Review Summary: The other side of the coin.
Gn’r Lies is American rock band, Guns N’ Roses, second album released in 1988. Even though the album is treated as a studio album, half the songs are live and the other half acoustic. The quality of the songs is good throughout, and the live tracks are by no means hard to listen too.
The first four track consist of the previously released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide. ‘Reckless life’ opens the album with breathtaking pace as an onslaught of riffs and screechy vocals bombard the listener. This track and ‘Move to the City’ were recorded before the release of Appetite for Destruction and they have a certain raw energy that even exceeds what is found on Guns N’ Roses debut. ‘Move to the City’ has a catchy riff and some decent lyrics but the chorus is nothing too special. Both tracks are good in their own right, but weaker than the majority of the tracks on their previous release.
‘Nice Boys’ and ‘Mama Kin’ make up the rest of the live tracks, and are also covers. The former is a great cover of a Rose Tatoo track. Drums open up the track before a distorted guitar comes in. Axl gives a decent vocal performance here too. ‘Mama Kin’ is an Aerosmith cover, and it’s the best track from the first four. The band really makes the song their own. This version is less bluesy than the original, but it’s made heavier without losing any of the melody of the original. Slash provides a nice little solo too.
‘Used to Love Her’ and ‘You’re Crazy’ are the two lesser acoustic numbers. The latter is an updated version of an Appetite for Destruction song. This version is better, with an obviously more relaxed melody and a better vocal performance by Axl. The former is pretty much a joke track, with the lyrics being about Axl’s dog. The song is built around a hilarious chorus, that is much more addictive than it ought to be, and a good melodic solo by Slash.
‘Patience’ is a song everyone knows. Written by Stradlin, with Axl providing lyrics and the vocal melody, ‘Patience’ is a sweet song that deals with the breakup of a relationship. Three acoustic guitars are played in the song, and no drums. A good solo, a great chorus and a powerful outro makes ‘Patience’ one of the best Guns N’ Roses songs ever released.
‘One in a Million’ is the best song on the album, but due to some of lyrics of the song it is often forgotten or worse hated. ‘Once in a Million’ has an absolutely brilliant chorus, emotional and original sounding, it was made to be heard on the radio, unfortunately some of the lyrics can come off as being racist. The song is simply about anger, and how Axl pretty much hates everyone. The thing is the lyrics are pretty general, and they seem to be about a man who was going through hell at the time and how when he looked around him he saw nothing but negativity.
Gn’r Lies doesn’t really have any bad songs, but it’s extremely short and only two of the tracks are actually memorable. It was released at a time when the band wanted to maintain their popularity so it survived its purpose.
