Another empty house another dead end street, gonna rest my bones and sit for a spell... this side of heaven this close to hell....

Guns N' Roses.... by now if you still can't figure out who on earth are they... then I will have to congratulate you a job well done in locking yourself out from the world.... Ok ok... so I will still introduce them. Guns N' Roses are, if not the best, one of the rock n' roll legend. They have been around the scene since early 1980s until today. Over the years the Gunners went through a turbulent yet glorious days. And we shall explore all of them one by one.......

In early 1970s, Axl Rose was in a band called The Hollywood Rose. The band hit very little fame and at the same time, Slash was in another band named The Guns. With both of the bands based in Los Angeles, Axl and Slash soon met and got together to formed a band. The name of the band? Well... you guessed it right. Its Guns N' Roses. With Axl leading the band with vocals, and Slash playing the guitar, Izzy Stradlin' joined in as the rhythm guitarist, Duff McKagan as the bassist and Steven Adler as the drummer. Of course this line-up existed only after a few changes of members in the band.

The band didn't get good reception at the city of Los Angeles at first. As the punk rock era going on hot, they went around performing in gigs with much opposition and hatred from the public. With the 'Us Against World' times, GN'R slowly gained a place in the rock scene. With the first album, 'GN'R Lies', and the hit single 'Patience', in 1985, these five guys hit big time and the quest for world domination had begun.

'Appetite For Destruction' came out in 1987 and by that time, GN'R was already on top of the rock n' roll hall of fame. Many people started listening to rock after hearing 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. After the release of 'Appetite For Destruction', Steven Adler's drug addiction problem deteriorated and was sacked from the GN'R. Replacing him was Matt Sorum formerly from The Cult. And Dizzy Reed joined GN'R shortly to play the keyboard. The line-up of Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff, Matt Sorum and Dizzy Reed pulled a huge success in GN'R's third studio album, 'Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II' in 1991. Only weeks after their release, 'Use Your Illusion I' topped the American Top 20 album, subsequently 'Use Your Illusion II' took over a few weeks later. Some of the hit songs from the album is 'November Rain', 'Don't Cry', a remake of Bob Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' and 'You Could be Mine', which was picked as the soundtrack for the movie 'Terminator II : Judgement Day'.

After 'Use You Illusion I & II', Izzy Stradlin' left Guns N' Roses. And Gilby Clarke took over the rhythm guitar. During the year 1992, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 'Use Your Illusion World Tour', and chose Tokyo, Japan as their Asian venue.

The third album, 'The Spaghetti Incident?' was released in 1993. The album was a compilation of classic rock n' roll tunes remade by GN'R. After the third album, disasters started to fall on the Gunners. Gilby Clarke was fired by Axl from the band and Slash was very unhappy about that. Meanwhile, Axl was being sued by his ex-wife, Erin Everly and ex-fiancee, Stephanie Seymour for domestic violence. So was Matt Sorum, who was charged for wife-beating. The members hadn't been receiving their pay for a long period of time and Axl was accusing Slash of stealing GN'R's materials for his solo album, 'Slash's Snakepit'. In the middle of 1996, Slash announced that he has quit GN'R to concentrate on his own solo career. And news started to spread that GN'R has broken up and Axl is giving up on the band as well. But on the other hand, news about the Gunners latest album will be out during the mid of 1997.

Guns N' Roses (left to right) : Duff McKagan, Gilby Clarke, Axl Rose, Slash. (Matt Sorum not in picture).

The GN'R story GN'R chronicles Pictures The Albums Back to Main