Ladies and gentlemen: meet the new Guns N' Roses

Ladies and gentlemen: meet the new Guns N' Roses
By Doug Miller / GunsNRoses.com

Axl Rose said he'd do it and has.

The charismatic, sometimes controversial frontman of the legendary rock band Guns N' Roses has brought GN'R back for a long-awaited album, the upcoming Chinese Democracy, and a tour through the United States and Canada.

He's got a stable full of all-star rock veterans to take the classic GN'R sound up a few notches. This full-sounding eight-piece band is capable of blasting out the classics, the new stuff and even a few surprising, creatively realized covers along the way.

New lead/rhythm guitarist Robin Finck, who gained industry prominence as part of the influential band Nine Inch Nails, "has grown toward something like equality with Rose," according to Los Angeles Times rock critic Ann Powers.

"His solos flashed and bubbled," Powers wrote after GN'R's recent performance at the "Inland Invasion" festival outside of Los Angeles.

GN'R's guitar sound has always been the product of a lot more than one player, however, and the latest lineup also includes axemen Richard Fortus, formerly of the Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love, and Ron Thal, who plied his trade as Bumblefoot.

Powers noted the "killer chops" of both men and made a point to mention their instrumental transformation of Christina Aguilera's Top 40 hit "Beautiful" into "a sky-is-crying-style blues."

Paul Gargano of the Hollywood Reporter was impressed, too.

"One of the night's most memorable performances was 'November Rain,' which featured Rose on piano at center stage and Finck and guitarist Richard Fortus trading leads," Gargano wrote.

Meanwhile, keyboardist Dizzy Reed returns to his familiar spot in the band, and his playing and his chemistry with Rose on stage was considered one of the highlights of the recent gig by most critics.

But Reed isn't the only one playing keyboards. Rose will tickle the ivories on the piano from time to time, and GN'R has retained the services of keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist and "sound designer" Chris Pitman, who used to play in Lusk.

On bass, GN'R is being classed up by the presence of Tommy Stinson, who broke into the music industry while in his teens and ended up playing a crucial role in the development of the Replacements, who are widely considered one of the most important rock acts of the 1980s.

Drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia has an eye-popping rock resume as well. The San Francisco Bay Area native has pounded the skins for Primus, Tom Waits and Praxis, among others.