead solo albums are radical, they arent gonna be no 1 albums. I just wonder if Axl has the same idea for Chinese D like all the styles which from 90s like Primus and those scatological San Francisco scene plus industrial, grunge these are the new Hairmetal and Thrash.

So he will basically combine Primus with NIN.