GNR...what do they stand for these days?

[alexander]

Turn back the clock twenty years and Guns were thie biggest thing on the planet.  By far.  Even Mettalica, pearl Jam and Nirvana were like opening acts compared to Guns.  And they were a very different beast than what they are today.  Guns stood for, often in their own words, everything that ran against the norm.  They hated the main stream music scene and rebelled, often violently against the hole world.  Drugs were a huge part of their identity and drove much of their behaviour.  Alcohol was the same.  Rock and Roll has always been this way, but Guns took things to a new level, or at least, one that hadn't been broached for a very long time. 

Guns N Roses has always had very tallented and driven musicians in it and the tunes they belted out were clasic no doubt.  But they were more than just the music they played or the lyrics they sang.  Guns stood for rebellion and freedom.  They had the balls to speak the truth even when it got them into hot wate and even hurt the band professionally.  But that was always what Guns were about more then anything....freedom of expression.  What do they stand for today?

It's an interesting question.  Has Axl had enough of all that and found himself in a plac enow where he just wants to be the best musician he can?  Does he bring a different message now?  The message has certianly changed.  We used to see Axl surrounded by a gang of drunk, over dosing mad men, falling off the stage whilst also giving mind blowing performances that will be with us forever.  These days, the mood on stage seems very different.  They seem like a group of very professional, directed and in control young men.  Not so young really butnext to the old line up, they feel like exuberant young teenagers.  Is either better than the other?  Perhaps that is not the point.  Great music is has been offered up by both bands, but perhaps the big question is this.  A performer as opinionated and political as Axl Rose always has something to say, so what is he saying today??

[GypsySoul]

We used to see Axl surrounded by a gang of drunk, .....,  falling off the stage whilst also giving mind blowing performances that will be with us forever. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Dj ASHBA?  I had no choice but to jump off the stage in Paradise City last night. I was a little tipsy and I lost my balance. ha! Thank God I didn't crash N' burn, but I bruised my heel up pretty good. What an amazing crowd!! We (as a band) had a blast last night!! We are looking forward to tonights concert in Zagreb!!!! Hope to meet many new faces!! R U C O M I N G ! ?

[wight gunner]

They have grown up, they don't need to be the angst ridden teenager anymore, nor are they...

Does Axl tow the line? Nope, take a look at Reading Festival. Same old Axl, having an opinion. just being more measured about dealing with a problem. Take Donington 06, Dublin 10 et al, thrown the bottle and there's a warning, who knows what would have happened in the past.

Yeah Axl has the diva about him, but then do many front men of many bands, I just think that the band want to play great music and are doing just that. 

[suicide]

It is a different band, a different style, a different animal.

This isn't "the most dangerous band in the world" as it was in the '80s and '90s.

No, it's a group of professional musicians who don't share the same past, experiences or problems but were brought together only to create music, to go on tour and give it all they've got. It's not a gang, everyone is replaceable, many have left and many will follow, but they all work very hard towards Axl's vision and legacy.

[AxlReznor]

I think it's pretty obvious... GNR stands for Guns N' Roses.

[LIGuns]

-Metallica were as popular when the Black album came out
-Axl was never political. That's something I respected about him. Civil War was written pre-Iraqi Invasion

[Voodoochild]

What is funny to me is how people portrait the old band. Its like that wasnt a job already - as long as they acted like rockstars, it was "a gang". Well, I dont think they were hanging out a lot after the AFD released...

I just dont want to overanalyse the band. Its a band now, they dont live in the same house, but they dont have to. Its just a (awesome) band.

[D]

I think Axl is the same as he ever was. He isn't gonna do what everybody else does, just because thats how things are done these days.

I think Axl may be right and everyone else has it wrong.


there are reasons, much bigger reasons than Illegal Downloading as to why the music business is in the shitter.

 i think cause no one has that passion and backbone Axl has maintained over all these years.

[MrGawain]

As a songwriter myself, I would say that sometimes it's not if you want to write about War or Poverty or Crime, it just makes a change from writing about Love and Sex. And when it comes to writing Metal (or heavy music at least), you need a heavy subject. Axl has always written about serial killers or war or social issues. Just because a song is 'About' something, doesn't have to mean it has an opinion. So I think the idea of a 'message' in Axl's music is more a slave to the sounds. You could argue the music on Chinese Democracy in parts is a little more industrial, but it's still heavy, and has never been simple: Guns music has always been more than Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Solo/Chorus.

As for the drug/booze/wreckless living, very few people can do the stupid things they do when they were 20 years younger, and few would want to. I think it was something that was going on around to write about that fit with the music. Plus I don't think these sort of... distractions were new to Rock stars, Guns just didn't bother to hide them at all- and at the same time, neither did Motley Crue.

And as for their place in releasing music today, I think the album is a little out of it's time, as people now only download singles, and seem to deem music as a throwaway entertainment. But Chinese Democracy HAD to be released in that format, in the same way the White Album or The Wall or Pet Sounds did- it is more than the sound of Guns n Roses- it's a piece of art with different textures and shades. Perhaps the last big statement in that medium? People just don't have attention spans any more.

And the argument that Axl stands against mainstream music- Elton John, Queen, Tom Petty, Don Henley, Paul McCartney and the Beatles, Bob Dylan. I don't think so.

[horsey]

the music put out this day and age ,really is punch-press cd out shit.i got alot out of guns n rose's music over the years.
both new and old bands,they are inspireing to me through life.id hate to see something as good lyrics and beautiful music put together,to see it just forgotton.
i mean appetite i still lisen to as much as any led zepplin cd.consittering new music isn't even an thought to me.ive lisened to more rapper's starting out then some justin beiber shit.why cause it's real life dramma's in life.i mean good for younger people to look up to him,but frankly im not a kid.
so i find that more inspireing music is my best bag of tricks.
so for the guns n roses type thing i lived it learned also,and stand by it forever '

[AdZ]

Guns N Roses has always had very tallented and driven musicians in it and the tunes they belted out were clasic no doubt.  But they were more than just the music they played or the lyrics they sang.  Guns stood for rebellion and freedom.  They had the balls to speak the truth even when it got them into hot wate and even hurt the band professionally.  But that was always what Guns were about more then anything....freedom of expression.  What do they stand for today?

I'm pretty sure suing the chairman of Ticketmaster and Livenation is having the balls to speak the truth when plenty of other bands don't.