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| Guns n' Roses History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Guns n' Roses was originally started by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin. The first name for the band was L.A. Guns. Axl and Izzy soon tired if this band and left to form a band of thier own. L.A. Guns kept going and are still a band today. Axl and Izzy began recruiting members for their new band. First they brought in Duff McKagen as a bassist. They next brought in Slash, after rejecting him from L.A. Guns, saying he was "too bluesy." Slash brought with him drummer, Steven Adler. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They next had to decide on a name for thier new band and together they decided on Guns n' Roses. This was the begining of Guns n' Roses. They started off as most bands do. Playing in pubs and clubs around Los Angeles. They released a self funded E.P. Called "Live ?!*$ Like a Suicide." Only around 1000 copies of this album were made and it only came out on vinyl. They released this in 1986. After this they became more popular around the L.A. area and pubs were often crammed when Guns n' Roses were playing there. In 1987 David Geffen Records saw they had potential and offered them a record deal. Guns n' Roses' first "proper" album was called Appetite for Destruction and has been hailed by many fans as their best, with such hits as "Welcome to the Jungle" "Rocket Queen" "Paradise City" and the number one hit "Sweet Child o' Mine." Appetite for Destruction sold modestely for a |
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| year, the exploded when MTV fell in love with "Sweet Child o' Mine." Both the album and the single rocketed to number one. Guns n' Roses became an American success. They toured all over America and most of their concerts sold out within days. But it was not just songs from Appetite for Destruction that they played. They still played songs from their original E.P. "Live ?!*$ Like a Suicide." Geffen Records decided that since Appetite for Destruction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| had sold so well they would give Guns n' Roses a second album. This album was "Gn'R Lies." Guns n' Roses requested that this album was divided into two halves. The first half featured the four main songs from "Live ?!*$ Like a Suicide" and the second would be a more acoustic album. They called the first half 1986 and the second 1988, marking the years that they were recorded. Many fans liked this contrast. Track 7, "You're Crazy," was an earlier version of the same track featured on "Appetite for Destruction" except this version was played a little slower and on an acoustic guitar. "Gn'R Lies" also became a number one hit, which included the singles "Move to the City," a song from "Live ?!*$ Like a Suicide," and the acoustic ballad, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Patience." This was when they became a big hit in the UK. Before they had been popular, but now they had really conquered the UK. They toured even more and sold out nearly all of the venues they played in. "Gn'R Lies" went to number one, making Guns n' Roses the first band to put two albums to number one, one after the other. At this point they began the recording of their next two albums, "Use Your Illusion: Volume 1" and "Use Your Illusion: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volume 2." They began with the recording of "Civil War," a song written by Axl about wars, but more specifically about Vietnam and the American Civil War. It was partly a peace protest song, but also partly a song explaining Axl's views on war, in general. Over the recording of "Appetite for Destruction" and "Gn'R Lies" Adler had begun to take drugs, but he drank almost all the time. Whilst recording "Civil War" Guns n' Roses members recall that at one session alone Adler fell of his drum stool 70 times, because he had drunk so heavily before coming in that day. They finally recorded this song and whilst recording others did some shows. The charity show, "Farm Aid," was when they first played "Civil War" live. Adler managed not to fall of his drum stool at this show, but the second time they played "Civil War" Adler fell of his drum stool during the song and Axl fired him in the middle of the concert. This was a mistake on Axl's part. Adler promptly took Guns n' Roses to court and won over $1 000 000. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guns n' Roses went on the lookout for another drummer. It was, at this point, that they recruited Matt Sorum, from the band, The Cult. He was, by far, a better drummer than Adler. They also recruited keyboard player Dizzy Reed. They began work on the two "Use Your Illusion's" straight after. After only a couple more songs they played at the |
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| 1991 Rock in Rio festival. They soon finished the recording of the "Use Your Illusion's." These were two excellent albums, which sold around 16 000 000 copies, each. Due to all of the drugs and drinking in the band, the music from the "Use Your Illusion's" is often overlooked. For one song on each album Axl did backing vocals and Izzy took lead vocals on "Dust n' Bones," from "Use Your Illusion: Volume 1" and "14 Years," from "Use Your Illusion: Volume 2." They also had a cover on each album. They covered the Paul McCartney and Wings hit "Live and Let Die," on "Use Your Illusion: Volume 1," the Bob Dylan hit "Knockin' on Heavens Door," on "Use Your Illusion: Volume 2." They soon went off on the "Use Your Illusion Tour," which was a massive success. The tour was almost a complete sell out. This made Guns n' Roses the second most popular band in America, second only to the boy band, "Boyz 2 Men." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guns n' Roses began plans for a second album but that was put on hold when Izzy Stradlin, who took drugs mildly, felt the pressure after the "Use Your Illusion Tour" was too much for him and began to take more and more drugs. He was soon put into rehab. He came out but promptly lost intrest in the band he had help create. "I expressed my feelings to Axl," he explained, "and the very next night on MTV I saw I was going to be replaced... I took that as an indication that I'd really annoyed him." |  |
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| More -------> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||