For a lot of people, the Guns n Roses album that stood head and shoulders above the rest was their 1987 debut, "Appetite for Destruction". Some people feel the band had that one album in them, and nothing else they did was ever the same. Others feel they continued to be great, but that the first album had something special. I suppose I'm in the latter camp. I love the first album and don't see how the others can measure up, but I do think the other records have been great in their own right. None of them have been brilliant all the way through, but all have had some truly memorable songs. Here's five I really like.
In no particular order:
1.) "I Used to Love Her" - from G'n'R Lies, 1988
This EP that followed "Appetite" was long enough to be a full-length at eight songs, but it wasn't billed as the second album. This made sense, as it was divided into one live side and one acoustic side (and the validity of the live side has been disputed). Still, almost everything on it was killer, and I personally think it's the best thing the band did outside of the debut. "I Used to Love Her" was the second most controversial track on the EP (I don't have the space to deal with all the issues in "One in a Million") and one of the band's best acoustic jams.
2.) "Dust N' Bones" - from Use Your Illusion I, 1991
Most of the best songs off the two Use Your Illusion albums were written or co-written by Izzy Stradlin, and this one is a great example of what Izzy brought to the band (and why his albums with his band, the JuJu Hounds, are still the best solo records from any of the Gunners). Axl Rose's ability to hit the high notes makes him well suited for more bombastic material, but Izzy's laid-back, Stones-y jams bring out a more natural, melancholy tone in his voice.
3.) "Civil War" - from Use Your Illusion II, 1991
Here's one of those epic tracks that let Axl really stretch out and use his full voice. The build is perfect, Slash's guitar playing is more incendiary than Stillwater's "Fever Dog", the vocals are manic, and both the lyrics and melodies are pitch perfect. Well, almost. I've always thought the phrase "ain't that fresh" and the "human grocery store" metaphor were odd choices, but that's a small quibble.
4.) "Street of Dreams" - from Chinese Democracy, 2008
There's plenty of great stuff on the long-delayed and controversial "Chinese Democracy", along with a fair share of missteps. For purists, the hardest hurdle to clear is thinking of this band as Guns without Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven (or even Matt Sorum) on board. Dodging that bullet and judging the album on its own merits, it's not perfect but has more than its share of downright fantastic tracks. "Riad N the Bedouins" rips, and "If the World" succeeds in a very unexpected way, but for fans of the band as it once was, this track (which had been leaked previously under the working title, "The Blues") is the one that will likely get lighters (not cell phones) up in the air.
5.) "November Rain" - unreleased acoustic guitar and vocal demos
Here's where I really nerd out. The official version released on "Use Your Illusion I" was great, though a tad overblown. This song represented an evolution of Guns' sound to some fans and their downfall to others. Fans who responded to raw, stripped-down sound and punk rock influences that the band had brought to '80's metal seemed to lose interest at this point. Axl and Co. had always done ballads and slower songs, but nothing as polished and pretentious as this, and the diehard metal and punk fans that initially embraced the band now saw little difference between Guns and, say, Bon Jovi. I do like the official version, and it fits with Axl's ambitions to create something larger than life. Slash's guitar solo and the Layla-esque coda, both absent from earlier work-in-progress versions, are almost essential and lift the song to new heights. I do understand the reticence of some fans to embrace this epic bombast from the band that gave them "It's So Easy" and "Nighttrain", though.
There are bootlegged demos floating around from at least two years before the Illusion albums came out. The two I've heard, one with just voice and piano, the other with just voice and acoustic guitar, are great. Of the two, the guitar and vocal version is simply transcendent. It's as raw and honest as any of Guns other stuff, and minus the strings and the studio polish, much more emotionally arresting than the final version, in my opinion. I haven't heard it in years (I never owned a copy), but it's still the definitive version of the song in my mind.
"Appetite for Destruction" may well have been a moment in time that can never be recaptured. Still, Guns N Roses in any incarnation have continued to make great music well into the 21st Century.
If you like Guns N Roses, too, check out one of my favorite current bands, THE HARD PONYS. They have a similar kind of energy and attitude.
You may also like the side project their vocalist put together, THE BEAST OF ENGLAND, which has more of a classic rock feel. If you click on the links, you can download FREE songs from both bands.
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