Guns N' Roses - G N' R Lies
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Free Music Notes for G N' R Lies
Free Music Review: A New Direction
Hit: 4 Stars
An album with two distinct halves, G N' R Lies is one part a "live" recording, previously released as the pre-Appetite for Destruction water tester Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, while the second half is a collection of acoustic originals. As such, the album has two very distinct feels to it, and boasts both some highlights of Guns N' Roses' catalog, as well as many fan favorites.
Beginning with the "live" half (which isn't actually live, but a studio recording with crowd noise added in for effect), the band performs two originals and two covers. "Reckless Life," written well before the band had much of what would become their dangerous reputation, is a strong opener, as is the follow up cover of Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys," both of which fit the band's style very well. They follow these with original "Move to the City" and a cover of Aerosmith's "Mama Kin," which demonstrate the band's less heavy tendencies and pay a tribute to one of the rock classics that came before them.
The acoustic half is all original material, beginning with the hit "Patience," which is likely the most well known track on the album. The tongue in cheek "Used to Love Her," with its comically dark lyrics follows, prior to a revisitation of Appetite track "You're Crazy," which loses little of its edge, despite being unplugged. "One in a Million" closes the album, and is a clear highlight, though it also deals with some controversial material.
All in all, a great EP coming between the groundbreaking Appetite for Destruction and the enormous scope found on the Use Your Illusion albums.
Free Music Review: SIDE TWO
Hit: 4 Stars
If you can get through the harsh lyrics side two displays some of Slash's best guitar playing. If you want more I suggest finding his track "Obsession Confession" found on Gypsy Soul New Flamenco Narada.Free Music Review: A slightly underrated but two classic EPs rolled into one great album
Hit: 5 Stars
Guns and Roses' second major label release G 'N' R Lies was released in November of 1988.
Lies was released as a sort of cash-in on the success of the band's debut blockbuster Appetite for Destruction.
The album comprised of two EPs in one album. First, the long deleted Live Like a Suicide is comprised of covers namely Aerosmith's "Mama Kin" and the superb "Nice Boys". Ironically, the latter was what the band were not to the press as their image of being bad boy rockers followed them. "Reckless Life" and "Move to the City" were great tracks as well.
The second of the two EPs on this album was G'N'R semi-unplugged. First song is the ballad "Patience" which was a huge hit and was one of the first tracks to have Axl sing in a lower octave for almost an entire song for a change rather than hearing him screech (which was his trademark) and is a great ballad. "Used to Love Her" is a funny ode to Axl's dog and not a song about him killing his girlfriend/wife as many sexists claim. An acoustic remake of the Appetite track "You're Crazy" is arguably better in its slow, unplugged style with Axl singing rather than screaming half the time. The controversial "One in a Million" closes the album with its lyrics which caused certain groups to call G'n'R racist, anti-gays, etc but the words were used to describe low-lifes and those supporting drug habits.
As always, the album hit the US Top 5 and sold millions. Unfortunately, this was the last gasp with original drummer Steven Adler as he was dismissed from the band in 1990.
Recommended!
Free Music Review: Nice Boys Don't Play Rock N' Roll
Hit: 5 Stars
While Guns N' Roses debut album "Appetite for Destruction" (1987) initially failed to make a major impact, over the course of a few months, with singles like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Sweet Child `O Mine," almost overnight, Guns N' Roses became the biggest band on the planet.
To capitalize on the band's success, Geffen re-released Guns N' Roses first release, the "Live like a Suicide" (1986) EP along with four new recordings. Together, these eight songs made up Guns N' Roses second album "GN'R Lies" (1988).
"Live Like a Suicide" had been released one year before "Appetite" as a way for Geffen to introduce Guns N' Roses to the public. Although it was released under the "Uzi Suicide" label, that was just a front for Geffen. It was thought that if the EP had been released under an indie label it might have given the band added street cred. And while "Live Like a Suicide" is supposed to be a live album, that's not really the case. Crowd noise was added to the recordings, to which singer Axl Rose would later decry as "contrived."
While "Live Like a Suicide" or "side A" of "GN'R Lies" isn't as powerful as AFD, these are still great songs. While they may not have been recorded in front of an audience, they still have a live sound as they don't sound overproduced or have a lot over overdubs. Hopefully, however, one day "GN'R Lies" will be re-released without the faux crowd noise.
The opening "Reckless Life," featuring Rose's mightily signature wail and Slash's signature screeching solos, can be seen as a precursor to "Welcome to the Jungle." Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" is another fine hard-rocker and follows nicely. An early GN'R classic and the best song on "Live Like a Suicide," the groove-laden swagger of "Move to the City" has a clear element of vintage Aerosmith. A cover of Aerosmith's "Mamma Kin" is good, if not great.
The second half of "GN'R Lies" consists of four new acoustic recordings, demonstrating early on how versatile GN'R were. The Izzy Stradlin penned "Patience" is just plain terrific. A gorgeous balled, it's not overdone or overly sentimental, yet shows a sensitive side to the band none-the-less. "Used to Love Her" a song about killing your wife/girlfriend is one of the band's more misunderstood songs. As Rose states in "Live Era" (1999) while introducing the song, it's just a joke, a fantasy.
The country-esque "Your Crazy" is an acoustic version of the same song released a year before on "Appetite." While the "fast" AFD version of "Your Crazy" is probably the album's weakest song, the slower version on "GN'R Lies" is one of GN'R best recordings.
Guns N' Roses most controversial song, "One in a Million" closes out the album. This is the song that Axl Rose/Guns N' Roses detractors single-out when they refer to either Rose or Guns N' Roses as racist and/or homophobic. Listening to the song, it's easy to see why the song generated a storm of controversy upon its release. However, to simply condemn Rose and GN'R would be simplistic and a knee-jerk reaction.
Does "One in a Million" have racist, xenophobic and homophobic undertones? Yes. Is Axl Rose a white supremacist that hates gays? No. Essentially, the song is a gritty, honest confessional taken from the perspective of an ignorant young man who has grown up in Indiana his whole life, and upon arriving to LA, has negative experiences with blacks and gays. It's a song from the perspective of how Rose felt at the time and it doesn't reflect his current world-view.
Overall, GN'R's "Appetite For Destruction" and "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" (both 1991) may be more satisfying than "GN'R Lies" but this album still contains many gems and is overall a great collection of songs. This CD is also recommended for fans that didn't care for the more artistic leanings of "Use Your Illusion" but like the rawness of AFD.
Free Music Review: On "I Used to Love Her"
Hit: 3 Stars
People, people--"I Used to Love Her" is NOT about killing and burying a girlfriend, it's about putting down and burying a dog. The word that in clean contexts means "female dog," but which is usually used as a derogatory word for women, takes its literal meaning in this song. That's the joke. That having been said, it isn't a very funny joke.
As for my review, I bought this album a long time ago for "Patience," but rarely listen to the whole thing, since it sounds just like what it is--a cobbled-together album to keep the group in the spotlight. And I do object to "One in a Million." This album is pretty much for completists only.