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The Strange Days (mostly nights) of Guns N’ Roses

Kenny "Axil" Rose (Lead vocals), D.J. "Slash (Lead guitar), Joshua "Duff" McKagan (Bass Guitar/backing vocals), Terry "Izzy" Stradlin (Rhythm guitar/backing vocals) and Chuck "Matt Sorum" Johnson (Drums/Percussion) make Guns N’ Roses. The group has ridden a wave of success and failure spanning decades, which is almost unknown in the Heavy Metal music scene. Many fans of Guns N’ Roses believe that Guns N’ Roses is a Heavy Metal Rock band that is larger than large and has a collection of songs and hits not known to the Heavy Metal music scene since the Sex Pistols.

The lives of the band members have come under scrutiny of the public eye when the members’ experiences with drugs and sexual exploits came to the knowledge of the general public. The penchant for generating negative press dims in the light of their breathtaking song-writing and energetic performances. Their 1987 album, Appetite for Destruction, is undoubtedly a benchmark that many other albums and bands have failed to measure up to.

The fame of Guns N’ Roses continue to rock the world of Heavy Metal music with the rancorous songwriting and Slash’s vigorous guitar performances. Slash has been featured in various popular guitar magazines countless times and the band itself has been featured on many other magazines, newsletters and newspapers.

Guns N’ Roses popped into the music scene when the music scene was dominated by pop music and pop-metal and the future of Guns N’ Roses seem blurry at the point. But they proved the critics wrong when songs many consider raw and an uglier version of rock & roll came galloping into the charts full speed. The members of Guns N’ Roses are definitely not known to behave in an angelic way – and they’ve never tried to behave in any other way, in fact, the members are known to be ‘ugly’, ‘misogynist’, ‘violent’….but they are also known to be ‘funny’, ‘individualistic’, ‘vulnerable’ and sometimes ‘sensitive’.

Guns N’ Roses music is very basic and gritty – honest to a fault. They are everything true heavy metal music should be. Listening to Guns N’ Roses, listeners will soon realize that their music can evoke a wide range of emotions, from anger to sadness, from devotion to hatred.

Guns N’ Roses released their first EP in 1986 which grabbed attention of heavy metal music lovers all around the world. The release of the EP led to their first debut album, Appetite for Destruction. The album didn’t start selling until almost a year later, as the group toured and performed in numerous live shows. Only when attention was given by MTV by playing "Sweet Child of Mine", the album shot straight for the number one spot! Taking opportunity of their sudden fame, they re-released their debut single "Welcome to the Jungle" and it instantly rocked its way to Top Ten. Other albums and songs followed including "Patience" and "One in a Million". They started work on their follow-up album in 1990 and it’s in the same year that Adler was fired and replaced by Matt Sorum from "The Cult". In addition, Dizzy Reed on keyboards was also introduced. The recordings for 1 new album turned into 2 new albums – "Use your Illusion I" and "Use your Illusion II".

"Use your Illusions I and II" initially sold very well until Nirvana’s "Nevermind" broke their successful stride. Rose took over the band with a change of attitude and as a result, Stradlin, one of the best songwriter of all times, left Guns N’ Roses in 1991 and he was replaced with Gilby Clarke (Kill for Thrills). It wasn’t until 1993 that the fans of Guns N’ Roses could come to terms with the change because Stradlin had an important role to play in the band. Their following album, The Spaghetti Incident, did garner good reviews but it still failed to capture the kind of spirit that was apparent in the early days of Guns N’ Roses. Guns N’ Roses appeared to have lost their edge and many thought that they were out of the race for good. The situation was further worsened with the departure of, yet, another band member, Slash, leaving Rose as the last of the original cast for Guns N’ Roses.

In 1999, the first original song in 8 years for Guns N’ Roses, "Oh My God" was released and it was featured in "End of Days" film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new lineup for Guns N’ Roses consist of Rose, Finck, Buckethead, Stinson, Brian Mantia, Paul Huge, and Dizzy Reed. The new Guns N’ Roses continue to play and perform wherever they can but they generated some bad press when former members of Guns N’ Roses were BANNED from watching their performances. Soon Paul Huge joined the lineup of EX Guns N’ Roses members and was promptly replaced with Richard Fortus (former Love Spit Love). Fans and critics alike are waiting to see what the new lineup can come up with while the group of ex-GNR members continues to enjoy celebrity status.

Dean Erickson. Journalist, and web site builder Dean Erickson lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.all-guns-n-roses.info on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.