Customer Reviews

Roots of Guns N Roses

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This album will surely have GNR fans looking for nastalgia. The songs on this album don't even compare with Appetite but it is nice to hear some raw, pre-GNR stuff. The songs on this disc sound more like NWOBHM stuff than GNR. Many of the songs have a basic formula and aren't very complex.
It also has the song Anything Goes (#11 on Appetite) but the 2 versions are quite a bit different so if you enjoyed that track you're in for a treat.
Die hard fans of GNR should probably pick this up, it's decent for it's time but certainly nothing to write home about.

The record lacks about half of the crucial songs from the Rumbo tapes and sound is rubbish as expected. Apart from that, what is on there is cool. If i found a cd or whatever that had a more complete list of songs i would go for that.If the vinyl part is important i would say buy it.Obviously for die hard fans...
Excuse my english (Norwegian)

Kyrre

I picked this album up the other day and am so glad I did! I was a huge Guns n Roses fan for years, but fell out of favor of them in the last decade. "Roots of Guns n Roses" takes you all the way back to the very beginning with Hollywood Rose, it's as if you were put in a time capsule and came out on the Sunset Strip in the early 80's! The boys are playing hard and raw and you can almost feel their hunger and energy crawling out of the speakers.

If you've ever been a Guns n Roses fan, do yourself a favor and pick this album up. You won't be disappointed!

Price by far is way too much but all in all the songs on here are pretty good. Bassicly what this album is is a demo tape of the band that was the "roots" of Guns N Roses recorded in 1984. There is no Slash on here or Steven Adler. Also this album is really just remixes but the first five songs are from the original demo tape. The songs are great but why not add more Hollywood Rose songs on here besides having 10 tracks of remixes and only 5 tracks of new music? Plus for $15.98 its not that good of a deal unless you download it off Amazon for 7.99 that should be the price of the CD.
4/5 stars

As a die hard Guns N' Roses fan,it is finally nice to see albums like "The Roots of Guns N' Roses" finally seeing the light of day. While this CD is not perfect,it is really good and solid. It feautures five tracks from Hollywood Rose,the band that Guns N' Roses band members Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were in together before GN'R with Chris Weber and Johnny Kreis,presented in three different forms(the original demo versions of the songs and two forms of remixes of the songs). Not only is it very interesting to hear the original demo versions of "Anything Goes"(which later appeared on Guns N' Roses' debut album,1987's "Appetite For Destruction")and "Reckless Life"(which appeared as a live version on the Guns N' Roses EPS "Live?!Like a Suicide" and "G N' R Lies"),it is very cool to see how much "Anything Goes" was really written over before Guns N' Roses used it on "Appetite For Destruction" and to hear "Reckless Life" presented in a studio form(considering the fact that Guns N' Roses released it on two different EPS,presenting it as a live track). The other three songs on this CD("Killing Time","Rocker",and "Shadow Of Your Love")are really good,catchy,and entertaining,as well. And while the only dissapointment about this CD is the fact that it only has five actual songs on it(not counting the remixes)there is more good news about this album. Former Guns N' Roses rythmn guitarist Gilby Clarke(who joined GN'R after Izzy Stradlin had left the group,and is now in the band Supernova with original/current Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted)and Fred Coury(the former drummer for the hair metal group Cinderella who is currently in a rock band called Union that also includes ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and former Scream and Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi)both did the two forms of remixes for the songs that are on this album,and thanks to Fred Coury,you can hear Duff McKagan singing background vocals on "Shadow of Your Love"(ironic considering the fact that even though Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were the only future Guns N' Roses band members who were in Hollywood Rose,Duff McKagan,along with Slash and Steven Adler,co-wrote half of the songs that are on this album). Accompanying this CD is a nice booklet,which has rare pictures of Hollywood Rose from when they were starting out,and liner notes written by Vicky Hamilton(the first manager of Guns N' Roses)that talk all about the Hollywood Rose years and how Hollywood Rose eventually became Guns N' Roses. It is also worth noting that L.A Guns guitarist Traaci Guns' guitar overdubs on Gilby Clarke's remixes of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Reckless Life" sound really good and that having someone like Traaci Guns do a guitar overdub on two of the remixes on this CD was a really cool and creative idea(especially since Traaci Guns WAS involved in the formation of Guns N' Roses),and that Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin both shine on their performances of songs that are on this CD(with this album,you sort of see how both Rose's and Stradlin's songwriting style changed once both Rose and Stradlin were in Guns N' Roses).If you like Guns N' Roses and 60's/70's/80's style hard rock,then you will love this album. Not only is it really good,it should do a good job at somewhat holding Guns N' Roses fans over until(or if)"Chinese Democracy" sees the light of day,and hopefully,more CDS like this for members of bands such as KISS,Aerosmith,Motley Crue,etc. will also be released sometime in the future.

For my fellow G'N'R / formerly Hollywood Rose fans THIS ALBUM ROCKS!!!! For all us Hollywood Rose fans that could only get poor quality bootlegs until now this album is a dream come true! It is excellent fresh and raw. I have read a few negative reviews and all I say to them is: There is a difference between a G'N'R fan and someone who just likes the music. Sure they have that early garage band sound but it is professionally recorded. One more point to note this is the first stuff ever recorded by Axl. By the time G'N'R released Appetite for Destruction essentially Rose had a couple of "unrecorded" albums under his belt. G'N'R started with a somewhat mature band which only musically refined and matured more. So if you a person who just likes Use Your Illusion II don't buy this album. But if your a fan get it it's great! The legendary rumored Hollywood Rose recordings have finally surfaced!

This CD is a must for any true GUNS N' ROSES fan. Anyone just buying it might not appreciate it as much as a true fan. The only downfall is that there is 5 songs then each one is remixed to make 15 songs... Kind of makes the CD not have the value. But hey, I'm a true GNR fan so I got it and loved it.