Review Summary: This is a decent album from a decent band. Some good and bad aspects of this album can be seen.
Guns N Roses are an American hard rock band from the late 80’s and 90’s. They have managed to impress there fans mainly through guitarist Slash and vocalist Axl Rose. But this album is not of the same quality of previous releases such as Appetite for Destruction. Parts of the album seem a little boring, and even irritating. Although they keep my interest for most of the album, but the good and bad parts equal each other. The best word to describe this album is “meh”.
The vocals definitely bring this album down. Axl Rose has his worst performance on this album. His voice is winy and raspy at the same time, which is not a good mix. Take a song like “Yesterdays”. It’s a good country type of song, but the atrocious vocals completely ruin it. I have to skip it every time. The other vocalists on this album “Izzy and Duff I think” aren’t much better. There vocals are plain and don’t have anything appealing to offer. They don’t have much of a range either. These vocals are by far, the least enjoyable part of the album.
There are some obvious filler tracks on this album. They are “Get in the Ring”, “Shotgun Blues” and the terrible “My World”. All of these tracks are annoying and boring. Get in the ring has a few good moments but other than that, they are just generic songs that were probably thrown together in an hour. I would of never thought a band with this much talent can put so little effort into these songs.
The album is a little long to. It goes a bit over an hour. Songs like “Locomotive” and “Civil War” tend to drag. There too repetitive to be over five minutes. Some songs like “Estranged” are very long too but are capable of maintaining my enthusiasm through a variety of sounds. But for the most of the long songs, I tend to skip to the next song before it ends.
The guitar work is a redeeming factor. Slash is one of my favorite guitarists because of albums like these. Every single solo is amazing. They aren’t as fast as the solos of Yngwie Malmsteen, but the melody adds so much emotion to them, that speed becomes so much less important. He can play a variety of styles as well. The blues intro on “Get in the Ring”, the banjo on “Break Down”, and the Egyptian style intro on “Pretty Tied Up” make Slash the great guitarist he is. But my favorite part of the guitar work is many clean guitar parts. “Don’t Cry”, “So Fine”, “Civil War”, and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” are beautiful songs because of the clean guitar work. The guitar lovers will not be disappointed.
The Piano adds to the every song it is featured on. Dizzy Reed isn’t the most talented pianist, but he gets the job done. Songs like “14 years” “Estranged” “So Fine” and “Civil War” have piano that add a groove that makes the song more interesting. It also adds emotion to it. “Estranged” and “So Fine” wouldn’t give me the same feeling it does if it wasn’t for the delightful piano.
Conclusion: I will recommend this to anyone that is an intense Guns N Roses fan. This isn’t a good choice for someone that is new to the band. It will give you a false interpretation of there true potential. If you are new to the band I would recommend Appetite for Destruction, and if you like that, than get this.
Pros: -Great Guitar work
- Piano is a positive aspect
- A variety of styles can be heard
Cons: -Terrible Vocals
- Some filler tracks
- It’s a bit too long
Enjoy!
