Guns N' Roses was recently elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My reaction to this is "why"? Don't get me wrong, GnR was a great band for about five years. They are not in any way R&RHOF worthy however. Especially when better bands, with bigger contributions to music and more talent are left waiting to get in.
Guns N' Roses had two great albums: Appetite for Destruction and Lies. After that they had two good albums: Use You Illusion 1 & 2. They also had two awful albums: The Spaghetti Incident? and Chinese Democracy. They also had a live album and a greatest hits album in there as well but neither really counts because those are just fan fodder to keep people happy until the new studio album is ready. Every artist does it.
Before I continue my case against GnR, let me remind you all of some artists (in rock and other genres) who are not yet in the R&RHOF. (Keep in mind eligibility begins 25 years after the release of the first album.) The list includes Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Rush, Queensryche, Bon Jovi, Pantera, Billy Idol, Megadeth, Motley Crue, The Cure, Dio, Judas Priest, Janet Jackson, Ice-T, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Depeche Mode, Bad Religion, Ozzy Osbourne (as a solo artist), Dead Kennedys, Poison, The Misfits, Motorhead, KISS, Peter Gabriel, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Slayer and George Clinton. That is a list of artists who are not only more talented than Guns N Roses, but have all contributed more to the growth of music around the world.
Guns N' Roses made a loud, obnoxious and in-your-face debut with Appetite. The lead single "Welcome to the Jungle", with its allusions to rape and drug use, was much bolder than anything Poison or Def Leppard had out at the time. That was a good thing, but not enough to push them to the status of R&RHOF members. The controversy surrounding Lies with the tracks "Used to Love Her" and "One in a Million" was unwarranted but nevertheless entertaining. Again, that was a nice star on their bulletin board of life, but that's about it.
The dual release of Use You Illusion 1 & 2 was really nothing more than arrogance on the band's part. It's great they had so many songs to choose from and wanted fans to get them all. But why release both albums simultaneously? In the long run, that decision may have been the bands downfall as that lineup did not release another album together. It was too much at one time when one album of the best songs from both Illusions would have done the trick.
On a side note, the video for the opus "November Rain" from Use Your Illusion 1, was the first $1 million video ever.
Let's all just pretend the Guns N' Roses collection of covers, The Spaghetti Incident? never happened. It's one of the worst albums ever recorded.
In 1999, Guns N Roses had an industrial metal style song on the End of Days soundtrack which Axl claimed was the direction the band was going. That turned out to not be the case as Democracy was loaded with a mellow boring style of music, at least by GnR standards.
That brings us to Chinese Democracy. The Guns N' Roses album which took nearly a decade to write, record and release. The fact of the matter is it was all Axl Rose's fault. The frequent hiring and firing of musicians or musicians outright quitting because Axl is a douchebag really started to get ridiculous after the first few years. Re-recording, remixing and other production costs ballooned the total cost of making the album to $13 million.
The album was originally to be released in 2000 but The album was finally released in 2008 exclusively at Best Buy. It was a critical and commercial flop despite being certified platinum in 2009.
Guns N' Roses was a fun band when they debuted in the late 1980s. The were like Motley Crue ampped up a few more levels. However, the lack of longevity and the frequent lineup changes and the childish behavior of Axl Rose definitely detracts from any worthiness for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their election is undeserved and frankly, mind-boggling. I could make a strong case for every artist I mentioned a few paragraphs above for inclusion before GnR. I hope that many of those artists are one day enshrined in the R&RHOF because all are deserving the just need a little patience.
