Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
I've always felt they were mostly the last breath of mainstream hard rock before it started to become genre music. Which is a huge reason why they are remembered so fondly. If you're into that kind of rock, you can connect with people from all around the world with a GnR song, but not with a newer song. Even if it's actually better. (Except if it's AC/DC.)
Which is why I don't also see them as THAT influential. Every popular band is somewhat influential, and bands in their genre obviously take influences, but after them rock moved mostly into everything GnR was not. "Professionals" instead of "Bad Boys", "Down to Earth" instead of "Larger Than Life", genre fusions instead of classic sounds, socially responsible and political (U2-style) instead of "Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'roll".
You could probably make the case that their biggest influence was in the artists that wanted to be anything but like them.
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we can agree to disagree on this....They were and remain hugely influential in the world of rock from anything I've ever seen or heard. Slash while not immediately obvious tends to be near the top of any most influential list for guitarists, be they lists crafted by fans or the artists themselves. And Axl will forever be known as one the best front men despite his quirks. Izzy is extremely well respected for melody writing and his straight ahead rock sensibilities. When they got the collaboration right they hit it out of the park.
I sound like a G 'n R disciple and I don't mean to be (plenty of groups I like far far more), but I can't say they were overated. They weren't just popular albums but albums that continue to sell to this day in pretty big numbers (especially Appetite). We're talking nearly 30 million sales for Appetite...those aren't Thriller numbers but they are comparable to Back in Black, Led Zep IV and The Wall. It's an album that each generation of kids growing up buy. That sort of transcends the "just like other popular bands" stuff IMO. Keep in mind there less than 30 albums that are estimated to have sold 30 million. They've sold over 100 million albums on what is a pretty small catalog. It's pretty astounding really. Those are numbers reserved for bands/artists that helped define a genre not just did well within it.
Also, why people are surprised every time Axl shows up "late" is beyond me. He sort of has a fundamental belief a headliner at a true rock show shouldn't be hitting the stage anytime before 10:30. It's annoying I understand and they need to better schedule the opener so the transition isn't 90 minutes long. I agree with that.
Playing around since the rumour came out I learned some interesting things. November Rain for example was written for the Appetite album but the band at the time had a one ballad per album rule. It was modified of course, so it was a 8+ year in the making song. Axl is who he is...an artist that seems to agonize over every single bar of music and how it will be received by anyone and everyone. You just know there are hundreds and hundreds of takes for each vocal line on Chinese Democracy (which makes one wonder why the vampire impersonation line made the final cut but I digress), and hundreds of different solos etc.