Customer Rating:      Summary: About "Chinese Democracy" Comment: Slash is my guitar hero of all time. Unexpectedly Buckethead is just as great as he is, or even better. Try one of Buckethead's albums, you will fall in love with and finally get addicted to his underestimated talent. Buckethead can play any style as well as guitar god Jeff Beck. "Chinese Democracy" is definitely the best rock album since 1991. It got what the other great rock bands like Metallica, AC/DC, etc. are always missing: beautiful melodies. In fact, Axl's new album is way way better than any Slash or Duff's solo projects. If your religion is rock music, then Axl Rose is your God and his albums is your Bible. Buy more copies of this masterpiece for your family and friends to do them a huge favor!
Customer Rating:      Summary: A classic Comment: Do yourself a favor and buy this album. Appetite came out when I was a little kid, and I was shocked when my cousins showed me Lies! I was like wtf? I didn't know there was another album out - I was horrified I hadn't heard it. Anyways, One in a Million is worth the price alone. Patience and Used to Love Her are two of the best songs ever as well. Not much to say except if you haven't heard these songs before I feel bad for you! Go get yourself a copy right now. These songs got me through elementary and middle school!
Customer Rating:      Summary: Journey Into The Reckless Life.. Comment: Guns N' Roses hit back with their follow-up sophmore album "GN'R: Lies." This album of course contains the original EP material from "Live Like A Suicide." Known for its big hit "Patience" as well as its controvertial hooks in "One In A Million" this album I believe has stood the test of time, and really gives another side to the original band that dissipated long before their time!
1. Reckless Life - A true rocker of a song that kicks right into the GnR format fans had come to know from their AFD debut. You can tell right away how young Axl's voice was, and really how young the band was at the time of this recording. Still, a very solid track with great guitar work and harmonizing of vocals on this one. 4.5/5
2. Nice Boys - The first "cover" the band was able to showcase on an album. This song is one that truly grasped what the band was about. Axl boats "Nice boys, don't play rock n' roll; I'm not a nice boy!" Amazing guitar work on this one, and the bass stands out hard as well. Great track. 5/5
3. Move To The City - This was one song that took me awhile to really get a feel for. While good, I feel the band lacked something on this track and didn't really put their all into it. Vocals are good, but something's missing here. Good rocker overall, but somewhat forgettable. 4/5
4. Mama Kin - The band strikes back with their cover of the Aerosmith classic. A very, very strong output by the band here. Everything comes together where the last track may have fallen. Where cover songs can fall short at times, young GnR does this song major justice! 5/5
5. Patience - The stand-out track on the album, and aside from SCOM, the first real ballad from the band. Acoustic elements take the forefront here, which I think is good, as it shows another side of the band. Hard rocking bad boys at heart, even they can tame themselves for a time! And yes, we all do need just a little patience! 5/5
6. Used To Love Her - This is my personal favorite on the album! A simple song, with a simple message; it however has a killer hook that will be stuck in your head for days! Awesome guitar work on this one, and the vocals are top-notch! 5/5
7. You're Crazy - A song fans may recognize from the AFD album. However, this version is stripped of the electric guitar and replaced with an acoustic sound. have no fear though, because this version rocks! many times I find myself perferring this version over the other. Great tight work by the entire band on this track! 5/5
8. One In A Million - One of the most controvertial songs the band has ever written; and by today's standards may not even be that bad. I think the band was just having fun on this track and trying to get that rise out of people. Well, at the time I guess it worked! Great song and a pretty cool way to end their sophmore album! 4.5/5
So there you have it, sophmore slump? I think not. Little did us fans know that this was in some ways the last time we'd see the true "hard rocking" GnR. Of course, next up was their great dual 'Illusion' albums. If you're a fan of Guns at all, then you have to get this album: Lies and all!!
Customer Rating:      Summary: Smooth pop ain't Rock! Comment: "Good boys don't make rock'n'roll. Bad boys do."
Guys, this album can't even be called rock. It's just very bad quality smooth pop, that was SO unfortunate to put out "One in a Million" (which only makes it worse).
There a lot of GREAT rock albums out there. So, do yourself a favor and pass this record.
Customer Rating:      Summary: A Statement Album Comment: If Appetite For Destruction told the story of who Guns N' Roses were, GN'R Lies was the band telling the world who they were NOT. That is to say, they were not just another one-dimensional hard rock band. GN'R Lies shows the band's flexibility as musicians and pays homage to their influences.
Though this album is an EP and was put out as a, say, pre-dinner snack while the band worked on their next full length(s), one should not be quick to judge the album as simply a "collection of odds and ends and tracks that didn't make their previous album." One of the greatest parts about GN'R Lies is how well thought out it was. The band were out to show that they could sell with a half acoustic album featuring only 2 songs that could have fit in next to the songs of Appetite For Destruction. A bold move indeed. It is important to note that this is a concept album. First off, the cover shows a tabloid-esque review of the band. It was during the period after their debut album "took off" until this point (and beyond), that Guns N' Roses was caught up in the whirlwind of media attacks and scrutiny: much of which the band claimed were "lies" - hence the name of the album. But not so fast, the album name isn't merely to tell the world that the band feel misrepresented; there is more to the name. The album itself is lies. That is the concept - it's Guns N' Roses pulling a fast one on everyone. The "Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide" songs are not live. It's a lie, but a clever one, since upon further investigation, the name actually suggests they are NOT live... that they are "as live as a suicide." Next, the choices of songs like Reckless Life and Nice Boys start off the album and make you think it's going to be Appetite For Destruction II. Then they roll in the horn section in the jam-esque Move To The City, followed shortly by 4 all acoustic tracks: complete with whistling and lyrics like "shed a tear cause I'm missing you." No, not the Guns N' Roses we all expected. Mix in a song that required a disclaimer from Axl that it was a joke (Used To Love Her) and a track that was essentially a bull's eye on the band's back for the media (One In A Million), and you've got a nice group of lies about Axl and band-mates being murderers, racists and homophobic -- all of which would be denied by the band... repeatedly.
And through all of this superficial deception, when we scratch a bit deeper, we find that lyrically, this is the band at it's most honest and introspective with lines like, "It's been such a long time since I've known right from wrong." To draw another comparison to their first album, Appetite For Destruction was a youthful cry out of the band's identity, no apologies, while GN'R Lies showed the band coming to fully understand their "reckless lives" and coming to terms with all that it entailed.
The story of Guns N' Roses cannot be told, nor fully appreciated without this album to bridge the no-holds-barred rock of Appetite For Destruction with the sprawling even poignant artistry of the Use Your Illusion albums. One could only wish for a few more tracks to turn the album from a "middle finger to the critics and dissenters" to a big "?!*@ you" to anyone who would question the greatness of the band.
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