GUNS N' ROSES

Take vocalist Axl Rose and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin from the band Hollywood Rose and combine them with Tracii Guns, Ole Beich, and Rob Gardner of the band L.A. Guns and what do you have? The beginnings of what would become Guns N' Roses.   Replace Tracii Guns, Ole Beich, and Rob Gardner with Slash on guitar, Duff McKagan on bass, and Steven Adler on drums, respectively, and then you have one of my favorite rock bands from the '80s.

As with many nascent bands, GN’R’s members' relationships were really solidified during grueling club tours to get their name and music out. The band's biggest gig was on Halloween night, 1986, when they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This was such a successful show for them, execs from their record label wanted a release quickly, but the band felt they needed to get tighter by doing more shows. When they finally left the road to go into the studio to get something on vinyl, Geffen Records wanted they band to hold on to their new but growing fan base, so it released an EP around Christmas of 1986 called Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide.

This was a collection of four songs, two covers (Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and Aerosmith's "Mama Kin") and two originals, but they were not recorded during live gigs in the clubs, as we all thought initially. Axl said in an interview on MTV a few years later that the songs were demo records with audience sounds added later. While Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide was doing its job in the streets and getting the band's name out there further, the band was doing its job in the studio, creating, I think, one of the great albums of rock and roll.

In July of 1987, Guns N' Roses released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, and really took no prisoners. We used to joke (sort of) that, although the songs on the album were about many different topics, the underlining theme was...women! Of the 12 tracks on Appetite, five songs are about women or mention women or relationships: "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Think About You", "My Michelle", "You're Crazy", and "Rocket Queen".  But, hey, why else be in a band, but to get women?

"Welcome to the Jungle" was the album's second single, but the first one to get widely noticed and became a Top Ten hit. It's about a small-town boy arriving in the big city, where it's do or die (cliché alert!). MTV was afraid to show the video initially, playing only in the early morning hours, but it caught on anyway, and was soon the most requested video for months on the daily countdown. The next single made an even bigger splash.

Band members have been often quoted, saying that "Sweet Child o' Mine" began as a joke, with Slash just messing around on his guitar. One by one, other band members joined in, and Axl couldn’t help but jot down some lyrics. We all should fool around with our friends like this, as they ended up with their only #1 record and an international Top Ten hit.

There's not much I can write about Appetite for Destruction that Rolling Stone, Spin, Musician, Billboard, and countless other rags haven't already written. The album topped Billboard's Album Chart for a year, produced three hit singles: "Paradise City", "Welcome to the Jungle", and "Sweet Child o' Mine", but rock radio stations really played all of the tracks on the album, especially "Nightrain", "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone."

G N' R’s next album, G N' R Lies, is not really an album at all. It’s an extra long EP, consisting of 8 songs: the first four tracks are the ones on Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, and the last four are acoustic songs, with the standouts being the smash hit “Patience” and "Used to Love Her".  G N' R Lies was another hit and sold over four million copies, despite the fact the controversial track, “One in a Million”, had many pegging the band as homophobic and racist, due to its lyrics, written by Axl Rose. This would be the band’s final release in the ‘80s.  

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time - to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. - 2 Timothy 1:9