Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I am just curious..
Why do you love that ONE band so much?
I have met all kinds of people - most tell me something along the lines...here I feel free..
We have grown up I suppose...
We are functional. But we still love that image of "young, reckless, ready to take the world!
We love that band - cause it fills an emotional hole??

What?

Are you asking why we are GNR fans? Not really understanding this at all.

 ???

Why do you love THAT band? 😉

Well, that's quite simple: their music. Next to that: I think Axl is cool as fuck for doing everything the way HE wants it, and writing some of the best music I have ever heard. Personality wise, I recognize myself in Axl in some ways and the way he sings on Appetite actually helps me release some emotions in a way that other people don't get punched in the face  :hihi:

Slash's style of playing is -to me- something different and strikes a chord with me. It's like hearing someone sing on a guitar. Duff is a bad ass bassist and a very respectable and humble person. And he writes killer tunes too! I never cared for the drummer(s) or rhythm guitarist (sorry Izzy, Steven, Matt, Gilby, Frank and Richard). I really dig Izzy's tunes for GnR though.

So for me it's a combination of their music and personalities, and the fact that my first vinyl single was Paradise City when I was 7, my first cassette tape was GNR Lies at age 8 (what were my parents thinking with that naked chick in the middle of the booklet?) and my first CD was Appetite when I was 9. Thanks Mom & Dad  :peace:

That's what I was getting at: people LOVE a band...
They put their heart and soul into it.
I have seen and heard that SO many times 👍
WHY GnR?
Why do you love them so much??

Abrasive?
You get me totally wrong 😘

I like them for their music.  

Never really able to relate to people that treat the band as some religious experience.  They make rock music I like.  They aren't splitting the atom or getting me through tough times in life.

Honestly, as people, they aren't exactly inspirations.  Drinking, drug addiction, immature behavior.  If anything, I like the music so much I can rationalize and overlook their personal shortcomings.  

Because its the music that matters to me, first and foremost.  The put out songs I like to listen to.  Songs I like more than any other band who's music I like. 

End of story.

Status: excellent paid job.
You work all year.
You go to a festival.
You feel SO free - for that precious amount of 2-3 days...

I don't think this is trolling.  Its a legitimate topic of conversation with fellow fans.

Because I bought Appetite for Destruction in the Summer of 1987 and have been a fan every since.

Yeah he's asking why we are Gn'R fans. It is a legitimate question. It's a great time to reflect.

I was talking to Emily, but my post, even though made sense was removed for whatever reason.

It's like Prison Break... but on a message board.

Brilliant vocal melodies mixed with guitars that can be described as both authentic hard rock and an organic entity layered beautifully to form a song.

Guitar solos for the history books.

They do both hard and softer songs just right.

Axl can be a lyricist up there with the very best. His best work is just amazing.

Live energy and presence on the stage. They are very charismatic people.

SHE is still a she.
😜😂💃
I fell in  love with GnR 1990.
That was not the question...😉

music, attitude, kilts

Axl the person is a total yo-yo a lot of the time.  But when you see him on stage performing, there's just no one like him.

I think that was really driven home by Slash of all people.  Even think back to when things were as bleak as can be.  Slash is writing books and Axl is calling him cancer.

But whenever Slash was asked about great frontmen, he always had Axl right there.  Because he knew.  He knew despite all Axl's drama and bullshit, once you are onstage, the guy is money.

Hahahaha

Its so funny you say that.  When my buddies were talking to me about getting tickets for the show this summer, 3 of them, unprompted and with no connection to each other, asked me if he was still rocking the kilts.

One of the best lyricists of all time, I would list him in the top 5 .

I was about 12 and had listened to all that 80s pop as I was growing up and music was enjoyable for me but I wasn't a fan of anyone really. Michael Jackson was probably my favourite artist at the time. I had a friend who's parents sent him to boarding school but he'd come home at weekends with copied tapes from school. He got me listening to the Sex Pistols and other punk stuff and then one weekend gave me a tape that he thought I might like cos there was lots of swearing in it. Holy shit! It was Appetite for Destruction and every song was amazing. I instantly became a fan and wanted to know everything about them. I scoured magazine shelves in shops to read about them. Live at the Roxy was on one night on TV and I sat up late to watch it. I loved everything about this band and still do. My friend passed away many years ago but I have him to thank for introducing me to Guns N Roses and I'll never forget that moment.

I always feel that in the last 20 years or so Axl has acted (publicly that is) quite normal. Especially for a 'rock star'. When he was on Jimmy Kimmel he was normal, when he performed he was normal, on Twitter he's normal, on the award show where he got an award from Nicolas Cage he was normal. He has a tendency of blaming others for specific things, but since we have no clue what's going on behind the scenes the man might be right  :-\ Who knows?  ???

I feel that he -unfairly- is still seen as how he was when he wasn't even thirty years old.... The man never got a chance to be seen as a different person cause the media keeps projecting old shit on him in recent times.

The only thing I don't find normal is his fashion sense, but that's always been the same. Hence people asking about his kilts  :hihi:

it's that or the bicycle shorts...

I simply love them for many different reasons.  Their music is the best music I could possibly listen to.  Their songs are rock that I dig in so many ways.  They make songs that include great riffs, solos and Axl's vocal is the perfect fit.  I love how they can write songs that can escape the typical formation of songs you hear so often.  They don't care if there is a specific form, they even have songs that have different chapters, like you are into suddenly a new song like Locomotive and Patience.  Some songs don't even include a chorus.  They lyrics are the best damn lyrics written and written by someone (in most cases) that is really able to express them so well that you really feel it all the way. 

Then you have their history, personalities and their appearances.  All this combined with their epic, masterpiece music makes them the best band I have ever heard and I will ever hear.

Well, I certainly would not go back 20 years.

In that time frame he was still no showing concerts, fighting designers over spilled drinks, calling people cancer.  Not exactly the pinnacle of great behavior.

But the past 5 years or so, absolutely.  And the very fact he was willing to patch it up with the guys is, in itself, a tremendous example of his growth.

Yeah, but Axl is a very private person and since he doesn't put himself out there most people still think of him as the 30 year old crazy guy wearing kilts and bandana.

He also doesn't defend himself against all the idiots and haters that talk crap about him online, on a more or less daily basis.

Yeah, but my point is that a lot of people have fights with other people. Who knows what Tommy Hilfiger said or did. I mean, based on Tommy's appearance I would say the man's a rich kid from a rich world. We all know how they act. What he said about Slash is quite rude, but I wouldn't say it's a weird thing to say about someone you've had many business issues with. You don't want to know what I call some people who rub me the wrong way  :rant: I just don't think how he acts is out of the ordinary, certainly not for someone living his life.

And the no showing at concerts is something I might have missed. Have tickets actually been sold where he did not show up? Or cancelled? (serious question, I wasn't that active about 10 years ago)

I love this band because the music kick ass. It's just that, the songs are awesome.

I don't really relate that much to the lyrics, to be honest. But if I'm able to write and contribute here right now, is because I spent part of my teenage years reading and translating GNR lyrics in 1989 and later. In late 90s and early 2000, I started to read the Internet searching for news on the band (one of the places was this very one here). I actually learned how to speak English because of the band, never had any lessons in my life.

Also learned how to play guitar in 1995 because I started to try to learn by ear Slash's solos (Ain't it Fun, Breakdown and Rocket Queen were my favorites). Also never had any actual lesson, by the way. Later I got really interested in the new licks and tones that Robin brought to the band, specially his approach to some of the old tunes like SCOM.

Keep in mind that I don't have a perfect English, but that's more than enough for me to be able to talk to people at work and in the many travels around the world I already did. Also not that good in the guitar, but at least I can play some stuff I like.

So yeah, Guns N' Roses actually changed my life big time. :D

I don't know about that Emily but he is damn good and HONEST....wears his heart on his sleeve.

As for the OP, I do have to have lyrics that punch me in the gut, make me laugh, make me cry, make me angry, etc. Axl does that. Then, when you mix it with a bad ass rock and roll band...win/win for me.

I'm a fan because GNR was the band that actually got me into Rock N Roll...I was around 10 years old , the band had already split in mid 90's but they were still huge with a lot of airplay,,I remember listening to the Illusions on K7 tapes  ;D.
In fact I was influenced by my brothers who are 5 years older than me...good times. :beer: 

Skid Row and GNR were always my fav bands.

AFD had been out for awhile when I finally heard the album all the way through and not just WTTJ and SCOM. Due to the vocal diversity on WTTJ,  ISE than Nightrain I was unsure if there were 1,2 or 3 singers in the band..I was hooked by how unique they were and how the songs felt genuine and not generic..

Not an easy answer, but ill give it a shot.

The music, a combination of classic rock meets punk.   The nostalgia element as AFD was the soundtrack to my high school years and UYI to my college years. The cinema level music videos. The determination of Axl to continue after the original core members left and here we are back full circle. Axl putting on 3+ hr concerts. And he won't compromise his art. Slash's iconic   Guitar solos. The fact they keep moving forward.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what is in my head at the moment.

This band means a lot to me for many reasons. First and for most, they came at a time when I was fighting for my education and future.  Back in the 80s, kids with disabilities were not supposed to be in public school.  I fought that. I had a lot of anger  and they assuage it. I won that battle. I still somewhat have that anger since to this day I have to fight for everything that I have, but GNR helps me for relief of it.

Another reason is for their determination. They  stuck with it and became successful. Any obstacle that came their way, they overcame it.

A third is for Axl's old rants, which piqued my interests in public speaking.

Last and definitely not least, it's the music. For me, nothing beats hearing Axl's voice, with Slash solos, and Duff bass playing. Also Izzy's coolness and Steven's swing groove.  Matt's playing on  UYI was good and I like Dizzy's keyboards on Estranged.