GnR – The Greatest American Rock Band
Every now and then I get into a mode where I will only listen to one band for a week or weeks at a time and recently it has been Guns N Roses. As much as I love the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses was the band that really shaped my youth and love for music. I can remember being in Los Angeles when this album came out and I had no idea who they were but billboards and posters were everywhere. I would walk into a record store and the entire wall was Appetite for Destruction. It was crazy. It was 1987. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Appetite was such an incredible album. Released July 21, 1987, it was the middle finger to the rock industry at the time. No glam. No make up. No bullshit. Just straight up in your face rock n roll. It has sold over 18 million copies, and I would put this album against any rock record as the greatest debut rock album. It is solid from the opening riff of Welcome to the Jungle to the closing notes of Rocket Queen. No other band has came along since that grabbed the industry by the balls like GnR.
I would say that Axl Rose is the greatest frontman in the biz. Slash’s playing is effortless. But I think without Izzy the band is missing something.
Over 25 years later I think a lot of people forget about the Illusion albums. Two separate albums released on the same day, September 17, 1991. Both of these records have sold over 7 million copies each. Again both of these albums are amazing records. The band toured over 2 years on these albums starting before the records were even released. Even Lies sold over 5 million. Bands like this do not come along often.
Not only do I think Guns N Roses is the greatest American Rock n Roll band, but I believe had they not broken up they would have been the next Rolling Stones. Unfortunately the band collapsed at the height of their career.
After seeing two shows on the reunion tour I believe GnR is still one of the greatest live bands. They still have an energy today that no other band has.
I love putting on my headphones and listening to these albums. There is something about them that just gets me every time.
No Comments