What Does Guns N' Roses Mean?

[Poof!]

This thread is not about Axl vs. Slash, or New GN'R vs. Old GN'R or GN'R vs. VR, it is merely a hypothetical "what if?"

This thread is also not about whether Axl should've continued to call the band GN'R, that's been argued to death, this thread's only purpose is to ask you, the fans, what does the name Guns N' Roses mean to you?


What impact, in your opinion, has the name Guns N' Roses had on Axl's career since 1996?What has it meant for the forthcoming album "Chinese Democracy"?

What if, when Slash and Duff left, the band had broke up, I mean formally? Would the interest have been as big had Axl been working under a different band name for the past ten years and not GN'R? Could the Axl Rose Band have sold out these European dates? Would there have been put as much pressure and expectations on him by the fans and the media? Would there have been less negative press over the years? Would there have been so much scrutiny and critique leveled at Axl's choice of people to play music with? Would they have been able to secure all these headlining gigs at festivals etc.?

What does the name Guns N' Roses mean?

I'm hoping this will be discussed in an interesting and friendly manner. Be cool. 

[da_pope]

Not a chance.
Axl is nothing without that name.

[Steel_Angel]

pay no attention to da_pope, we purposely trained him wrong... you know, to be a negative whore.

[Sukie]

Do not start insulting other members. 

[Tomorrows]

Axl would still have a lot of shit flung at him over the old GnR even if he abandoned the name.

[Gunner80]

Not a chance.
Axl is nothing without that name.

Axl IS gn'R get over it. Also, Axl sold out those NY shows not the other guys.

[grog mug]

Axl Rose is GN'R...you can replace guitars/drums/keyboards/...but you CAN'T replace a vocalist...especially AXL ROSE.

[estranged.1098]

Not a chance.
Axl is nothing without that name.

Kind of like the VR guys?

[Steel_Angel]

Not a chance.
Axl is nothing without that name.

Axl IS gn'R get over it. Also, Axl sold out those NY shows not the other guys.

he is the HEART AND SOUL, the main ingredient 

[Bono]

There would not be nearly the ype surrounding this had Axl dropped the name. Think about it. ?If Bono were to release an album under the solo name Bono there wouldn't be near the hype or scrutiny as ther would be if he were to call the band U2. It's just common sense. Say the names to yourself and tell me which one ignites more excitement, Axl Rose or Guns N' Roses? Axl would have all eyes on him with or without the name Guns N' Roses but by useing the name it's simply magnified a million times.

[Luigi]

Axl is the Gun of his own Rose. He's loaded like a Gun, it's true. Axl Rose Is indeed
GUNS & ROSES   
 
                   He's The Loaded GUN With The Last Name ROSE
                                                                         We call him AXL   

[Bono]

Axl is the Gun of his own Rose. He's loaded like a Gun, it's true. Axl Rose Is indeed
GUNS & ROSES? ?
 
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?He's The Loaded GUN With The Last Name ROSE
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?We call him AXL

No offence but that was pretty bad

[Poof!]

Well, it's kind of obvious that Axl is Guns N' Roses now, because he's the only original member left (sorry Dizzy). But like I said, this is not about whether or not he should've kept the name or who really is Guns N' Roses, because without Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven, Guns N' Roses wouldn't mean what it means today. It wouldn't have the same legacy behind it. So, to say Axl is Guns N' Roses, really is beside the point of this post.

What does the name mean? What if GN'R had died in 1996 and we were not thinking of Chinese Democracy as the new Guns N' Roses record, would people still care to the same degree they do now?

[jimb0]

Axl is the Gun of his own Rose. He's loaded like a Gun, it's true. Axl Rose Is indeed
GUNS & ROSES   
 
                   He's The Loaded GUN With The Last Name ROSE
                                                                         We call him AXL

No offence but that was pretty bad

Nah that was Terrible

[ClintroN]

im sure the name Axl Rose would have still had a huge impact!!

the name GUNS N' ROSES is a BAND, it is nothin' without the lead singer like MOST bands, but it is a band

A band that doesnt just do what the singer says n' writes, otherwise it would be workin' for a solo artist, they have there own input n' creativity, which makes this a band, in other words.......GUNS N' ROSES!!

Off Topic - it was GNR when Izzy n' Steven where out, what makes people think it cant be GNR without Slash n' Duff???(which makes them hypocrits for sayin' its not GNR)  thats why is see this as GNR!!

So it doesnt matter thinkin' what if Axl had called it Rose or whatever, it was GNR before the members from AFD n' its GNR NOW!!!                     

The name GUNS N' ROSES is alive for the right reasons and is real, NOT FOR SHOW!!!

[Here Today...]

i believe that if you are a fan of the new gnr, you are a big axl rose fan, personally im not a big axl rose fan and therefore not crazy about the new gnr, im sure u could guess where i stand with him using the name, but thats not suppossed to be in this thread....

if he didnt use the name gnr tho, he still would get publicity and everything come on hes axl rose, but not as much, it wouldnt be as big a deal, its because its "gnr" that everyone is psyched about.......if axl were to join some other band, he would still get publicity but it wouldnt be as big as gnr

on the other hand, i believe vr only made it bc the members were known from gnr, if vr was just some random group, they wouldnt have been as big....but what if they got to keep the name gnr?     would they be bigger than the axl rose band? hmmmm ........

[supaplex]

axl rose is not gnr. he needs people around and he can't write songs all by himself. he can't come up with all the riffs and solos.
axl wouldn't get that much attention if he would've let go of the name. we'd probably not spend our days on this board talking all kind of stuff about the band if they would've called it a day back in '96.
sure if he released cd under the name axl rose he wouldn't get as much attention as he is now. cd wouldn't be considered the most anticipated rock album. people would just let the guy alone to finish his "solo" album without pressuring him. but the album probably would sell like vr sold because of the gnr fans that support the original members.
and to say a band can't survive without it's singer let's take a look at ac/dc. i think they survived pretty well
so... i think keeping the gnr name got a lot more attention to axl, but he isn't gnr. gnr is all the members thet come and gone over time. i'm sure that people turned to buckethead after hearing him with gnr, but it works two ways. i'm sure there were bhead fans that didn't listen gnr but they started listening to it after bhead joined. and that goes for all the others, they brought some fans with them. i don't think every single person is at the shows just to see axl. so he's not gnr.

[BluesGNR]

Axl is the Gun of his own Rose. He's loaded like a Gun, it's true. Axl Rose Is indeed
GUNS & ROSES? ?
 
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?He's The Loaded GUN With The Last Name ROSE
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?We call him AXL

No offence but that was pretty bad

Nah that was Terrible

At best, pathetic.  Just kidding with ya bro.. good try. 

[Axlative]

axl rose is not gnr. he needs people around and he can't write songs all by himself. he can't come up with all the riffs and solos.
axl wouldn't get that much attention if he would've let go of the name. we'd probably not spend our days on this board talking all kind of stuff about the band if they would've called it a day back in '96.
sure if he released cd under the name axl rose he wouldn't get as much attention as he is now. cd wouldn't be considered the most anticipated rock album. people would just let the guy alone to finish his "solo" album without pressuring him. but the album probably would sell like vr sold because of the gnr fans that support the original members.
and to say a band can't survive without it's singer let's take a look at ac/dc. i think they survived pretty well
so... i think keeping the gnr name got a lot more attention to axl, but he isn't gnr. gnr is all the members thet come and gone over time. i'm sure that people turned to buckethead after hearing him with gnr, but it works two ways. i'm sure there were bhead fans that didn't listen gnr but they started listening to it after bhead joined. and that goes for all the others, they brought some fans with them. i don't think every single person is at the shows just to see axl. so he's not gnr.

Are you seriously saying you don't understand what "Axl is GNR" really means/implies? No one is saying Axl can do it alone. That's just moronic.

In short, it's the other way around. No one can do it without Axl (be GNR, that is).

The AC/DC reference is also totally irrelevant. Ever heard about the exception...? Besides they still had their original writers (Young & Young) in the band unlike GNR. Izzy's departure was probably the biggest blow to the (future) music of GNR that ever happened. Can't take both Axl & Izzy out of the GNR equation and call it GNR. Image-wise it was always an Axl & Slash thing, but at a deeper level it was an Axl & Izzy thing. No one complained about the name of the band when Izzy quit. Thus the essence of the band is the same as it has always been in the post-Izzy period.

[supaplex]

so you say that axl has the right to call it's band gnr but the others don't. and only axl and izzy wrote the songs. funny cos on my cd's the other guys are listed too. and maybe izzy should've called his jujuhounds gnr and sue the others because it was him who wrote most of the songs alongside axl

and i made the ac/dc reference just for the people saying a band cannot pass the loss of their frontman.