How good a rock band is Guns N' Roses?

[Kryptt]

8 - Very Good

As mentioned Appetite was killer and the live shows!

I liked quite a bit of their catalogue and obviously enjoyed the heck out of a number of concerts.

 

[TXstriker]

Appetite is one of the greatest albums of all time. There is SO much going on in almost every second of every song, it's unreal. The craftsmanship is unimpeachable. That album alone warrants them being ranked Amon the all time greats.
UYI could have been one incredible album instead of two bloated ones. Imagine if all the best songs from those two albums were on one? Then you potentially have two of the greatest albums of all time.

The best albums with little to no filler imo is appetite. One of the only albums I can listen to top to bottom.
People forget how big UYI was as well. I remember Channel 13 doing a news story about people camping outside Hollywood records waiting for the midnight release.

 

[Karl_Hungus]

Definitely one of the GOATs. Dirty and mean, just like rock should be. Whatever they might have lacked in technical brilliance, they made up for with sick hooks, songwriting prowess, and a yuge stage presence, etc. I remember when Appetite came out when I was in high school. It was fucking yuge. Even UYI I & II still gave me that magic feeling when I bought them and played them. Lies is brilliant. Spaghetti is underrated. I wish I had seen them in concert.

 

[Busgosu]

Used to enjoy them back in late 80s but soon after use your illusion 1 and 2 I suddenly became bored of them and lost all interest. I remember they were in Terminator 2 soundtrack and that was like a very big deal back then, they were in the radio, tv and everywhere. IDK they're good I guess, but I can't fucking listen to a single song of them nowadays, specially can't stand Axl's voice.
I would say they are one of the most overrated bands of all time if not the most.

 

[Mr. Fixit]

I saw them open for Motley Crue in '87 or '88. Even in the early days they put on a great show.

I also saw them in 1988

and I thought they were terrible. I've never liked Axl or his voice. Slash and Duff seem ok enough, but I've always thought Axl was lame. Too bad he didn't fight Vince Neil when they had that beef with each other.

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

they have some bangers, but thats about it, solid 7

 

[Goon Dog]

I also saw them in 1988

and I thought they were terrible. I've never liked Axl or his voice. Slash and Duff seem ok enough, but I've always thought Axl was lame. Too bad he didn't fight Vince Neil when they had that beef with each other.

Admittedly, I was pretty trashed. It was 1987 in Columbia. Crue put on a great show but I swear I remember GNR being pretty good too. Could have been the alcohol.

 

[560ti]

I also saw them in 1988

and I thought they were terrible. I've never liked Axl or his voice. Slash and Duff seem ok enough, but I've always thought Axl was lame. Too bad he didn't fight Vince Neil when they had that beef with each other.

Them being super spotty when it comes to live shows is part of the reason why I could never rate them higher than an 8. They don't have a very good reputation overall when it comes to live shows which is why I've never even bothered to see them live.

I remember they came three times in a 10-year span to my city and it was a joke all three times. First one he cancelled same day with no notice and never announced why. 2nd show he played 45 minutes at half ass effort then got mad and called the show (probably on hardcore drugs). 3rd show they played a full setlist but it was sloppy, you could tell they just got on the bus and went on a tour strictly for cash (could tell they weren't in shape and didn't actually spent time practicing as a band in preparation for the tour).

 

[BisexualMMA]

A reference to both Blade Runner and Highlander 2 in the same post. I don’t know about G n R being among the GOAT bands but you’re definitely among the GOAT posters on Sherdog.

There can be only one.

 

[BisexualMMA]

One of the goats. They are one of my favorite all time bands. Appetite for Destruction, and Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 are three of the most amazing albums ever made.
When Axl was young, he could really sing. I mean, his voice is absolutely weird and ridiculous but it worked. And musically they were very different from their contemporaries, though I think it may sound similar to hair metal like Ratt and Motley Crue to some people.

Yeah Guns n Roses had a lot more going on than Ratt or Motley Crue. I think their closest fit would probably be Skid Row.

It has been decades now since the 80s and there is a reason that the catalogues of only a few of the bands from that genre have really stood the test of time. Just about every big hair metal or glam metal band has at least one song that holds up in my opinion...even down to Firehouse and White Lion and Helix...but there are maybe only three or four bands where full albums and 20 plus songs hold up.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

There can be only one.

 

[Cherry Brigand]

I totally forgot that I saw them live. Skid Row opened and blew the roof off. This was just after Slave to Grind came out and before they became has beens. Sebastian Bach absolutely ruled the night.

GNR came out late. When they played songs from appetite they were great. When they played uyi, it was ok...but the album, iirc, was released late (after this show) and no one knew anything that they played. November Rain was the stand out.

 

[therealdope]

I saw them open for Motley Crue in '87 or '88. Even in the early days they put on a great show.

Hmmm. This is weird. I saw them in 1987 open for The Cult. They were absolutely terrible IIRC.

They're pretty much my favorite band. I just saw them in London and they were great.

 

[therealdope]

Use Your illusion II is pretty much my favorite album of all time.3

 

[Thrawn33]

Yeah Guns n Roses had a lot more going on than Ratt or Motley Crue. I think their closest fit would probably be Skid Row.

It has been decades now since the 80s and there is a reason that the catalogues of only a few of the bands from that genre have really stood the test of time. Just about every big hair metal or glam metal band has at least one song that holds up in my opinion...even down to Firehouse and White Lion and Helix...but there are maybe only three or four bands where full albums and 20 plus songs hold up.

I like the Skid Row comparison (even though GNR is miles above SR...not a knock on SR, love them but GnR are epic)

I don't consider either band hair metal. They are both hard rock bands.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Yeah Guns n Roses had a lot more going on than Ratt or Motley Crue. I think their closest fit would probably be Skid Row.

It has been decades now since the 80s and there is a reason that the catalogues of only a few of the bands from that genre have really stood the test of time. Just about every big hair metal or glam metal band has at least one song that holds up in my opinion...even down to Firehouse and White Lion and Helix...but there are maybe only three or four bands where full albums and 20 plus songs hold up.

I was never big into many of those bands, so I don’t know. All I know is that I really loved the range of songs GnR had. Except for that shitty ass rap song at the end of Illusion 2. Wtf was that? But the rest of that album, and Illusion 1, and Appetite are so good that I can count on one hand the number of songs I dislike on all 3 combined.
With many bands, even some of my favorites, they have many albums on which I could count the number of songs I actually love on one hand.

 

[Chad The Limey]

Used to enjoy them back in late 80s but soon after use your illusion 1 and 2 I suddenly became bored of them and lost all interest. I remember they were in Terminator 2 soundtrack and that was like a very big deal back then, they were in the radio, tv and everywhere. IDK they're good I guess, but I can't fucking listen to a single song of them nowadays, specially can't stand Axl's voice.
I would say they are one of the most overrated bands of all time if not the most.

This is pretty much my feelings on them too, apart from the ‘most overrated’ bit

 

[KawhiDoh]

I'm not their biggest fan and I think Slash is overrated(I still like him though and not saying he's bad, by any means), but it's hard to deny how great they are.

I'd voted for them as one of the GOAT's, because they honestly are.

 

[Sweater of AV]

They have some very good songs but the rest is mostly trash. Averages out to around a 4 or 5.

 

[Belaya Smert]

They killed it for a number of years. I’ll give them that. Got a cassette tape of Appetite for Destruction one Christmas when I was a kid. Definitely the album to jump into when talking about them.