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The Biography Channel: Guns N' Roses
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http://rapidshare.com/files/272331188/Biography.GnR-wdb.part1.rar.htmlhttp://rapidshare.com/files/272331315/Biography.GnR-wdb.part2.rar.htmlhttp://rapidshare.com/files/272330740/Biography.GnR-wdb.part3.rar.htmlVideo Format.........: AVI
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Release Notes
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Think of stadium rock in the 1980s and one band instantly springs to mind:
Guns N’ Roses. Spurred by an egotistical frontman - and three indisputably
excellent albums - the band rocketed to stardom and a life of sex, drugs and
rock and roll. As with so many bright stars, the Gunners burnt out almost as
quickly, enjoying only five years at the top. Their hedonistic lifestyle
defined them, but, ultimately proved to be their undoing.
A product of the Los Angeles rock scene, Guns N’ Roses was born in 1985 as
the amalgam of two existing bands: Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. Hollywood
Rose singer Axl Rose and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin teamed up with L.A.
Guns guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Loe Beich and drummer Rob Gardner. A
flyer advertising their first show at The Troubadour nightclub on 26 March,
1985 displayed the new name after reportedly rejecting the names Heads of
Amazon and AIDS. The band played several shows around California with
fluctuating line-ups. Beich was replaced on bass by Duff McKagan and after
Guns and Gardner failed to show for several concerts, guitarist Slash and
drummer Steven Adler replaced them.
On 6 June, 1985, Guns N’ Roses played the Troubadour with the line-up that
would take them to stardom: Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Steve. Two days later
the band played in Seattle hitch-hiking to the gig after their van broke
down, getting paid just $50 and being seen by only 13 people.
The band lived together on Sunset Boulevard, broke and surviving on cheap
wine and biscuits, in what they referred to as The Hell House. They kept
writing songs and performing, supplementing their sets with covers by
Aerosmith, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones. By late 1985 the band had
written 14 original songs, including early versions of the soon-to-be hits
Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, and Don’t Cry.
On 10 October, 1985, Paradise City was performed for the first time at the
Troubadour. The band found their natural image straight away - hard-
drinking, drug-taking, frenetic rock and rollers - as demonstrated by the
message on the flyer to their first show of 1986- "Get Yourself Together,
Drink Till You Drop, Forget About Tomorrow, Have Another Shot. Happy New
Year! From the boys who brought you the most chaotic shows of 1985."
The band’s energy was starting to pay off and they were getting noticed by
record label talent scouts. A scout for Geffen Records, Tom Zutaut, saw the
Gunners at the Troubadour and told other agents the band was awful so he
would have more time to pursue them uncontested. Axl told a female talent
scout from Chrysalis records the band would sign with them if she walked
naked down Sunset Boulevard but when she failed to show, the band signed
with Geffen in March, 1986, receiving a $75,000 advance.
Guns N’ Roses continued playing around Los Angeles at bigger and bigger
venues including the Roxy Theatre and Whisky a Go Go. In August of that year
the band got serious and recruited manager Alan Niven. Slash kicked the
drugs and the band started recording their first album.
Geffen knew a smaller album was needed to whet public appetite and sustain
interest while the band worked on the main album. A purpose-created Geffen
label called Uzi Suicide Records released a four-track EP called Live ?!*@
Like a Suicide on 16 December. The EP contained a cover of the Aerosmith’s
Mama Kin, a cover of Rose Tattoo’s Nice Boys and two tracks from Hollywood
Rose – move to the City and Reckless Life.
The Gunners started 1987 slowly playing only two shows in Hollywood. In June
two singles - It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone – were released and the guys
made their debut in Europe playing three shows at London’s Marquee. By all
reports the first show was a disaster with the drunk British crowd pelted
the band with debris until Axl threatened to leave the stage.
On 21 July, 1987, Guns N’ Roses released their first album: Appetite For
Destruction. The album sold slowly until label owner David Geffen personally
persuaded MTV to put Welcome to the Jungle on late-night rotation. The
album’s controversial cover - a depiction of a woman who has been raped by a
robot that in turn is being set upon by a multi-fanged flying monster - drew
complaints and withdrawals from some record stores. The cover was changed to
a cross with the band members’ faces as skeletons at its points and Axl in
the centre.
The band followed a relentless touring schedule for the rest of 1987 playing
with The Cult and opening for Motley Crue and Alice Cooper and touring
briefly in the UK again. Album sales exploded in 1988 with Appetite for
Destruction hitting number one in August. The Gunners released another album
of acoustic songs and older material, G N’ R Lies, which reached number two
but caused controversy with some of its racist lyrics.
The band was famous and rich but plagued by problems with heroin which Axl
spoke publicly about. In 1990 the band fired Steven Adler, whose drug
addiction was preventing him from recording their new album. He was replaced
by Matt Sorum. In September 1991, the band released two albums on the same
day: Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 which entered the charts as numbers one and
two. The Use Your Illusion tour lasted 28 months and was mired in
controversy. At one concert Axl attacked a fan who was recording the show
with a video camera and then cancelling the show which caused a riot. Izzy
Stradlin, now sober and drug-free, left the band in 1991 due to differences
with Axl. A 1992 show in Montreal also ended in a riot after the band cut
their set short. In 1992 the band won an MTV music award for their hit
ballad November Rain. The tour ended in Buenos Aires in July 1993.
Later that year the band released the album The Spaghetti Incident? but it
did not sell well. Cracks appeared in the band and no new material was
released for five years. Slash, Sorum and McKagan left the band in 1996 and
later teamed up with Stone Temple Pilots members to form Velvet Revolver.
Axl was the only remaining member of Guns N’ Roses left and with a band of
new recruits he began work on a new album in 1998. The album, Chinese
Democracy, has still not appeared despite the band touring sporadically in
support of it for the last nine years and making several promises that its
release was imminent. Several of the songs on the new album have leaked on
to the internet but have met mixed reviews. Geffen released a best-of album
in 2004 though Axl tried to stop its release with a law suit. The
composition of Guns N’ Roses seems to fluctuate with Axl’s mood swings but
its current members are Axl, Dizzy Reed, Robin Finck, Chris Pitman, Richard
Fortus, Tommy Stinson, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Frank Ferrer.
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