So why is Guns N’ Roses’ G N’ R Lies on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
G N’ R Lies is a tough Gn’R album to classify on several different fronts.
It’s an EP that consists of eight songs. Half of those songs are live recordings of songs (originally dubbed Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide) that are honestly pretty forgettable. So that leaves us with four original songs, half the album… that are (mostly) fantastic*.
* There’s another problematic aspect to G N’ R Lies that I only stumbled across recently – more on that below.
All four songs are acoustic numbers, and show off a band that at its best was rightfully if relatively briefly the best band on the planet**.
** More on this below, too.
“Patience” is flat out incredible, a Top 5 Gn’R song in my view. The opening guitar strumming, with Axl Rose’s wistful whistling, segues into a delightfully pretty song with a wonderful melody. Like all of the great rock bands, Guns n’ Roses proves that having a strong pop sensibility is critical.
While the lyrics of “Used to Love Her” might “read” as a little sinister (I used to love her, but I had to kill her…) but with its light, singalong vibe (that happens to be catchy as hell), I take it as very much tongue-in-cheek. Slash’s acoustic guitar work here also sounds very Jimmy Paige in acoustic Led Zepp mode.
I wasn’t familiar with the lyrics of the passable “One In A Million” until recently, which… let’s say, aren’t great by 2022 (or any, really) standards. I don’t feel like hashing through what Axl was trying to do with it, but you can read more about it here if you’d like.
“You’re Crazy” is a solid acoustic blues rock boogie number with a nice Led Zeppelin-y hook.
Personal stuff that has something to do with Guns N’ Roses’ G N’ R Lies
I have a clear memory of overhearing a few guys having a conversation while I was in high school. It was a debate about the merits of The Beatles versus Guns N’ Roses. One guy was adamant that Guns N’ Roses’ legacy would surely outlast that of The Beatles, while the other guy’s attitude was more “it’s totally possible but let’s wait and see.”
Thus was the power and popularity of Guns N’ Roses – and note that this conversation likely took place between the release of G N’ R Lies (and Appetite for Destruction, of course) and the subsequent Use Your Illusion albums.
At least at my high school.
Some stats & info about Guns N’ Roses – G N’ R Lies
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was G N’ R Lies released? 1988
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #572 out of 1,000
Guns N’ Roses’ G N’ R Lies on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Guns N’ Roses’ G N’ R Lies that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Said woman take it slow, and it’ll work itself out fine. All we need is just a little patience.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.