Young fans, will they accept GN'R and make them big again?

[Lady Livin]

I don't think he meant that he considers gn'r to be "80's metal". He means that that's the tag that has been placed on their name from the get-go, and about how kids who don't understand that might respond to it.

I'll be seventeen in January, but am stuck in the late 80's and everything because the music makes me feel good and they're not screaming and it was very accessable to listen to. However, the sound and image of gn'r has changed drastically and had I not been a fan of them in the first place, chances are 50/50 that I would be interested in Chinese Democracy... the other half being because music today just sucks (again) and virtually any rock fan is willing to give ANY new rock band a chance right now.

Also, you can still be a "edgy" rock band by carrying out your scheduled gigs.

[Mikkamakka]

although alot of people in my school dont like gnr or skid row because of the vocals but they like ac/dc and aerosmith.. how does that work? they dismiss bands just because they were labeled "80's metal"

1) Comparing Guns n' Roses to this ridiculous has-been hair-metal band called "skid row" is a crime.
2) Guns n' Roses never were "80's metal". They never were "metal". and they were much more popular in the early 90's than in the 80's.

You're wrong from A to Z.

1, Don't call Skid Row a 'hair metal' band. It's the lame Courney 'I-have-no-talent' Love's bullshit. Skid Row was one of the most talented bands in the 80s and 90s. Slave to the Grind is an essential record. Have you heard it?

2, Stupid Courtney Love calls GN'R a 'hair band', too. Fuckin' bitch. Such a shame that Kurt didn't made that bitch shut up.

[ppbebe]

2) Guns n' Roses never were "80's metal". They never were "metal".

I totally agree on this but it?s also true many people categorize GNR into hair metal or metal. Especially metal magazines where they put unfair reviews on VGH. I rarely read them but my mates told me. Seems As if those metal writers want GNR look 80's metalish so bad that they keep dissing new lineups. They mislead their readers as to GNR and separate the band from general music fans. See their brilliant achievement below

although alot of people in my school dont like gnr or skid row because of the vocals but they like ac/dc and aerosmith.. how does that work? they dismiss bands just because they were labeled "80's metal"

I hope they set GNR free. Clearly GNR is above petty sectionalisms. Look at a dazzling variety of members.

[The Estranged MrFlashbax]

i never said gnr were 80's metal or hair metal.. i just said that people dont even give gnr a fair chance because they're labelled 80's metal..

[RichardNixon]

I was wondering about new Guns N' Roses fans--the teenagers of today.

-Are kids also listening to VH and the Crue? Or is GN'R getting more attention?
-Did they get hooked onto GN'R via the Greatest Hits album?
- Are GN'R a band that the "cool" kids like nowadays?
-Any experience dealing with new fans?

[FlashFlood]

i just graduated high school. ive been a true, hardcore fan of the band since 2000,  before their recent resurgence. but ya, the whole boom is based on two things...firstly, a larger base of kids these days are into rock, and therefore they seek out bands to like, and when they run out of present, current bands, they have to go back a little further. secondly, the greatest hits album hooked most of the new fans. gnr is almost like a fad nowadays. in my high school i would probably see 4 or 5 GNR shirts a day. everybody knows the big songs, and its a shame because these "fans" wont go get all the albums and come to appreciate the other gems.

[Clarepants]

As a 19 year old I feel like I'm able to answer this question quite well...
1. ?VH and Crue are generally listened to by the white kids in our neighborhood, sorry if I come off racist here but it's like immigrants here outnumber the white kids by like 10 to 1. ?GNR gets totally more attention, by the white kids.
2. ?I got hooked on GNR through the Greatest Hits album, it really started when I was downloading music for my hockey games and I listened to jungle and you could be mine lots.
3. ?GNR aren't necessarily 'cool' nowadays, they're basically viewed as classic rock and not much more.

To go with the 3rd point, the 'cool' kids are generally the Fitty gangstas acting all dangerous. ?Now I'm an Asian, and the general conception is that Asians dress like pussies with the tight jeans and big hair. ?I don't claim to be dangerous, but I feel a sense of 'levelled' playing field when I know GNR dressed like pussies too, and they were just as dangerous as Fitty or MIKE JONES!..... ?who? ... ?MIKE JONES! ?Anyways yeeah I'm influenced by the media a little too much....

4. ?I guess I'm a new fan, I've been listening to them for like two/three years.

[spacebrain5000]

well, i'm 16, and presently go to highschool, so here's my thoughts on this:
1- i don't think anyone cares much about VR or the crue particularly here.. both bands' players are too old to be really popular with the teenybopper crowd and such. gn'r gets the most attention of the three i'd say... even if kids don't know the albums or the great songs, they know welcome to the jungle, and sometimes sweet child of mine and paradise city.
2- speaking for myself, i know i did (get hooked via greatest hits..) so i'll assume some others did as well. gn'r as a band was reccommended to me, and i was trying to find another cd for the 2 for 25 deal on... and i came across it and decided, what the hell.

3- the cool kids here like shit like simple plan and 50 cent and that sort of atrocious shit.... but the kids who know music usually like gn'r or at least know who they are, etc.
4- new fans, i've met a lot of 'em, lent out my gn'r dvds quite a lot of times. i swear to god, if the mainstream kids knew about this shit, they'd be all over it. the only reason most of them don't know about it is because it's easier to know music that plays on the airwaves and shit, and don't bother looking for music elsewhere. even though it's 'dated', it's really not. it's so accessible, and that rawness and potency that gn'r had(has)... it just never gets old.

[-Jack-]

11th grader in high school. Also, im in L.A... somewhere you'd expect the guns to be popular... well heres your answers.. at least at my school.

-Are kids also listening to VH and the Crue? Or is GN'R getting more attention?
   I'd say that Crue is getting the most attention at my school (reunion tour and the red, white, crue cd help em out). GN'R has almost none.
-Did they get hooked onto GN'R via the Greatest Hits album?
   I have talked to alot of people who have said "O GN'R? Yeah I have their greatest hits. Totally rocks"  .. totally rocks?
- Are GN'R a band that the "cool" kids like nowadays?
  No0o0o0o0o0o. Not even close. The "popular" people all laugh when I bring em up.. Most peoples only experence with GN'R consists of Axl's appearance at the VMA's and laugh about his voice during Jungle/ how he looked. Also.. NO ONE likes Buckethead. They all laugh their asses off about him.  . I think they are uncool cuz most people haven't given em a listen.
-Any experience dealing with new fans?
  Not really.. I have gotten some people to listen to Appetite.. they liked it. But most kids in high school are into looking as "ganstah" as they can. Fucking gay. Some people at my school don't even like SCOM or Jungle. Whaa!? Whatever. I've even talked to people who think VR is more talented than the old GN'R. Whaaa!??!!?!?

In conclusion.. if MTV hypes up CD and makes it "trendy" everyone at my school will buy.. cuz theyre all gay asses who want to be "cool."

    -jack

[RKD]

I don't Listen to VH or Crue. My friends and i even the area i live in is getting more GnR-esque. where as before you'd see people wearing Zeppelin or Metallica shirts i'm seeing more AFD/GnR shirts around.

I first heard GnR as a kid but never latched onto it till I couldn't get Jungle out of my head after playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Last year, I found Appetite on Amazon and listened to the samples. I bought it and then followed by the Illusion Albums fell in love with GnR's Music. I have never owned and probably will never own the Greatest Hits.

I wouldn't Say GnR are Cool just yet. Although if CD comes out and is something different than the options available to kids now then yeah i guess they might. The options right now are: Get screamed at about dying, Shaking ya booty, Listening to people tell you about their street survival in "Da Ghetto" and really emo bands. If Axl can release something hard rock sounding without screaming at people then yes i think he can.

and i've had tons of experience with New Fans. I started to listening to GnR and now all my friends do. they ask me Q's about it all the time and i get embarrased cos i always know the answer lol. I am officially a GnR Geek.

One thing that made me laugh was some guy on the net asked me why i didn't buy Appetite when it came out. So i had to point out to him that when it came out i was 5 Days Old lol. but i definetly remember hearing SCOM as a kid.

[Rob]

Well I'm 20 and GN'R's been my favorite band for a little more than three years now.  I love both Motley Crue and Van Halen (Roth only).  I became a fan well before the Greatest Hits came out.  I became a fan cause a few of my friends liked GN'R.  They played some of their songs for me and I've been addicted ever since.  I wouldn't say GN'R is the band that the "cool" kids listen to nowadays.  Me and my friends weren't exactly the cool kids in high school...well actually, we were the baddest motherfuckers in that school, but that's cause we weren't like teeny bopper cool, we were badass rockstar cool...but I digress.  Me and my friends actually got quite a few other people from my high school into GN'R.  But no, most of the so called "cool kids" probably aren't GN'R fans.  But there were definitely less GN'R fans when I started high school (1999) than when I finished (2003).

[Evil Ash]

I'm 20, from belgium...

Lately I must say gnr is back here, almost every time i go to a show or a festival someone tells me how cool my T-shirt is (always wearing gnr shirts) and how cool gnr is!!

my girlfriend doesn't like this at all :p she's a marilyn manson fan

But really since the greatest hits GnR is relevant here!!!

[mikegiuliana]

my brother in law and his dad own a music store that isn't geared towards mainstream, more clients are college kids.. He tells me to this day AFD sells like crazy.. I think to young rock fans afd is that must have album that an older person would tell a younger person getting into rock to have..

I definetly think kids are listening to motley crue as well... I don't know about VH, but if they listen to any rock station classic then they are hearing a good 10 song rotation..

I haven't met any new fans, but I have met a lot of people my age n older that were confused about the vmas that being their only new gnr experience..

When I think gnr I have to think the members that have left as well.. I do ask about both new gnr and vr with people I meet on construction sites and vr is somewhat know too, so to me that is good for anything gnr..

[jbenzz]

Most people in high school (from my experience) are into either the gagster rap (watch MTV Video awards or similar to see what I mean) or emo.  I'm from canada so watching the Much Music countdown pretty much sums up what people listen to (which is pretty depressing).  I think Guns 'n Roses is becoming more popular with the not so popular crowd, because they are becoming more aware cause of Greatest Hits.  G'nR is now the cool thing for the outside crowd, similar to the Zeppelin resurgance that is kinda occuring at the same time.  It's kinda depressing that all teens listen to is Greatest Hits cause G'nR isn't a Greatest Hits band and the magic of gnr is in the albums as a whole (as we discussed when greatest hits was coming out).

On the side note, I'm amazed how many people here are new fans.  I've been listening to G'nR for like, 7 years now (I'm only 19).  I remember reading about how classic rock is starting to become huge and classic rock radio is gaining a huge teenage audience because teens are getting pissed off at the commercialization of music that's being thrown at them.

[Queen of Everything]

I think that Guns n Roses is becoming more popular then it was say, 2 or 3 years ago - but I don't think it will ever go back to being "really" popular.  I know about 3 people at my school who love them.  Everyone else thinks they are so old - they are 'dead' (see what you've done Axl?!) Anyway!  So yeah    Maybe they are getting a little bit more popular?

[Katrin]

I? m 16 and a real GnR fan since two years now. I also listen to Motley Crue, Aerosmith etc... but GnR is definetly my favorite band.
I got hooked on GnR when I saw the SCOM video for the first time (yes, even MTV plays something decent every now and then...) and then I bought AFD, UYI, ...

The ?cool? kids in my school don? t listen to GnR at all. They rather like gangster hiphop shit like 50 cent... and those who consider themselves as rock fans listen to Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Good Charlotte...? ? I bet half of them don? t even know about Guns n? Roses.

Somebody once asked me ?What? s the point in being a fan of a band that doesn? t exist anymore??? What a stupid question. I guess all the people who like the Beatles, Nirvana or whatever should stop listening to their favorite bands then and buy the latest Avril Lavigne record instead. Besides, GnR does still exist, but that? s a fact that is even more unknown then the band itself. Robin Finck? Buckethead? What? s a buckethead??

Seeing that there aren? t really any GnR fans around, I haven? t made any experiences dealing with new fans. Well, thanks to me my friend and her older sister also like GnR now and they? ve bought the Greatest Hits album, but that? s all.


PS: Sorry for my English, I hope you can understand what I wrote.

[WARose]

well i`m 16 years old and from germany. i think gnr is quite popular here. the people at my school who are into rock like gnr very well, but most only know the "big" songs. i know about some young gnr fans, but most didn`t get into gnr, because of the greatest hits.
anyway... i don`t know even ONE person who likes crue or velvet revolver. some of my friends were at rock am ring and saw velvet revolver live. they said that slash was cool as hell and the rest of the band except dave and scott were also cool, but scott destroyed the show, because he was a gay idiot.

ok now to the new band :  i think 87% of the people here don`t even know they exist and didn`t even saw the vmas, but noone is thinking negative about them. most of my friends saw some dvds of the new gnr and liked it. i think the most liked guy was buckethead next to axl.     i gave the boston 3cam dvd to a friend without knowing it and he told me how great he found it. i was really surprised, because imo there are way better shows of 2002 tour and i didn`t know he had it.

i think the main point why most people aren`t into gnr is, that they don`t even know they exist....   time for axl to change this!

[Katrin]

well i`m 16 years old and from germany. i think gnr is quite popular here. the people at my school who are into rock like gnr very well, but most only know the "big" songs.

that' s interesting. I live in Austria, quite close to the german border, but as I said in my post, the situation in my school is entirely different. Guess it depends on the people.

i think the main point why most people aren`t into gnr is, that they don`t even know they exist....? ?time for axl to change this!

Agreed!?

[Shoco]

well over here kerrang and VH2 are always showing gnr videos and stuff, so anyone that likes rock is gonna see them on tv

[nesquick]

NO ONE likes Buckethead

Not surprising. Buckethead made the new GN'R be a total joke all around the world. The guy has zero popularity potencial. You can't expect anything from a guy like that, not in term of human aspects (I don't know him), but in term of musical and "Rockability" aspect. In the entire Rock History, I think I have never seen such an "anti-star" like that. Buckethead is a guy who can ruin your band image in a second. You just put him on TV and the drama happens. People leave, or change the channel.
His departure is the best thing that could ever happen. The man is destinied to stay in the shadow, and to keep going his solo carreer. I'm sorry for the BH's fans out there (you must be the only ones on this planet though), but Buckethead massively hurt GN'R.

It's called a "casting error". The wrong man at the wrong place in the wrong band. I hope this (desapointing) GN'R-buckethead chapter is over. Keep on going with the Richard-Robin duet. They are perfect. They are good payers, cohesive, friends, they really complete each other.

To come back on topic, it will be as simple as that: IF CD is good, yes there will be a new generation of GN'R fans.