411 GN’R Roundtable: GN’R Lies

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 11.20.2008

The 411 staff rushes towards Chinese Democracy by spending time with Guns N' Roses' oft-overlooked sophomore effort...

On November 23rd, Guns N' Roses releases Chinese Democracy, their an album literally fourteen years in the making. Anticipation for this album among the GN'R faithful, haters and just plain curious has reached a fever pitch over the last two years thanks to new leaks, Axl's on again/off again comments and, finally, the news that the album would finally be released as a Best Buy exclusive. Even on the eve, some have to wonder if it's even REALLY going to happen after all this time.

But why all the hype for a band who hasn‘t released an album in a decade and a half - whose last album wasn‘t even that good and who is completely different now save for one member? Well, 411 has decided to find out and tell you all about it. How? By taking a look back at GN'R's other five studio sets, from the iconic hard rock of 1987's Appetite For Destruction to the strangeness of the all-covers Spaghetti Incident. Because to understand the future, you need look no further than the past. Or some shit like that. Now welcome to the jungle!

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PART TWO: GN‘R LIES

Their debut album, Appetite For Destruction launched Guns N' Roses into the stratosphere in 1988. In the midst of the record selling millions of units and just after it had topped the charts for a second nonconsecutive stretch (it would do so again in 1990), GN'R rushed out their follow-up, GN'R Lies, in the late fall of ‘88.

Lies would be a short set, containing all of the songs off the original Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide debut EP, as well as four new acoustic recordings. Thanks to its release during Appetite For Destruction‘s peak period, Lies still managed to carve a major place for itself in the marketplace. The set peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts and scored Guns N' Roses their first ever gold single - the #4 hit "Patience".

By the summer of 1989, Lies was a triple platinum album, just a few months before GN'R would hit the studio for the marathon sessions to record their third and fourth albums.

So today, the 411 Music staff has decided to take a moment and look back at that oft-overlooked classic and our first hint of GN'R's tender side - Lies.



Do You Have This Album?

Jesse Coy: Why, certainly I do. I'm 98% sure I ordered both this and Appetite for Destruction together in one of my introduction packages from one of the CD clubs, which I'd join, and then quit after I bought what I had to, and then join again... and again, and again. I'd also guess it was maybe around 1990, so I'd heard tracks from both albums many times over (well, for this one, specifically, mostly only... "Patience"), and finally broke down and got them.

Tom Santoro: I bought this one after Use Your Illusion I & II came out. I found it for sale in a used CD store for $1. It was beat up but served its purpose. I hesitated on buying it because I did not really like the most dangerous band in the world going all soft on me. Not to mention mom would not have liked "One In A Million" too much.

Jeff Modzelewski: Like most of the other GN'R albums, I probably got this album around '93 or '94. Around 7th grade, so I would've been 13 or 14.

Peter Smith: I currently own a CD copy of it that I got six years ago. That copy replaced an original cassette tape that I bought (well… my mom probably bought) soon after it was first released.

< b>Michael Adler: I do own this. I believe I bought it used a few years back. It was the first Guns N' Roses album I purchased.


What Tracks Do You Love?

Jesse Coy: I still think "Used to Love Her," taken tongue in cheek, is a funny track. L7, the punk/grunge legends, redid it, giving a female voice to the song (not from one of their albums, but maybe a B-side). I always liked "Mama Kin," and until not too long ago (maybe two years ago), I never knew it was an Areosmith cover. That was when I started really digging into Aerosmith's older albums beyond their Greatest Hits album. The other track I really like, "Nice Boys"... it's a cover, too, by Rose Tattoo (never heard them before). I still like "Patience," also.

Tom Santoro: "Used to Love Her" may be one of the best songs ever written. I play it every time I see it on a jukebox. I sing it to myself every time my wife nags me to change a diaper or take out the garbage or says you drink too much beer.

Jeff Modzelewski: I really like the entire album. My favorite would be their cover of Aerosmith's "Mama Kin." That's one of my all-time favorite songs, and GN'R does a great job with it. I appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor of "Used To Love Her" also.

Peter Smith: "Patience" is one of my favorite Guns N' Roses songs of all time. If it were not for filesharing, I would recommend purchasing Lies just for this song. The first time I heard it, I actually did not think it was Axl singing. Of course, it became more obvious as the song progressed, but initially I was quite confused! I also really enjoy their version of "Mama Kin", but "Patience" is by far the best track on this release.

Michael Adler: Pretty much the whole thing. I've always believed eight to be the perfect number of tracks for an album. Not too long, not too short. This album hits the magic number. The acoustic half trumps the live half by far, but even then, it's got a great cover of "Mama Kin" and I oftentimes get "Nice Boys" stuck in my head. I suppose the opener, "Reckless Life" is a little bland compared to the rest of the album but it's still pretty good.

As for the second half, there's the controversial classic "One in a Million" (Axl's not racist, he swears. He even let Slash touch him sometimes.) "Patience" is my favorite acoustic song ever, and also has the honor of having the best whistling movement in modern music. "I Used to Love Her" is not only an awesome song buy hysterical as well. I love it when halfway through the song Axl says, "Take it for what it is." More spoken word brilliance. The acoustic cover of "You're Crazy" exceeds the original.


What Tracks Do You Skip?

Jesse Coy: At 33 minutes and change, this is a short album that doesn't overstay it's welcome. So there aren't any tracks that I skip, nor any I hate.

Tom Santoro: I am not a big fan of live albums. So all of the live recordings often get overlooked. I feel live recordings do not catch the essence of the band and that is no different here.

Mitch's Note: The "live" tracks are actually GN'R's early demos with live crowd noise dubbed in. However, the loose demo quality does make the faux live recordings very believable.

Jeff Modzelewski: My least favorite song on the album would definitely be "Patience." It doesn't have the attitude of the three other acoustic songs on the album, and it's just way too overplayed. I'm also not a huge fan of the lyrics of "One In A Million," though I loved the song before I really started to realize the racist and homophobic tone.

Peter Smith: I never listen to "One in a Million". Whether Axl actually meant the hate-speak in this song is irrelevant because of the context in which it was presented. It seems genuine. For example, with "Used to Love Her" it is obvious that it is an attempt at humor and not to be taken seriously. With "One in a Million", it does not come off as a joke. It does not come off as a criticism of people who might hold such views. It comes across as an anthem of unchecked frustration, prejudice, and paranoia. Axl illustrates this frustration with racist and heterosexist terms without any sense of regret. Axl has always been a lightning rod for controversy, but he took it too far with this one.

Michael Adler: Everything's in its right place.



Final Thoughts

Jesse Coy: Nice energy on the first half, and nice counter-balance with the second, more acoustic feeling half... clearly an indication of a strong band that has a long history ahead of it, with at least another six or seven strong albums that will be... HA hA ha ha HA!

Tom Santoro: This album helped change the image of a band that was slightly dangerous. They stripped away their raw energy and gave us a strong acoustic EP. "Patience" made Guns N' Roses accessible to females, who were then broadsided with the misogyny of "Used To Love Her" and the racism of "One In A Million."

Jeff Modzelewski: This was a huge departure from Appetite for GN'R. I'm always amazed at how well-received this album was, since it doesn't follow Appetite's pattern at all. However, it did show that GN'R was a versatile band that was more than just a newer version of the hair-band craze.

Peter Smith: To be honest, I rarely listen to this record. Instead, I listen to a digital file of "Patience". This record is a fun listen for the most part, but it is not a record that particularly stands out to me.

Michael Adler: A brilliant mix of hard rocking and acoustic tracks. This is probably my favorite Guns N' Roses album.

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Join us tomorrow as we take a look at Guns N' Roses' oft-overlooked follow-up - GN‘R Lies!