The Roots of Guns N' Roses (Dig) [Import]

Hollywood Rose | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 2, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: MUSIC BROKERS ARG
• ASIN: B000RP2GEG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,553 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Anything Goes

2. Killing Time

3. Rocker

4. Shadow of Your Love

5. Reckless Life

6. Sex Action

7. Electric Gypsy

8. One More Reason (live)

9. Bitch is Back (live)

10. The Ballad of Jayne (live)

11. Rip and Tear

12. Never Enough

13. Kiss My Love Goodbye (live)

14. My Michelle

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's one of L.A. rock's dirty little secrets: The big-haired, neo-glam '80s metal revival that culminated in Guns N' Roses briefly taking over the world was also--with apologies to the "Silverlake scene"--arguably the city's last truly thriving grassroots club movement. This collection of demos by early Hollywood metal scene fixture Hollywood Rose revolves around the presence of two ambitious, recently transplanted Hoosiers--guitarist Jeff Isabelle and vocalist William Bailey, soon to be better known as GNR's Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose, respectively. Fans of the star-crossed metal superstars will welcome a raw early version of Appetite for Destruction's "Anything Goes," a chance to hear Axl's distinctive shriek in mid-evolution, and Izzy's churning, bluesy riffing, even if HR's energized punk-metal merely toys with the decadence and insanity that would eventually swallow GNR whole. Original GNR manager Vicki Hamilton offers up some personal insights, too. But there's also a downside: The disc only contains five 16-track demos, padded out by lovably executed, if largely disposable, remixes by latter-day Gunner Gilbey Clarke and Cinderella's Fred Coury, featuring a few new overdubs by fellow Hollywood glam-metal fixture Tracii Guns. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

We all know that Guns N' Roses was one of the most important bands of rock, capable of creating a frenzy once only the territory of indisputable legends like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The Roots of Guns N' Roses is a very special album that, after much research and just plain searching, brings together the work of Hollywood Rose, Axl s first band, with the embryo of sound that would become GNR.
The band recorded only five tracks in 1984 (among them Reckless Life and Anything Goes, songs that would later be recorded by GNR) which are their entire legacy. At that time they played the club circuit in L.A. where they became part of the scene known as hair metal due in large part to the extravagant hair styles of its members. Along with Axl Rose other important members of the group include Izzy Stradlin and Tracii Guns, who left the group to form L.A. Guns, another band of the genre who shared the stage with a nascent Poison and Motley Crue.
The second part of The Roots of Guns N' Roses includes a selection of the most popular songs by L.A. Guns, hymns to life in the fast lane like Sex Action, Electric Gypsy and Bitch is Back, as well as the soothing hit The Ballad of Jayne which marked the high point of the band s popularity.
The Roots of Guns N' Roses also offers a hidden gem in the form of a special version of My Michelle, the original of which is found on Appetite for Destruction by Guns N Roses and is performed here by L.A. Guns.
With exquisite cover art and a carefully chosen selection of quality tracks, The Roots of Guns N' Roses is an album of immeasurable historical significance and both a pleasure to own as well as a collector's item.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must Have For Any Guns N' Roses Fans..., July 22, 2004

By 

"The Woj" (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roots of Guns N Roses (Audio CD)

Yes, these songs are "demos", yes there is no Slash, and yes Axl's screams on several tracks border on Yoko Ono territory, but they also flat out rock. The album starts with the five orignal "Hollywood Rose" demo tracks, followed by the same 5 tracks remixed by Izzy's replacement Gilby Clarke (how ironic is that?) with some Tracii Guns guitar overdubs on a few tracks and finally the 5 tracks are given over to Cinderella drummer Fred Coury who tightens up the sound and adds some killer double bass drumming. The last five "Coury mixed" tracks are the best. They sound like they could have easily come from the "Appetite For Destruction" sessions. Axl's vocals throughout are very "raw" and at times a little "off" key; but hey, this is rock n' roll.
Axl's attitude, snears and "presence" more than make up for any of his vocal limitations on these very underproduced recordings. Even on these very raw tracks, there is something in Axl's voice that forces you to sit up and take notice. Let's not forget Stradlin. Izzy is one hell of a guitar player. His rhythm and riff work on these tracks are in the classic G N'R, hard rock-punk mode. Lastly, even though there is no Slash, the lead guitarist here is no slouch. His leads and fills are better than most metal players of the day. Heck, these songs are 10 times better than the professional produced, commerical realeased metal from the same era.
"Roots Of Guns N" Roses" is worth purchasing for the last five tracks alone. They will invite repeated listenings by even the most critical G N'R fans, like me.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reality Check, April 6, 2006

By 

ID - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roots of Guns N Roses (Audio CD)

First off, if anyone says (or reviews) this as a great album, or better than Guns N' Roses, they are either delusional, glam-hair metal fanatics... or Tracii Guns.

Just based on the material I would rate this 2 and a half stars. The songs are demos and were written by a bunch of kids (I think Axl was 17 or 18 at the time) who were just learning how to write music. But the songs also show the origins of one of the most brilliant albums in history: Appetite For Destruction.

Killing Time - The song is mediocre, but it really shows where Axl and Izzy were headed.

Anything Goes - This actually surprised me. This was the weakest song on AFD but I actually dig the punk flavor here. I have no idea why the producer of AFD (Mike Clink) decided to slow it down into an Aerosmith wannabe. I'm more impressed with the song now.

Rocker - This song follows in the same punk-metal style of the others, but it comes across as almost a Judas Priest tribute song; the chorus makes me cringe.

Shadow Of Your Love - A song that's been floating around for a while. It would eventually be turned into Reckless Life.

Reckless Life - True Guns fans know this song. This is just a blue print of what it would become. Still interesting to hear it in its conception stage, which GNR would later record and release on Lies

All in all, not a great record and it was just a way for a few guys to make money off the GNR name. But more than anything else you can hear a very young singer flashing signs of what will become the most distinct voice in Rock N Roll. And you see two tragic/genius/anomalies just finding their songwriting skills. If you love Guns N' Roses its worth having. Even if its just for nostalgia.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back To The Future, June 27, 2004

By 

A. Autrey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roots of Guns N Roses (Audio CD)

What a great pickup this CD was. Hearing the three songs that GNR eventually would record(Reckless Life, Anything Goes, Shadow Of Your Love) in their original form is so cool for any GNR Fan. It gives a real perspective on just how great that Appettite line-up was. The drummer on the original recording didn't have a good sense of how to bring out the dynamics of the song. But even with the sub-par drumming you can tell that Axl and Izzy had something. These songs don't sound like the other hairbands that were on the Strip at the time. You can hear the Punk, the anger in Axl's voice. There's also some metal sounding stuff. The song "Rocker" sounds like a Judas Priest closet classic. It's really cool to hear the metal side of Axl.
As for the 2 sets of remixes, both are cool. The original demos are extremely rough, and it's nice to hear them cleaned up. And Fred Coury fixes the drum track himself so you can actually hear it the way Axl and co. were probably hearing it in their head when they wrote it.
The liner notes are superb. It's like GNR 101. If you like GNR, and have all their albums, you gotta get this or your collection is woefully incomplete.