Guns N' Roses: The Kings of Glam Metal

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Guns N’ Roses are the kings of glam metal. From their early days in the Sunset Strip to their global domination in the 90s, they’ve always had a style all their own.

Introduction

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The group consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin’, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Melissa Reese.

History

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The group, led by front man and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through multiple line-up changes and controversies since their formation. They are currently comprised of Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, and Melissa Reese. Originally starting out as a glam metal band, they later achieved success with their third album, Use Your Illusion I and II, which were released in 1991.

Formation and early years (1985–1986)

Guns N’ Roses was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985 by vocalist Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who soon recruited lead guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The band derived its name by combining the names of two other Los Angeles-based hard rock bands, L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. America’s debut album was released in 1987 and featured the singles “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, “Paradise City”, and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”.

Appetite for Destruction (1987–1988)

Guns N’ Roses released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, in July 1987. The album was a commercial success, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide. It featured the hits “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Paradise City”, and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. The band toured extensively in support of the album, headlining the Monsters of Rock festival in England in 1988.

Use Your Illusion I and II (1991–1993)

In early 1991, following their tour for GN’R Lies, the band began writing new material. The songs were heavily influenced by progressive rock, classic rock and blues. In March 1991, Guns N’ Roses started recording the album in Los Angeles. The sessions were produced by Mike Clink and recorded at Record One and Sound City Studios. Delays occurred due to Rose suffering from a broken wrist, which he sustained during a brawl outside a Hollywood nightclub called the Troubadour. Despite his injury, Rose was adamant about recording the album without any kind of pain medication, which caused him to further alienate himself from his bandmates.

The sessions lasted 18 months and resulted in two albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, released on September 17, 1991. The albums were originally planned to be released as a double album, but were eventually split into two separate albums due to creative differences between Rose and his bandmates. Use Your Illusion I contained mostly hard rock and heavy metal songs while Use Your Illusion II featured more ballads and blues-rock oriented material.

The first single from the albums was “You Could Be Mine”, which was included in the soundtrack toTerminator 2: Judgment Day. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the albums debuted at number two and number one on the Billboard 200 chart respectively, making Guns N’ Roses the first band since Led Zeppelin to have two albums enter the chart in the top two positions.

“The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993–1994)

In 1993, Guns N’ Roses released “The Spaghetti Incident?”, an album of punk and glam covers. It was their first and only album not to feature Slash on lead guitar, as he had left the band during the recording process. The album was a commercial success, reaching number four on the Billboard 200, but it was met with mixed reviews from critics.

During this time, the band’s use of drugs and alcohol was becoming a problem. In 1994, drummer Steven Adler was fired due to his drug addiction, and replaced by Matt Sorum of The Cult. This lineup would stay together until 1997.

Chinese Democracy (1998–2008)

In 1998, Rose disappeared from the public eye and hired Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, announcing that a new album was in the works. It was reported that Slash had quit the band in July 1996 due to creative differences with Rose; however, he did not officially leave until October 1996. Slash was replaced by Nine Inch Nails touring guitarist Robin Finck, who became the first non-original member of Guns N’ Roses since the use of session keyboards players in 1990. Buckethead also joined the band around this time. Computerized drum tracks were used on many of the album’s songs, with Josh Freese being Guns N’ Roses’ only drummer during sessions. As well as re-recording material written during his tenure, Rose wrote and composed entirely new songs for the album with multiple collaborators including keyboardist Chris Pitman, guitarist Paul Huge andFinck.

Work on Chinese Democracy took place over a number of years and saw contributions from a variety of musicians including Buckethead, Finck (the only consistent member other than Rose), Brian May, Tommy Stinson,Paul Huge, Dizzy Reed (the only member of Axl’s touring band from 1991 to make a significant contribution to the album), keyboardists Chris Pitman and Allison Robertson, and drummers Brain, Josh Freese (the only drummer to play on every song), Matt Sorum and Bryan “Brain” Mantia. Drummer Dave Navarro and Ozzy Osbourne both auditioned for lead guitar roles but were not successful; Osbourne stated in an interview that he “couldn’t cut it”.

During its troubled production, Chinese Democracy was one of the most expensive albums ever made with estimated costs of $13 million to $44 million. Despite this, it was not able to recoup its costs after its release due to numerous delays; it debuted at number three on Billboard 200 after selling 261,000 copies in its first week but went on to sell fewer than 750,000 copies globally by 2008.

Musical style

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The group, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation.

Influences

Described as hard rock, glam metal, and sleaze rock, Guns N’ Roses’ unique style was influenced by a wide variety of artists. Guns N’ Roses have credited several bands as influences, including Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, and Van Halen. The Stones and the Dolls were a major influence on the Hollywood Rose incarnation of the band. Steven Adler has stated that “No matter how much Blacks Sabbath or Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith or anyone else influenced us, we took everything we loved about them and made it our own.” Additionally, punk rock acted as an inspiration for the Hollywood Rose incarnation’s look.

Guns N’ Roses brought elements of punk into the hard rock/heavy metal genre. Unlike many of their hard rock/heavy metal peers who embraced a clean-cut image, they embraced a more rough-and-tumble look associated with the street toughs of New York City and Los Angeles in the 1970s. This look associated with bands such as the Dolls was in sharp contrast to the clean-cut music groups such as Duran Duran that were popular at the time. When asked what he thought of these comparisons between his band and other musical groups, Axl Rose responded: “It doesn’t bother me because none of those people can fucking sing.”

The band’s use of tunes from classic rock acts has also been described as bringing elements of glam into hard rock/heavy metal. In an interview with Hit Parader in 1987 Slash stated: “The new single ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is pure Aerosmith meets Hanoi Rocks… It’s a Howlin’ Wolf tune that Steven Tyler would give his left testicle to write.”

Lyrical themes

Themes addressed in the lyrics include drugs, alcohol, relationships, pollution, greed, violence, and death. Some of the band’s songs also take a more lighthearted approach, such as “Paradise City”, which includes references to paradise and otherworldly settings (particularly flying pigs), “Yesterdays”, a song about looking back on fond memories, and “You Could Be Mine”, which is about the fictional character Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role as the Terminator.

Band members

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The classic lineup, as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler.

Current members

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The lineup, when first signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose and Slash, along with bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum. In addition to them, Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Frank Ferrer (drums) and Chris Pitman (keyboards) are touring members.

Former members

The current lineup consists of Rose, lead guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Duff McKagan (who also played with Velvet Revolver), keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese, and drummer Frank Ferrer. keyboardist Chris Pitman is also a touring member of the band.

Former members include Slash (who left the band in 1996), rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke (who was replaced byFortus in 2002), Matt Sorum (who was replaced by Ferrer in 2014), and Adler (who was fired in 1990 and replaced by Matt Sorum).

Discography

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The group, led by core members Axl Rose (vocals) and Slash (lead guitar), has gone through multiple lineup changes and released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album.

Studio albums

Guns N’ Roses released six studio albums between 1987 and 2008. Here’s a complete list of those albums:

-Appetite for Destruction (1987)
-G N’ R Lies (1988)
-Use Your Illusion I (1991)
-Use Your Illusion II (1991)
-The Spaghetti Incident? (1993)
-Chinese Democracy (2008)

Live albums

Guns N’ Roses released their first live album in 1999, almost a decade after their last studio album. “Live Era ’87-’93” was a 2-disc set that compiled various live performances from the Use Your Illusion Tour, including the entire concert from Tokyo in 1992. It was followed by “Live Era: ’99-’04” in 2006, which featured songs recorded during the Chinese Democracy Tour.

Compilation albums

Since the band’s formation in 1985, Guns N’ Roses have released six studio albums, two live albums, four video albums, one extended play and thirty-seven singles. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million units in the United States, making them the 41st-bestselling artist of all time.They have released six number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and one number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. Nine of their singles have reached top ten on the Hot 100: “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (number one, 1988), “Welcome to the Jungle” (number seven, 1988), “Paradise City” (number five, 1989), “Patience” (number four, 1989), “Don’t Cry” (number two Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, 1991), “2 Minute Warning 2008 Remastered Version” single[] live album Use Your Illusion II (number two Billboard 200 album chart and UK Albums Chart 1991), “You Could Be Mine” (number 20 1991) from use Your Illusion II and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” Bob Dylan cover).[17][18]

The band has received multiple awards and nominations including five Grammy Awards,[19] six MTV Video Music Awards,[20] two American Music Awards,[21] nine MTV Europe Music Awards[22] and two World Music Awards.[23] In 1993, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[24][25][26]

EPs

Guns N’ Roses released two EPs, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in 1986 and “The Spaghetti Incident?” in 1993. The band’s debut album, Appetite for Destruction, was released in 1987 and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The album was followed byUse Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, which were released simultaneously in 1991 and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide.

Singles

“Welcome to the Jungle”
“Sweet Child o’ Mine”
“Paradise City”
“Patience”
“Knocking on Heaven’s Door”
“Yesterdays”
“Don’t Cry (Original Version)”
“November Rain”
“Estranged

Video albums

Guns N’ Roses: The Kings of Glam Metal is a compilation DVD by Guns N’ Roses, released in 2005. It features all of the band’s music videos from their first album, Appetite for Destruction to their covers album “The Spaghetti Incident?”, as well as live performances, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

Filmography

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The group originally consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardist Melissa Reese and drummer Frank Ferrer.

The band has released six studio albums: Appetite for Destruction (1987), G N’ R Lies (1988), Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II (1991), “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993), and Chinese Democracy (2008).

Besides their album releases, Guns N’ Roses have also contributed to various film soundtracks. Some of these include:
-Lethal Weapon (1987)
-Days of Thunder (1990)
-The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
-Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

References

-Guns N’ Roses: The Kings of Glam Metal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/guns-n-roses-the-kings-of-glam-metal-173881/
-Lambert, C. (2019, November 21). Why Appetite for Destruction Is the Greatest Debut Album Ever. Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://www.vulture.com/2019/11/appetite-for-destruction-gnr-review.html

Sununu, J. (2019, December 2). Welcome to the Jungle: How Guns N’ Roses Invented Hard Rock in the 1980s | Think Tank NTK. Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDwkzWSHl5M

External links

-Guns N’ Roses on MTV.com
-Guns N’ Roses discography on Discogs.com
-Guns N’ Roses live performances on YouTube

Guns N’ Roses: The Kings of Glam Metal

Introduction