MattyJam said:

I'm a huge GNR fan, and whilst AFD is undoubtedly the finest hard rock album ever released, UYI is more than a worthy follow up.

Tracks like Locomotive, Coma, Estranged, Nov Rain, Breakdown, Don't Cry are amongst the best songs in the Guns catalogue.

I wasn't keen on the two covers even though they became live staples - they just seemed tacky and unnecessary.

I don't think they'd work as a single album - there's too many 8-min epics to fit onto one disc, and there is undoubtedly enough A-grade material to justify it being spread over two seperate albums.

Let me clarify; I do not think it should have been a single album, I think it should have been sold as a doulbe album so it would have had a slightly reduced price. Releasing two full-length albums at full price on the same day when you KNOW they're going to be huge sellers is one of the biggest most blatant slap in the face cash grabs I've experienced in my 25 years of buying music. It still pisses me off all these years later.

Cerebus said:

MattyJam said:

I'm a huge GNR fan, and whilst AFD is undoubtedly the finest hard rock album ever released, UYI is more than a worthy follow up.

Tracks like Locomotive, Coma, Estranged, Nov Rain, Breakdown, Don't Cry are amongst the best songs in the Guns catalogue.

I wasn't keen on the two covers even though they became live staples - they just seemed tacky and unnecessary.

I don't think they'd work as a single album - there's too many 8-min epics to fit onto one disc, and there is undoubtedly enough A-grade material to justify it being spread over two seperate albums.

Let me clarify; I do not think it should have been a single album, I think it should have been sold as a doulbe album so it would have had a slightly reduced price. Releasing two full-length albums at full price on the same day when you KNOW they're going to be huge sellers is one of the biggest most blatant slap in the face cash grabs I've experienced in my 25 years of buying music. It still pisses me off all these years later.

It's $10. Are you really that cheap?

Ah, Use Your Illusion 1 & 2.

I got these albums at a perfect time, and the oddball mix of songs and extreme emotions really helped me through those tumultuous late teen years. The crazy rock songs like "Coma," "Locomotive," "Right Next Door To Hell" and "Double Talkin' Jive" resonated with me just as much as the big, emotional ballad-esque numbers like "November Rain" and the emotional rollercoaster of "Estranged."

Then there's the breezy, nostalgic and catchy "Yesterdays," which to this day remains my favorite GN'R track.

And I was totally one of those people who waited endlessly for Chinese Democracy, which actually turned out pretty damn good for the most part, yet strangely not as ambitious as either UYI album.

Actually Slash's biography gives an interesting insight into the creation of the Illusion albums.

JoeTyler said:

of course grunge didn't kill them. UYI was a huge album at least until 1994. As rialb said, another good album in 1995 would have made them ETERNAL. And it showed that 91-94 audiences were still ready for some hard-rock (I said HARD-rock, not hair-metal, lol) as long as it was GOOD. The problem is: it was very difficult to find good hard-rock albums during those years . UYI , Slave to the Grind (Skid Row), Lean Into It (Mr.Big) and Revenge (Kiss) are the only good hard-rock albums of that era, just as good as any classic 84-89 hard-rock album...

should I include Bon Phoni's Keep The Faith??? that was their best album in my opinion...

but hey don't blame Axl, he IS sick, after all (bipolar)

[Edited 7/23/11 14:04pm]

Really? You put Mr. Big in the same category as Guns 'N Roses, Skid Row and Kiss? I'll admit that the only song on Lean Into It that I am familiar with is "To Be With You" (I'll never forget what school was like when that song was popular. For at least a month at least once a day a group of 10-15 girls would "sing" the whole damn song. Loudly and off key. I have never experienced pain like that again and I hope I never do.) Now, I would never write a band off due to a single song (I'm a massive fan of Extreme and "More Than Words" received similar treatment. Come to think of it I would argue that Pornograffitti deserves a place on your above list of great early nineties hard rock albums) but I thought that Mr. Big were a bit poppier than the other bands you listed? There must be a billion used copies of Lean Into It available cheap, maybe I'll have to give it a listen.

Inexplicably I do have a copy of their 1996 release Hey Man. I have absolutely no memory of ever purchasing it or how it came to be in my possession. I put it on my to listen pile so maybe I'll get to it sometime in the next few days.

Cerebus said:

MattyJam said:

I'm a huge GNR fan, and whilst AFD is undoubtedly the finest hard rock album ever released, UYI is more than a worthy follow up.

Tracks like Locomotive, Coma, Estranged, Nov Rain, Breakdown, Don't Cry are amongst the best songs in the Guns catalogue.

I wasn't keen on the two covers even though they became live staples - they just seemed tacky and unnecessary.

I don't think they'd work as a single album - there's too many 8-min epics to fit onto one disc, and there is undoubtedly enough A-grade material to justify it being spread over two seperate albums.

Let me clarify; I do not think it should have been a single album, I think it should have been sold as a doulbe album so it would have had a slightly reduced price. Releasing two full-length albums at full price on the same day when you KNOW they're going to be huge sellers is one of the biggest most blatant slap in the face cash grabs I've experienced in my 25 years of buying music. It still pisses me off all these years later.

They were both double vinyl. And I remember buying them pretty cheap as well when they were released.

mynameisnotsusan said:

Cerebus said:

Let me clarify; I do not think it should have been a single album, I think it should have been sold as a doulbe album so it would have had a slightly reduced price. Releasing two full-length albums at full price on the same day when you KNOW they're going to be huge sellers is one of the biggest most blatant slap in the face cash grabs I've experienced in my 25 years of buying music. It still pisses me off all these years later.

They were both double vinyl. And I remember buying them pretty cheap as well when they were released.

I think that Cerebus has a decent point. There's really no reason that they could not have been released as a double album which would have been cheaper than two singles. I'm not convinced that greed was the motivating factor, I think they just thought it would be cool to release to separate albums on the same day, but the end result was that fans that bought both albums (which had to be the vast majority) ended up paying more.

About six months later Bruce Springsteen did something similar and released two albums (Human Touch and Lucky Town) on the same day. Of course some people will disagree but for me both albums were fairly weak and are arguably his two worst releases. In his case it probably would have made a lot of sense to collect the best tracks from both albums and release them as a single album. With Guns 'N Roses I would argue that there was enough great material to justify two discs.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

of course grunge didn't kill them. UYI was a huge album at least until 1994. As rialb said, another good album in 1995 would have made them ETERNAL. And it showed that 91-94 audiences were still ready for some hard-rock (I said HARD-rock, not hair-metal, lol) as long as it was GOOD. The problem is: it was very difficult to find good hard-rock albums during those years . UYI , Slave to the Grind (Skid Row), Lean Into It (Mr.Big) and Revenge (Kiss) are the only good hard-rock albums of that era, just as good as any classic 84-89 hard-rock album...

should I include Bon Phoni's Keep The Faith??? that was their best album in my opinion...

but hey don't blame Axl, he IS sick, after all (bipolar)

[Edited 7/23/11 14:04pm]

Really? You put Mr. Big in the same category as Guns 'N Roses, Skid Row and Kiss? I'll admit that the only song on Lean Into It that I am familiar with is "To Be With You" (I'll never forget what school was like when that song was popular. For at least a month at least once a day a group of 10-15 girls would "sing" the whole damn song. Loudly and off key. I have never experienced pain like that again and I hope I never do.) Now, I would never write a band off due to a single song (I'm a massive fan of Extreme and "More Than Words" received similar treatment. Come to think of it I would argue that Pornograffitti deserves a place on your above list of great early nineties hard rock albums) but I thought that Mr. Big were a bit poppier than the other bands you listed? There must be a billion used copies of Lean Into It available cheap, maybe I'll have to give it a listen.

Inexplicably I do have a copy of their 1996 release Hey Man. I have absolutely no memory of ever purchasing it or how it came to be in my possession. I put it on my to listen pile so maybe I'll get to it sometime in the next few days.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!, Mr Big

rialb said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

They were both double vinyl. And I remember buying them pretty cheap as well when they were released.

I think that Cerebus has a decent point. There's really no reason that they could not have been released as a double album which would have been cheaper than two singles. I'm not convinced that greed was the motivating factor, I think they just thought it would be cool to release to separate albums on the same day, but the end result was that fans that bought both albums (which had to be the vast majority) ended up paying more.

About six months later Bruce Springsteen did something similar and released two albums (Human Touch and Lucky Town) on the same day. Of course some people will disagree but for me both albums were fairly weak and are arguably his two worst releases. In his case it probably would have made a lot of sense to collect the best tracks from both albums and release them as a single album. With Guns 'N Roses I would argue that there was enough great material to justify two discs.

Yeah I guess, but it was ALOT of music! I think of them as vinyl, so to me a four disc vinyl album is too much as a single entity, I guess it would have made sense to compile as a 2-disc cd. They could have just sat on one of the volumes and put it out mid '93 but I think they way they did it did generate huge interest, I remember people have discussions about which volume was better. I probably haven't listened to either since '92 but actually looking through just the singles, there's a lot of songs I liked.

BTW I remember reading that Bruce got the idea to release 2 albums on the same day directly from GnR like "Hey, they can do it, why can't I?"

Use Your Illusion 1&2 were pretty huge for me in a strange way. Looking at them now, they are a mix bag, but still have an epic feel. I was 14 at the time, had always been a huge Michael Jackson fan was discovering Prince...just a mix bag of different music. The main influence on me was seeing a video of them in concert. They were just cool, I was unaware of Axl's 'ways' at the time. November Rain is just the most epic, self indulgent rock song and I love it.

They are definately part of the soundtrack to my youth. I never got to see them live and I certainly wont go to see them know, particularly after the way Axl acted when he came over to the Uk last year. Besides...they are not GnR anymore...what a shame they will never sort out their differences, I can't think of a bigger reunion out there.

Use Your Illusion 1&2 were for GNR (specifically Axl Rose) what Sign 'O' The Times was for Prince.

Although old-school Prince-fans are very aware that SOTT is one of the top 5 best Prince albums to own, those same Prince fans know good and well that SOTT is no 1999, Purple Rain, OR Dirty Mind for that matter.

The same argument applies with GNR-fans. Use You Illusion 1&2 is an excellent album worth owning even today, but it is no Appetite For Destruction.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

of course grunge didn't kill them. UYI was a huge album at least until 1994. As rialb said, another good album in 1995 would have made them ETERNAL. And it showed that 91-94 audiences were still ready for some hard-rock (I said HARD-rock, not hair-metal, lol) as long as it was GOOD. The problem is: it was very difficult to find good hard-rock albums during those years . UYI , Slave to the Grind (Skid Row), Lean Into It (Mr.Big) and Revenge (Kiss) are the only good hard-rock albums of that era, just as good as any classic 84-89 hard-rock album...

should I include Bon Phoni's Keep The Faith??? that was their best album in my opinion...

but hey don't blame Axl, he IS sick, after all (bipolar)

[Edited 7/23/11 14:04pm]

Really? You put Mr. Big in the same category as Guns 'N Roses, Skid Row and Kiss? I'll admit that the only song on Lean Into It that I am familiar with is "To Be With You" (I'll never forget what school was like when that song was popular. For at least a month at least once a day a group of 10-15 girls would "sing" the whole damn song. Loudly and off key. I have never experienced pain like that again and I hope I never do.) Now, I would never write a band off due to a single song (I'm a massive fan of Extreme and "More Than Words" received similar treatment. Come to think of it I would argue that Pornograffitti deserves a place on your above list of great early nineties hard rock albums) but I thought that Mr. Big were a bit poppier than the other bands you listed? There must be a billion used copies of Lean Into It available cheap, maybe I'll have to give it a listen.

Inexplicably I do have a copy of their 1996 release Hey Man. I have absolutely no memory of ever purchasing it or how it came to be in my possession. I put it on my to listen pile so maybe I'll get to it sometime in the next few days.

Yes, there are some XTREMELY famous pop/rock ballads on Lean Into It (specially To Be With You, but also Green-Tinted 60s Mind and Just Take My Heart ), but mostly is a Faces/Stones album with a 90s production (yes, I said it): Alive and Kickin', Road to Ruin, My Kinda Woman, Daddy+Brother+Lover+Little Boy, etc... Also, Mr.Big features Paul Gilbert AND Billy Sheehan, and that's a plus. Anyway, many hard-rock fans prefer their harder debut...(89)

And Hey Man was their first stinker, lol. With that album they basically became yesterday's news (though still popular in Japan)

Extreme? sorry, that band never did it for me; beyond Get the Funk Out (which is ok) and More Than Words, I don't think they wrote a truckload of GREAT songs.

and I'm almost sure that Tesla supposedly released a fine album during the early-90s but I can't even remember the name/singles, so perhaps it's not that good to begin with...

Anyway, the W-O-R-S-T "hard"-rock band of the 90-93 era has to be Danger Danger

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

Really? You put Mr. Big in the same category as Guns 'N Roses, Skid Row and Kiss? I'll admit that the only song on Lean Into It that I am familiar with is "To Be With You" (I'll never forget what school was like when that song was popular. For at least a month at least once a day a group of 10-15 girls would "sing" the whole damn song. Loudly and off key. I have never experienced pain like that again and I hope I never do.) Now, I would never write a band off due to a single song (I'm a massive fan of Extreme and "More Than Words" received similar treatment. Come to think of it I would argue that Pornograffitti deserves a place on your above list of great early nineties hard rock albums) but I thought that Mr. Big were a bit poppier than the other bands you listed? There must be a billion used copies of Lean Into It available cheap, maybe I'll have to give it a listen.

Inexplicably I do have a copy of their 1996 release Hey Man. I have absolutely no memory of ever purchasing it or how it came to be in my possession. I put it on my to listen pile so maybe I'll get to it sometime in the next few days.

Yes, there are some XTREMELY famous pop/rock ballads on Lean Into It (specially To Be With You, but also Green-Tinted 60s Mind and Just Take My Heart ), but mostly is a Faces/Stones album with a 90s production (yes, I said it): Alive and Kickin', Road to Ruin, My Kinda Woman, Daddy+Brother+Lover+Little Boy, etc... Also, Mr.Big features Paul Gilbert AND Billy Sheehan, and that's a plus. Anyway, many hard-rock fans prefer their harder debut...(89)

And Hey Man was their first stinker, lol. With that album they basically became yesterday's news (though still popular in Japan)

Extreme? sorry, that band never did it for me; beyond Get the Funk Out (which is ok) and More Than Words, I don't think they wrote a truckload of GREAT songs.

and I'm almost sure that Tesla supposedly released a fine album during the early-90s but I can't even remember the name/singles, so perhaps it's not that good to begin with...

Anyway, the W-O-R-S-T "hard"-rock band of the 90-93 era has to be Danger Danger

i LOVED Danger Danger when i was youngin, but i liked Warrant & poison to... then i grew up and i can't hear any of those band's anymore ahha

What did you guys think of the videos? some people made a huge deal about Estranged cause of the dolphins.... but screw it i like it lol

Garden of Eden is my fav!

Gunsnhalen said:

JoeTyler said:

Yes, there are some XTREMELY famous pop/rock ballads on Lean Into It (specially To Be With You, but also Green-Tinted 60s Mind and Just Take My Heart ), but mostly is a Faces/Stones album with a 90s production (yes, I said it): Alive and Kickin', Road to Ruin, My Kinda Woman, Daddy+Brother+Lover+Little Boy, etc... Also, Mr.Big features Paul Gilbert AND Billy Sheehan, and that's a plus. Anyway, many hard-rock fans prefer their harder debut...(89)

And Hey Man was their first stinker, lol. With that album they basically became yesterday's news (though still popular in Japan)

Extreme? sorry, that band never did it for me; beyond Get the Funk Out (which is ok) and More Than Words, I don't think they wrote a truckload of GREAT songs.

and I'm almost sure that Tesla supposedly released a fine album during the early-90s but I can't even remember the name/singles, so perhaps it's not that good to begin with...

Anyway, the W-O-R-S-T "hard"-rock band of the 90-93 era has to be Danger Danger

i LOVED Danger Danger when i was youngin, but i liked Warrant & poison to... then i grew up and i can't hear any of those band's anymore ahha

at least Warrant had that monster single, "Cherry Pie", which was the shit THEN and it's still the shit NOW.

DD only had SHIT, which is different lol

As far as videos are concerned, I love "You could be mine"... and "Estranged"... that one featured footage of the second GNR show I saw in Munich... so that will always be special. Of course, the trilogy of "Don't cry", "November rain" and "Estranged" is something special.

[Edited 7/24/11 12:24pm]

Gunsnhalen said:

What did you guys think of the videos? some people made a huge deal about Estranged cause of the dolphins.... but screw it i like it lol

Garden of Eden is my fav!

Great videos. Back when videos were still VIDEOS. With a story that matched the lyrics of the song.

Since the mid-90s we only got unwatchable/boring "clips" about the fancy "skills" of the visual director/cinematographer...

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

Really? You put Mr. Big in the same category as Guns 'N Roses, Skid Row and Kiss? I'll admit that the only song on Lean Into It that I am familiar with is "To Be With You" (I'll never forget what school was like when that song was popular. For at least a month at least once a day a group of 10-15 girls would "sing" the whole damn song. Loudly and off key. I have never experienced pain like that again and I hope I never do.) Now, I would never write a band off due to a single song (I'm a massive fan of Extreme and "More Than Words" received similar treatment. Come to think of it I would argue that Pornograffitti deserves a place on your above list of great early nineties hard rock albums) but I thought that Mr. Big were a bit poppier than the other bands you listed? There must be a billion used copies of Lean Into It available cheap, maybe I'll have to give it a listen.

Inexplicably I do have a copy of their 1996 release Hey Man. I have absolutely no memory of ever purchasing it or how it came to be in my possession. I put it on my to listen pile so maybe I'll get to it sometime in the next few days.

Yes, there are some XTREMELY famous pop/rock ballads on Lean Into It (specially To Be With You, but also Green-Tinted 60s Mind and Just Take My Heart ), but mostly is a Faces/Stones album with a 90s production (yes, I said it): Alive and Kickin', Road to Ruin, My Kinda Woman, Daddy+Brother+Lover+Little Boy, etc... Also, Mr.Big features Paul Gilbert AND Billy Sheehan, and that's a plus. Anyway, many hard-rock fans prefer their harder debut...(89)

And Hey Man was their first stinker, lol. With that album they basically became yesterday's news (though still popular in Japan)

Extreme? sorry, that band never did it for me; beyond Get the Funk Out (which is ok) and More Than Words, I don't think they wrote a truckload of GREAT songs.

and I'm almost sure that Tesla supposedly released a fine album during the early-90s but I can't even remember the name/singles, so perhaps it's not that good to begin with...

Anyway, the W-O-R-S-T "hard"-rock band of the 90-93 era has to be Danger Danger

I believe that the Tesla album you are thinking of is Psychotic Supper. It's pretty good but I'm not sure that it could be called great.

Heartbreak Station by Cinderella is another great rock album from the (very) early nineties. How about either The Great Southern Harmony and Musical Companion or Amorica by The Black Crowes? I haven't listened to it in years but I used to love Kix' Hot Wire, not sure how well it holds up.

Hmm, don't like Extreme eh? You disappoint me JoeTyler.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

Yes, there are some XTREMELY famous pop/rock ballads on Lean Into It (specially To Be With You, but also Green-Tinted 60s Mind and Just Take My Heart ), but mostly is a Faces/Stones album with a 90s production (yes, I said it): Alive and Kickin', Road to Ruin, My Kinda Woman, Daddy+Brother+Lover+Little Boy, etc... Also, Mr.Big features Paul Gilbert AND Billy Sheehan, and that's a plus. Anyway, many hard-rock fans prefer their harder debut...(89)

And Hey Man was their first stinker, lol. With that album they basically became yesterday's news (though still popular in Japan)

Extreme? sorry, that band never did it for me; beyond Get the Funk Out (which is ok) and More Than Words, I don't think they wrote a truckload of GREAT songs.

and I'm almost sure that Tesla supposedly released a fine album during the early-90s but I can't even remember the name/singles, so perhaps it's not that good to begin with...

Anyway, the W-O-R-S-T "hard"-rock band of the 90-93 era has to be Danger Danger

I believe that the Tesla album you are thinking of is Psychotic Supper. It's pretty good but I'm not sure that it could be called great.

Heartbreak Station by Cinderella is another great rock album from the (very) early nineties. How about either The Great Southern Harmony and Musical Companion or Amorica by The Black Crowes? I haven't listened to it in years but I used to love Kix' Hot Wire, not sure how well it holds up.

Hmm, don't like Extreme eh? You disappoint me JoeTyler.

wow The Black Crowes, silly me I forgot about them...

you know what? I'd say that they are (were?) GREAT, but curiously, their style never did it for me...their sound was toooooooooo 70s (it sounded like a RIPOFF, not like an influence/evolution) and their lack of real hits is also disappointing. Too many jams, too little great singles... But still a GREAT 70s revival jam band...

Cinderella??? WOW NO Worst lead singer E-V-A

and Extreme, meh, what's so great about them? why are you a hardcore fan? I'm interested

[Edited 7/24/11 14:34pm]

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

I believe that the Tesla album you are thinking of is Psychotic Supper. It's pretty good but I'm not sure that it could be called great.

Heartbreak Station by Cinderella is another great rock album from the (very) early nineties. How about either The Great Southern Harmony and Musical Companion or Amorica by The Black Crowes? I haven't listened to it in years but I used to love Kix' Hot Wire, not sure how well it holds up.

Hmm, don't like Extreme eh? You disappoint me JoeTyler.

wow The Black Crowes, silly me I forgot about them...

you know what? I'd say that they are (were?) GREAT, but curiously, their style never did it for me...their sound was toooooooooo 70s (it sounded like a RIPOFF, not like an influence/evolution) and their lack of real hits is also disappointing. Too many jams, too little great singles... But still a GREAT 70s revival jam band...

Cinderella??? WOW NO Worst lead singer E-V-A

and Extreme, meh, what's so great about them? why are you a hardcore fan? I'm interested

[Edited 7/24/11 14:34pm]

Eh, who needs hits. Most of their albums are very solid. Lions was a bit uneven but I give them a ton of credit for being one of the very few bands to make great music later in their career. Warpaint and Before the Frost...Until the Freeze are very nearly as good as their early nineties peak. I do see your point about their sound but oddly I had never heard The Rolling Stones (apart from the odd song) or The Faces so when I first heard The Black Crowes it was a new sound to me.

Aw, c'mon, you are praising Mr. Big and then crapping all over Cinderella? Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station are two great albums. Next you are going to tell me that you do not dig Faster Pussycat.

To me Extreme had a unique sound. Obviously they were very influenced by Van Halen, particularly on the first album, but they didn't really sound like any of their peers. They played fairly basic rock music but Nuno was one of the better guitarists of that time and was capable of a lot more than most of his peers. They were able to mix more complicated elements into a lot of their music but still keep things interesting. For me their first three albums are all great. At that time no one else was doing anything remotely similar to III Sides To Every Story. In retrospect that album kind of killed their career but I like it. I liked Waiting for the Punchline well enough but they kind of changed their sound a bit with that one. I'm still holding out hope that they will make another record similar to their first three but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

Have you heard Pornograffitti? If you don't like that album then you will probably never be a fan.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

wow The Black Crowes, silly me I forgot about them...

you know what? I'd say that they are (were?) GREAT, but curiously, their style never did it for me...their sound was toooooooooo 70s (it sounded like a RIPOFF, not like an influence/evolution) and their lack of real hits is also disappointing. Too many jams, too little great singles... But still a GREAT 70s revival jam band...

Cinderella??? WOW NO Worst lead singer E-V-A

and Extreme, meh, what's so great about them? why are you a hardcore fan? I'm interested

[Edited 7/24/11 14:34pm]

Eh, who needs hits. Most of their albums are very solid. Lions was a bit uneven but I give them a ton of credit for being one of the very few bands to make great music later in their career. Warpaint and Before the Frost...Until the Freeze are very nearly as good as their early nineties peak. I do see your point about their sound but oddly I had never heard The Rolling Stones (apart from the odd song) or The Faces so when I first heard The Black Crowes it was a new sound to me.

Aw, c'mon, you are praising Mr. Big and then crapping all over Cinderella? Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station are two great albums. Next you are going to tell me that you do not dig Faster Pussycat.

To me Extreme had a unique sound. Obviously they were very influenced by Van Halen, particularly on the first album, but they didn't really sound like any of their peers. They played fairly basic rock music but Nuno was one of the better guitarists of that time and was capable of a lot more than most of his peers. They were able to mix more complicated elements into a lot of their music but still keep things interesting. For me their first three albums are all great. At that time no one else was doing anything remotely similar to III Sides To Every Story. In retrospect that album kind of killed their career but I like it. I liked Waiting for the Punchline well enough but they kind of changed their sound a bit with that one. I'm still holding out hope that they will make another record similar to their first three but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

Have you heard Pornograffitti? If you don't like that album then you will probably never be a fan.

many years ago man, circa 2001-2002, and I wasn't impressed. I'll revisit that album again

btw, Hard-Rock bands that I dig/praise (since 1978)

Van Halen

Hanoi Rocks

Whitesnake

Motley Crue

some Ratt (specially their debut)

GNR

some Def Leppard

AC/DC

Skid Row

some Tesla

David Lee Roth solo

Mr.Big

some Bon Phoni (old stuff 84-92)

Black Crowes (not a fan, anyway)

Kiss' good stuff since 1982...(Creatures, Lick It Up, Revenge, etc)

80's WASP (too metal to consider them as "hard-rock??)"

and that's about it...

[Edited 7/24/11 15:09pm]

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

wow The Black Crowes, silly me I forgot about them...

you know what? I'd say that they are (were?) GREAT, but curiously, their style never did it for me...their sound was toooooooooo 70s (it sounded like a RIPOFF, not like an influence/evolution) and their lack of real hits is also disappointing. Too many jams, too little great singles... But still a GREAT 70s revival jam band...

Cinderella??? WOW NO Worst lead singer E-V-A

and Extreme, meh, what's so great about them? why are you a hardcore fan? I'm interested

[Edited 7/24/11 14:34pm]

Eh, who needs hits. Most of their albums are very solid. Lions was a bit uneven but I give them a ton of credit for being one of the very few bands to make great music later in their career. Warpaint and Before the Frost...Until the Freeze are very nearly as good as their early nineties peak. I do see your point about their sound but oddly I had never heard The Rolling Stones (apart from the odd song) or The Faces so when I first heard The Black Crowes it was a new sound to me.

Aw, c'mon, you are praising Mr. Big and then crapping all over Cinderella? Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station are two great albums. Next you are going to tell me that you do not dig Faster Pussycat.

To me Extreme had a unique sound. Obviously they were very influenced by Van Halen, particularly on the first album, but they didn't really sound like any of their peers. They played fairly basic rock music but Nuno was one of the better guitarists of that time and was capable of a lot more than most of his peers. They were able to mix more complicated elements into a lot of their music but still keep things interesting. For me their first three albums are all great. At that time no one else was doing anything remotely similar to III Sides To Every Story. In retrospect that album kind of killed their career but I like it. I liked Waiting for the Punchline well enough but they kind of changed their sound a bit with that one. I'm still holding out hope that they will make another record similar to their first three but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

Have you heard Pornograffitti? If you don't like that album then you will probably never be a fan.

Ahhh damn Faster pussycat there first 2 albums where great

Extreme was a good band, i hated More Then Words luckily i got into there albums after much delay and feel in love

MattyJam said:

Cerebus said:

Let me clarify; I do not think it should have been a single album, I think it should have been sold as a doulbe album so it would have had a slightly reduced price. Releasing two full-length albums at full price on the same day when you KNOW they're going to be huge sellers is one of the biggest most blatant slap in the face cash grabs I've experienced in my 25 years of buying music. It still pisses me off all these years later.

It's $10. Are you really that cheap?

What are you talking about? They weren't ten dollars when they were released twenty years ago. And there was two of them, so even by your logic that would make them $20. It was in fact more like $26-30, plus tax in Cali which made them more like $28-32. If they had been packaged as a double album it would have been cheaper. Its really a simple concept, one that I'm not sure why so many people who complain about how much the "music industry sucks" are now defending. IMO there is no artistic reason for releasing them that way, it was profiteering, plain and simple.

Cerebus said:

MattyJam said:

It's $10. Are you really that cheap?

What are you talking about? They weren't ten dollars when they were released twenty years ago. And there was two of them, so even by your logic that would make them $20. It was in fact more like $26-30, plus tax in Cali which made them more like $28-32. If they had been packaged as a double album it would have been cheaper. Its really a simple concept, one that I'm not sure why so many people who complain about how much the "music industry sucks" are now defending. IMO there is no artistic reason for releasing them that way, it was profiteering, plain and simple.

my sista was mad in 1991. A double album would have been 20-22$.

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

Eh, who needs hits. Most of their albums are very solid. Lions was a bit uneven but I give them a ton of credit for being one of the very few bands to make great music later in their career. Warpaint and Before the Frost...Until the Freeze are very nearly as good as their early nineties peak. I do see your point about their sound but oddly I had never heard The Rolling Stones (apart from the odd song) or The Faces so when I first heard The Black Crowes it was a new sound to me.

Aw, c'mon, you are praising Mr. Big and then crapping all over Cinderella? Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station are two great albums. Next you are going to tell me that you do not dig Faster Pussycat.

To me Extreme had a unique sound. Obviously they were very influenced by Van Halen, particularly on the first album, but they didn't really sound like any of their peers. They played fairly basic rock music but Nuno was one of the better guitarists of that time and was capable of a lot more than most of his peers. They were able to mix more complicated elements into a lot of their music but still keep things interesting. For me their first three albums are all great. At that time no one else was doing anything remotely similar to III Sides To Every Story. In retrospect that album kind of killed their career but I like it. I liked Waiting for the Punchline well enough but they kind of changed their sound a bit with that one. I'm still holding out hope that they will make another record similar to their first three but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

Have you heard Pornograffitti? If you don't like that album then you will probably never be a fan.

many years ago man, circa 2001-2002, and I wasn't impressed. I'll revisit that album again

btw, Hard-Rock bands that I dig/praise (since 1978)

Van Halen

Hanoi Rocks

Whitesnake

Motley Crue

some Ratt (specially their debut)

GNR

some Def Leppard

AC/DC

Skid Row

some Tesla

David Lee Roth solo

Mr.Big

some Bon Phoni (old stuff 84-92)

Black Crowes (not a fan, anyway)

Kiss' good stuff since 1982...(Creatures, Lick It Up, Revenge, etc)

80's WASP (too metal to consider them as "hard-rock??)"

and that's about it...

[Edited 7/24/11 15:09pm]

Hmm, I dig most of those bands too. I'm not sure that I hear the appeal of Hanoi Rocks. I've got all of their albums until the first breakup and they're a bit blah. They had a great sound but the songwriting could have been much better.

No Aerosmith on that list. I'm sure that was an oversight.

What about L.A. Guns? There's some good stuff on the first two albums.

Alice Cooper had a decent comeback circa 1989-1994. I quite like that trilogy of albums (Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation).

Take Gunshalen's advice and give the first two Faster Pussycat albums a spin. They are not masterpieces by any stretch but there's some good-great songs on them. How can you lot love Taime and his Steven Tyleresque vocal tics?

I'm grooving to Kix' Hot Wire as I type this and it does hold up so much better than I thought it would. Even if they do occasionally sound like an AC/DC tribute band. I can't find the studio version on youtube but they are seriously channeling Bon Scott era AC/DC on "Girl Money."

[Edited 7/24/11 15:50pm]

JoeTyler said:

Cerebus said:

What are you talking about? They weren't ten dollars when they were released twenty years ago. And there was two of them, so even by your logic that would make them $20. It was in fact more like $26-30, plus tax in Cali which made them more like $28-32. If they had been packaged as a double album it would have been cheaper. Its really a simple concept, one that I'm not sure why so many people who complain about how much the "music industry sucks" are now defending. IMO there is no artistic reason for releasing them that way, it was profiteering, plain and simple.

my sista was mad in 1991. A double album would have been 20-22$.

Wait a minute, are you an American? If so why did I think you were a Brit?

Cerebus said:

MattyJam said:

It's $10. Are you really that cheap?

What are you talking about? They weren't ten dollars when they were released twenty years ago. And there was two of them, so even by your logic that would make them $20. It was in fact more like $26-30, plus tax in Cali which made them more like $28-32. If they had been packaged as a double album it would have been cheaper. Its really a simple concept, one that I'm not sure why so many people who complain about how much the "music industry sucks" are now defending. IMO there is no artistic reason for releasing them that way, it was profiteering, plain and simple.

Common sense is rare in these neck of the woods. But yeah I agree about it being profiteering, it really was. Like I said they were getting a little too ambitious...lol

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

my sista was mad in 1991. A double album would have been 20-22$.

Wait a minute, are you an American? If so why did I think you were a Brit?

a Brit????

no man, no. Born in Sacramento (belgian + jewish heritage), moved to CapeTown with my sisters, mom, grandma and aunts (lol) in 1995!

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

Wait a minute, are you an American? If so why did I think you were a Brit?

a Brit????

no man, no. Born in Sacramento (belgian + jewish heritage), moved to CapeTown with my sisters, mom, grandma and aunts (lol) in 1995!

Whoops.

Wait a minute, isn't it like two in the morning there? Go to sleep!

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

many years ago man, circa 2001-2002, and I wasn't impressed. I'll revisit that album again

btw, Hard-Rock bands that I dig/praise (since 1978)

Van Halen

Hanoi Rocks

Whitesnake

Motley Crue

some Ratt (specially their debut)

GNR

some Def Leppard

AC/DC

Skid Row

some Tesla

David Lee Roth solo

Mr.Big

some Bon Phoni (old stuff 84-92)

Black Crowes (not a fan, anyway)

Kiss' good stuff since 1982...(Creatures, Lick It Up, Revenge, etc)

80's WASP (too metal to consider them as "hard-rock??)"

and that's about it...

[Edited 7/24/11 15:09pm]

Hmm, I dig most of those bands too. I'm not sure that I hear the appeal of Hanoi Rocks. I've got all of their albums until the first breakup and they're a bit blah. They had a great sound but the songwriting could have been much better.

No Aerosmith on that list. I'm sure that was an oversight.

What about L.A. Guns? There's some good stuff on the first two albums.

Alice Cooper had a decent comeback circa 1989-1994. I quite like that trilogy of albums (Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation).

Take Gunshalen's advice and give the first two Faster Pussycat albums a spin. They are not masterpieces by any stretch but there's some good-great songs on them. How can you lot love Taime and his Steven Tyleresque vocal tics?

I'm grooving to Kix' Hot Wire as I type this and it does hold up so much better than I thought it would. Even if they do occasionally sound like an AC/DC tribute band. I can't find the studio version on youtube but they are seriously channeling Bon Scott era AC/DC on "Girl Money."

[Edited 7/24/11 15:50pm]

Well, I didn't include Aerosmith because they were a mid-70s phenomenon. That's why I said since 1978 . I could have also included The Stones, Gary Moore, etc.

I'll give the albums you recommended a spin (hope they're on Spotify) even if right now I'm listening to very tough 85-94 metal stuff (thrash, groove, quality death-metal, stuff like that, lol)