The Potential of Lies

[jameslofton29]

  When you look at the albums GNR have done up to this point, the most mysterious and often overlooked is GNR Lies. having four "fake live" tracks from their little known EP combined with four tracks in an intimate acoustic setting made this album an exceptional masterpiece. This album proved the band had infinite depth, would take many risks, and were not afraid of any fan or media backlash.       The way I see it, AFD didn't tell the world the band was ready to take over the world and do as they please. Lies achieved that. With AFD, alot of people looked at the band as a possibly one dimensional rock band. With the Lies release the band basically took that theory and utterly destroyed it.      Believe it or not, something else this album did was start a trend. MTV decided to rip it off and do a TV series titled 'MTV Unplugged' after seeing the success of Lies. Jon Bon Jovi likes to say that MTV ripped him off for the Unplugged idea after his acoustic rendition of 'Wanted Dead or Alive' at the 1989 VMA's. Sorry Jon! The Lies release preceded your acoustic set by a year. So whenever everybody goes to their local music store and buys an acoustic album recorded at MTV studios by Nirvana,Alice In Chains,Seal,Neil Young, etc., you should thank GNR. GNR's mainstream risk and payoff with acoustic material eventually spawned this MTV series. Kind of makes you realize why the band never had any interest in doing the show.                                      I always wondered why the band didn't milk Lies for all it was worth. The album had more potential hits than just Patience. You're Crazy and Move To The City could have easily been Top 10 hits in 1988/89. It probably had something to do with the controversy surrounding One In A Million. Axl probably got so sick of explaining to the world that he wasn't a racist or homophobe that he just decided to forget about Lies and move on to the next album.                               If you meet someone who isn't a GNR fan but you would like to turn them on to the band, don't just give them AFD, give them Lies too. They'll thank you for it. 

[Mikkamakka]

The 'B-side' (or 'R-side') of Lies is one of my favourite GN'R moments. I don't know if we can find better 20 minutes in GN'R's cathalogue. Quite intimate, soft and hard at the same time with a perfect Axl and perfect music.

[jameslofton29]

Mikka, I totally agree. On those last 4 songs, Axl was at his best vocally than he has ever been in his career. The acoustic version of You're Crazy still sends chills up my spine.

[Mikkamakka]

Mikka, I totally agree. On those last 4 songs, Axl was at his best vocally than he has ever been in his career. The acoustic version of You're Crazy still sends chills up my spine.

Oh yeah, and don't forget about Patience and Million! (I think UTLH is the weakest of the four, but the incredible solos make it a great tune.) I've never understood why Axl hated his vocals in Crazy II.    He was perfect: dirty, vicious and vulgar.

[jameslofton29]

Have you ever noticed how Axl sounds like he's on the verge of tears while singing Patience, You're Crazy and One in a Million. Maybe it was a really depressing moment of his life. It's such a shame Axl can't seem to get his ass in gear to do an album. Because Axl is truly the greatest vocalist in the history of rock.

[Neemo]

I love the Lies version of You're Crazy. his vocal nuances are awesome
Patience is an awesome tune and One in a Million is probably my favorite GnR tune of all time
I like the 'G' side too (man I forgot how one side was 'G' and the other side was 'R', that was cool) momma kin and Nice boys were my fav's. and the classic intro "Hey fuckers! Suck on gun n fuckin roses!" wicked 

[jameslofton29]

Yeah, I always wondered how Axl achieved such vocal perfection on the second half of Lies. Especially since the band recorded it so quickly. I'm really hoping for some acoustic material on CD. Ever since I heard the song CD I thought an acoustic version of it would be great!

[Saul]

the four acoustic songs were knocked out in one evening right?

[jameslofton29]

Yes, the acoustic masterpiece was done in one day. Which makes the wait for CD that much more unreasonable.

[bad tripp]

wut da hell y is evrryone talkn lik dis

[killingvector]

oooh hhh helll ya. What eez wit dis shite, boyeeeee. Wur iz mi boy Federline?

[Franci]

You said it buckwheat!!! 

[blasphemer]

srry, but did i miss something. whats up with all the weird talk.     anyways its funny shit,   but plz dis pimp dont understandz!

[dave-gnfnr2k]

How are you going to fix this.

[ppbebe]

Just type t hi s way now.

[Litti10]

Yeah Lies is a very good album. Different but good. I used to think this was called "lies lies lies".

[Timmy]

"what is going on"

[plasmabeam]

Have you ever noticed how Axl sounds like he's on the verge of tears while singing Patience, You're Crazy and One in a Million. Maybe it was a really depressing moment of his life. It's such a shame Axl can't seem to get his ass in gear to do an album. Because Axl is truly the greatest vocalist in the history of rock.

now that ya mention it... Axl does sound like he's on the verge of tears. i remember reading that the band was drunk the night that the 4 acoustic songs were recorded. maybe that had something to do with it, but then again i'd never doubt Axl's talent.

[jameslofton29]

Axl drunk on the night of the Lies recording? I highly doubt that. Could he have done such an incredible performance intoxicated? I could picture Slash, Duff, and Izzy drunk, and Steven nodding out on the couch on heroin, but I cant imagine Axl doing his finest vocals to date drunk.

[plasmabeam]

im not 100% sure. i just remember reading something about them being drunk