Customer Reviews

Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Videos (Keep Case)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This video contains almost every Guns video ever made. They might have omitted 1 or 2 and i can't think of which ones they are. Ohh, the video You Could Be Mine is not here, and thats a crying shame because it's a cool vid flick. Anyway, all their epics from Illusion CD's are here. November Rain, Estranged, and Don't Cry among other videos from both those albums. Patience from Lies and Sine I Don't Have You from the Spag. Incident are also included. But the real keepers are their most awesome videos off of Appetite. Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child of Mine and Paradise City are worth owning alone. They all bring back fond, bittersweet memories of what metal and videos were like in the Rockin' 80's.

I've had a chance to see Welcome to the Videos. I thought it was excellent. It contained all of GNR'S most popular songs/videos. This video contained more than just GNR in concert footage. The videos for November Rain, Don't you Cry and Estranged contained themes and storylines. As a matter of fact, the videos attached to these songs helped me understand them better. I really liked the dolphins in Estranged! This video brought back some really good memories and I'm hoping GNR will overcome their personal differences and start recording again. Of course, being a true Axl fan, I enjoyed seeing him in the videos but most of all, appreciate his song writing ability and his ability to express himself in a sensitive way, especially in estranged. The quality of this video is excellent. There is concert footage, but the songs are as they were recorded on the albums they came from. I know you will love Welcome To The Videos!

This video contains almost every music video Guns N' Roses has ever made. It includes (in same order as on the video): Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, Patience, Don't Cry (original version only, featuring Shannon Hoon), Live and Let Die, November Rain (MTV Vanguard Award Winner, Still # 1 on MTV's "Top 10 Epic Videos Countdown"), Yesterdays, The Garden, Dead Horse, Garden of Eden, Estranged, & Since I Don't Have You

This is a MUST for GNR fans but if you (like myself) already purchased the VHS version this adds NOTHING to it. It has their memorable videos that appear for 2 decades on MTV and you know those: Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome to the Jungle plus the cinematic "trilogy" of November Rain, Dont Cry and Stranged that ruled the TV waves on the 90's. The problem is the same: where is "You Could Be Mine" from the T2 movie? There is no extras, no interviews, no nothing...just buy it for the videos, those are still cool...

...a few complaints. This is a direct copy of the VHS tape and there is no remastered audio or video. (5.1 surround and a less grainy image would have been nice.) There are no special features, although is anyone really surprised that the band didn't get together for a commentary?

If you don't have the VHS tape this is a good thing to get, regardless of its mediocre quality. It's better than watching them on MTV, no? The interactive menus are better than I expected, anyway. At least some thought was put into it.

The videos themselves? Ace stuff, even if the Use Your Illusion videos got a bit pretentious. And although I love Estranged, the video represents GN'R at their most commercial.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE -- GN'R at their most hair metal, this video is raw and loud; awesome stuff. Jim Carrey spoofed it in the fifth Dirty Harry film, "THE DEAD POOL."

SWEET CHILD O' MINE - My favorite GN'R song and video, if only because it was my first. Axl's dancing is cool.

PARADISE CITY -- Great song, but I've never cared much for the video. Goes on a bit too long with the same stuff.

DON'T CRY -- Good video. A bit too much though.

NOVEMBER RAIN -- Their second best.

ESTRANGED -- Brilliant song, very good video, just a bit too "clean" and un-GN'R'ish at times.

THE GARDEN -- The only music video where they aren't shown performing the song. A seedy trip through Sin City, so to speak.

GARDEN OF EDEN -- Loud, silly fun - I love it.

DEAD HORSE -- Very cool, Axl plays guitar.

LIVE AND LET DIE -- Another UYI music video. I wish they'd made more Appetite ones, but this is still good.

SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU -- The worst GN'R video. Gary Oldman plays Misery, and it's an embarrassing ordeal. It almost ruins the song, which is great.

If you're a fan of GN'R you should get this collection because it's a must-own, simple enough. The only two videos it doesn't feature are You Could Be Mine (from the T2 soundtrack) and the X-rated It's So Easy (which featured S&M stuff and was banned or something). I downloaded those two off Limewire, You Could Be Mine is absolutely awesome. Hopefully once the legal issues are settled in the future (if ever?) they'll be included on a new re-issue of the DVD. Perhaps by then the ex-bandmembers will have all made up and we'll be treated to a commentary. But oh hell, who am I kidding? We have a better chance of a Chinese Democracy. (Ha, I'm so clever.)

Guns N' Roses did it all... they were the best rock band in the world, and they made the best videos. The simpler vids from Appetite for Destruction are all here, as are the classics which still stand as the standard for all music videos made today: Don't Cry, November Rain and Estranged, the last of which is worth the price of the tape all by itself. Was a little annoyed not to have You Could Be Mine on the tape, but the video wasn't as good as the song anyway. Get the videos if, and only if, you love rock n' roll.

This DVD is an amazing collection of Guns N' Roses music videos. Guns N' Roses was probably one of MTV's favorite bands throughout the 80's & early part of the 90's. If you are expecting concert footage & interviews with this DVD you'll be disappointed. But if you are like me and don't care for all that stuff and just want to see the videos this DVD is for you. This video includes the classic MTV "hair" generation classic's Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O Mine, & Paradise City. Plus, in my opinion, one of the top ten music videos ever made in "November Rain". Rare music videos that MTV probably will never air again like, Live & Let Die, Yesterdays, The Garden, Dead Horse, Garden of Eden, Estranged, & Since I Don't Have You. Plus two huge video smash hits like Patience and Don't Cry. The DVD is missing the video for You Could Be Mine & also I remember there was a rare video for Knockin On Heaven's Door that also is not part of this DVD. But I'm not complaining one bit. It's just great to see these videos and remember the days when rock ruled MTV, before rap music became MTV's one and only obsession. A must own DVD for not just GNR fans, but collectors of music video DVD's.

This is a great video. It includes all of their most famous videos, although I would have liked to see all of their videos in it. There's not much to say about the video since it's just a bunch of music videos put together, but in two words, it rocks.
The line-up is...
Welcome to the Jungle
Sweet Child O' Mine
Paradise City
Patience
Don't Cry
Live and Let Die
November Rain (the best video ever!)
Yesterdays
The Garden
Dead Horse
Garden of Eden
Estranged
Since I Don't Have You

Most of the videos have live footage and you can tell that Guns N' Roses totally rocks in concert!

I am, and always will be, a monster fan of Guns N' Roses. As a 16 year old listening to "Appetite For Destruction" in 1987, I thought the sky was the limit for this band. They were young and talented, and I was convinced they would become one of the greatest acts in rock n' roll history, and not just the hard rock genre. To me, Axl Rose was the next John Lennon. He seemed to possess it all- a unique voice, exceptional songwriting skills , and a captivating stage presence. Unfortunately, he and the other band members never lived up to the promise of "Appetite For Destruction"- internal tension, drug use, and the increasingly egotistical behavior of Rose ultimately resulted in a complete implosion of the original lineup. These days, only Rose remains, and there has not been a new Guns N' Roses album in more than ten years,as fans of the original GN'R find it difficult to refer to Rose's new lineup as Guns N' Roses.

The "Welcome To The Videos" collection has been available on VHS since 1998, but finally hit DVD in 2003. The best videos are from the early, "Appetite" era- watching "Welcome To The Jungle" brought me all the way back to 1987, at least temporarily. Back then, the band was hungry, living the true "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" lifestyle. Guns N' Roses took over MTV in the spring of 1988 with the video for "Sweet Child O' Mine", which catapulted the band into mainstream America, and both the single and the "Appetite" LP to number one on the charts. GN'R closed out the 80's with clips for "Paradise City" and "Patience", and as the 90's approached, GN'R seemed ready to lay claim as one of the great rock bands of all time.

The two "Use Your Illusion" albums, released in September 1991, spawned nine videos, including "You Could Be Mine" which does not appear in this collection, likely because it contained several clips from the film "Terminator 2". The videos for "Don't Cry", the epic "November Rain", and "Estranged" attempt to form some kind of three part story. None of them make complete sense, but "Rain" is gorgeous to look at. Prominently featured in the clip is model Stephanie Seymour, Axl Rose's then-girlfriend. However, these videos and the others from the "Illusion" albums reflect the changes occurring within the band; two original members were gone by then, and the once ferocious intensity which carried Guns N' Roses to the top in 1988 was slowly but steadily in decline. Videos for "The Garden", "Dead Horse", and "Garden Of Eden" are all throwaways, without any memorable images. None of those songs were released as singles, so why were there videos for them? Worst of all is the band's final video effort, "Since I Don't Have You", from "The Spaghetti Incident". Featuring actor Gary Oldman as the devil, the video presents the band members frolicking on a beach with women, while Rose is tied up and gagged for some reason. It essentially completes the band's downfall- no longer hungry, GN'R were now rich and uninspired, a trend which still carries on as fans continue to wait for Rose to release "Chinese Democracy", complete with new band members, delayed since 1999. This video collection garners four out of five stars from me, based on the strength of Guns N' Roses early videos and "November Rain". I'll always love the music of Guns N' Roses, but definitely not all the videos.

First, I'd like to address a brief comment to the troglodytes that felt it necessary to 'review' the video and give it one star. While there are always twits online, I find it especially offensive when they purport to review something they've never seen, could not understand, and are unable to access -- and then trash it for all to see.

Guns N' Roses is not a band for little boys who 'wanna be bad' -- it's a very grown up band, and the lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard. Complex, emotionally rich, layered with observations about the difficulties of life, emotional pain, the confusion that plagues us all at different times -- all of this, powered by Axl Rose's brilliant voice (which can sound like a dozen different voices, his range and ability to alter his sound is well nigh incredible) and the power of the music, particularly, of course, Slash's guitar. Not to give short shrift to the rest of the band, they too give the music its uniquely powerful sound.

If one is a bland, conservative, individual wearing blinders that allow him to see nothing but 'good = guy in a suit' and 'bad = long hair and tattoos' then one will not listen or appreciate Guns N'Roses. One of the reviewers apparently was of this ilk -- he couldn't see past an appearance that disturbed his deeply middle class bourgeois values.

If, however, you don't give a whit about the length of someone's hair (what possible relevance could hair length have to musical ability?) or whether the individual has a penchant for obtaining tattoos (and why would one care about that either? Tattoos are a *personal* choice. Not a musical judgment, for christ's sakes), then one CAN listen and CAN _hear_ the brilliance. November Rain.. Estranged.. Don't Damn Me.. Listen to the lyrics. Every single song, every single video, all brilliant. W. Axl Rose is indeed a 'genius' (I mean that as more than hyperbole, he is certifiably brilliant, IQ wise, any way you wish to look at it) and the lyrics to the songs show that brilliance just as a tiffany setting shows the brilliance of a well cut diamond solitaire.

My only hope is that with the current lineup, the new material will have the power of the old, and I deeply wish that the band would go back to its old line up -- surely the individuals who left to pursue individual projects now realize that they aren't getting anywhere very quickly (not to insult them, it is merely that this group of people make incredible music TOGETHER). Even Slash's 'Snakepit' leaves one feeling not quite fulfilled. The guitar is brilliant, but where are the stunning vocals, the raw power and catharsis of that voice? The same problem, I fear, will emerge when the new material comes out. We will have Axl's vocals.. but without Slash's guitar, who knows what they'll sound like.

My review of the video? Highest possible, buy it and watch it often, read the words, learn them by heart, sing along at the top of your voice in your car with the Guns N' Roses CDs on. My review of the band? The *best* band that ever was.. and my musical tastes are very wide and varied indeed. Still, if I had to pick a winner, it would be, it always would have to be, Guns N' Roses as it existed either at the time of Appetite for Destruction, or later during Illusions l and ll - Let's see those lineups back, and ASAP. Buy this video. You will not be sorry, and if its for the Guns N' Roses fan in your life.. they will love you forever and be stunned at your wisdom and good taste in gift giving. :)

Hope this has been helpful.