Guns N Roses were the biggest rock band in the world from 1987-1991. So big in fact that my cousin who lives in a rural village in India had only 2 albums, Appetite for destruction and Mj's Dangerous...

Axl Rose was so big during those times he made the cover of Rolling Stone 4 times if I recall correctly.

The 1991 release Use your Illusion was a great double album, it was bloated yes, it had some filler which ruined the impact of the album. Had Guns cut the filler and condensed the songs into one album, they would have had a classic. As it is the album has some great rock tracks, including classics like November Rain and Don't Cry. Use your Illusion sold massive units worldwide and was a success...

So I pose the question is Axl rose a legend. What was his influence or contribution to rock music if any?

Last but not least, what do you think was the reason for the downfall of Guns N Roses? One minute they are on top of the world, then they totally dissappear for the better part of a decade...

Is Axl Rose a legend?


No.


He's a jackass.

A legend? NO.

However, he has crafted some of the most beautiful music that I've heard.
There is more to him than his nasty/wildman side. That wild-streak, to
answer the second part of your question, I think is the main reason that
the band broke up...Slash said in an interview that the only reason he stuck
it out as long as he did, was because Axl has one of the most gifted voices
that he's ever heard. THAT voice is classic, maybe not as a PURE singer, but
a classic Rock-n-roll voice.

Good points, I remember reading a Rolling Stone biography of him where the author says that many think of him as a legend while others hate him, there are arguments that can be made for both, but they conclude he was enormously talented in his vocal abilities and crafting songs. He had a raw anger and angst that he showed so well in Appetite for Destruction, that is often overlooked by most critics who bring up Kurt Cobain and Nirvana when anger/angst in music is discussed.

Axl is considered a rockstar image wise, and I think perhaps that is what hurt guns' later output. That flashy booze/drugs type of lifestyle...

But I still think Guns N Roses are a classic rock band, in the vein of a Zeppelin or Ac/DC. The vocal and guitar work in their songs is truly awesome. They also displayed versatility in their songs, which had piano solos, horns, slash n burn guitar solos,etc. That gave their music an edge imho and saved their songs from sounding too similar which is a trap many rock groups fall into....

Years ago, probably even before GN'R Lies, People Magazine did a feature on a vocal coach to the hair bands' singers.

Axl wasn't one of her students, however, and she said that his vocal style, though effective, would mean disaster for his voice in the long term. Her prognosis, which was a few years, seems to have been dead-on.

Interesting. I don't really like Axl's whiny voice, that was one of the weaker points of GNR for me, but his voice is awesome on ballads like "Don't Cry", he has such a great voice, I don't know why he opted for that whiny high pitched voice for most of his songs...

That vocal shredding type singing is also what MJ does with his grunts but it doesn't seem to have affected his voice, I don't see why it would affect Axl....

One other thing, I think it's a big disservice to GNR to label them as a hairband, I mean that would be lumping them with Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Poison,etc.. That was the whole point of Appetite, it brought legitimacy to late 80's rock which was glam pop-rock....
[This message was edited Fri Apr 16 22:52:38 2004 by SylvesterStalloneMJ]

GNR are legends
Axl is not
he's justa pompous jackass
Slash is mre of a legend then Axl

Even Divas can be legends, look at Whitney Houston or Barbara Streisand. I have heard some of Axl's antics, like his bonehead decision to release Use Your Illusion as 2 albums instead of listening to the rest of the group who wanted a single album release. A tighter album probably would have helped them compete better with Nirvana instead of getting steamrolled by them...

Axl is a legend, no doubt about that...

this is a man once arrested in the middle of a blazing row with his girlfriend. When the cops arrived, they found him struggling in vain to push a $40,000 grand piano out of the first floor window of his house.

this is a man who once turned up 5 hours late for a G'N'R show - he finally wandered in with Stephanie Seymour on his arm, and when asked about his lateness replied nonchalantly; 'I was taking a shower'

this is also the writer of several all-time classic songs, and his drive and energy was one of the main reasons for Guns n Roses' success.

I think his Use Your Illusion period was especially legendary - managing to blend the earnestness of his cocaine power ballads with the frequent wearing of swimming shorts and the straightening and combing of his hair.

btw...have you seen his plastic surgery?

They were one of the best bands ever!! But the problem was drugs & ego! Here is a great example to all the young bands out there to what NOT to do.

I wouldn't say a legend because drugs got to him & they didn't do it long enough. I compare them to The Doors.. If the doors lived they wouldn't have been Legends. The Problem is when your a short lived fame band & you live, you cant be Legends if you haven't done anything after your "first fame".

G&R is an amazing band! One the best, but for the long haul no.

No. Most certainly not.

how can u call someone who sounds like ethel merman on heroin a legend?and what was tha sway back and forth thing....spareth me..

a legendary moron, more like...

Axl Rose is defenitley NOT A LEGEND..... He's is excellent is screwing up a band which could have a greater infleunce than they did now, that i have to admit...

SylvesterStalloneMJ said:[quote]

Axl Rose was so big during those times he made the cover of Rolling Stone 4 times if I recall correctly.

quote]
My friend , a HUGE GNR fan, always thought Axl should have done a cover of Prince's song "Shy". Actually, I can kind of picture that...

What do you think?

As far as a legend, sorry but one great album, one mediocre album, one double spotty album, and one weakass attepmpt at a comeback, does not a legend make.

The reason for GnR downfall etc?...Axl Rose suffers from borderline personality disorder

[b][i]The Guy is A LEGEND.

Accept it!

YODAHENDRIX said:

Yeah...his idiocy is legendary.

Can't stand him & Slash either, Izzy Stradlin was certainly the more talented in this parody

i think the guy will go down as a legand...not really for the music..but for the mystery and fuck-ups that surround the lead singer...

and im not a fan but you gotta admit the guy has something if people still talk about him a whole decade after he was relevant...

sosgemini said:

please dont use that as a reference point for legendary status even though yes, he had "it"

Really, don't severly reduce the word "legend" to Axl Rose.

SENSHY said:

im talking more about his "antics" and screw ups than his music..

Hmmm. What's a legend, anyway?

I think Axl has the potential to be a legend, if he finally lets himself out of his head one day.