Guns N' Roses Nominated for Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame
This year's Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been announced. Here they are in no particular order:
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Donna Summer
Beastie Boys
The Cure
Donovan
Eric B and Rakim
Heart
Freddie King
Laura Nyro
Rufus with Chaka Khan
The Small Faces/Faces
The Spinners
War
Guns N' Roses
Faces, Heart, and Beastie Boys are no brainers. The Cure can be argued and I'd say they belong if Donna Summer is going to get in. But I am really wrestling with Guns N' Roses.
There is no doubt and no arguing Appetite for Destruction is an amazing, perfect record that tore the roof off the hair metal glamour shed and the music industry over night. This album has influenced countless acts after it and influenced some of my favorite bands today. But does making one seminal record, two overbloated albums, one live album, and one cover album make a Hall of Fame quality act?
Use Your Illusion, for me moved away from the crux of Guns N' Roses. Added were synthesizers, strings made by computers, and sweeping epic songs. It was the antithesis of what the band set out against. Appetite was more a FUCK YOU to the over produced hair metal acts that ruled the late eighties. Then Use Your Illusion comes out and it's over produced and exactly what they rallied against.
Don't get me wrong, I like Use Your Illusion I and II; there are some great songs on them. This is where I can't seem to rectify my thoughts on the matter and I have to bring in the politics and ratings. There are bands like Rush, Yes, and other Prog rock bands that are not being considered when they should be. Guns N' Roses is nominated on the ballot the first time they are eligible and you just know they will get in because people will tune in to see Slash, Izzy, Adler/Sorum, and Duff on the same stage with Axl. The joke will be on them because Axl would most likely not show unless the Hall of Fame induction is after 11pm.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Donna Summer
Beastie Boys
The Cure
Donovan
Eric B and Rakim
Heart
Freddie King
Laura Nyro
Rufus with Chaka Khan
The Small Faces/Faces
The Spinners
War
Guns N' Roses
Faces, Heart, and Beastie Boys are no brainers. The Cure can be argued and I'd say they belong if Donna Summer is going to get in. But I am really wrestling with Guns N' Roses.
There is no doubt and no arguing Appetite for Destruction is an amazing, perfect record that tore the roof off the hair metal glamour shed and the music industry over night. This album has influenced countless acts after it and influenced some of my favorite bands today. But does making one seminal record, two overbloated albums, one live album, and one cover album make a Hall of Fame quality act?
Use Your Illusion, for me moved away from the crux of Guns N' Roses. Added were synthesizers, strings made by computers, and sweeping epic songs. It was the antithesis of what the band set out against. Appetite was more a FUCK YOU to the over produced hair metal acts that ruled the late eighties. Then Use Your Illusion comes out and it's over produced and exactly what they rallied against.
Don't get me wrong, I like Use Your Illusion I and II; there are some great songs on them. This is where I can't seem to rectify my thoughts on the matter and I have to bring in the politics and ratings. There are bands like Rush, Yes, and other Prog rock bands that are not being considered when they should be. Guns N' Roses is nominated on the ballot the first time they are eligible and you just know they will get in because people will tune in to see Slash, Izzy, Adler/Sorum, and Duff on the same stage with Axl. The joke will be on them because Axl would most likely not show unless the Hall of Fame induction is after 11pm.
My thoughts on the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame are documented on the site and I don't want to argue why the thing is an incredible waste of time in this post.
Guns N' Roses did, in one album (Appetite), what their forefathers did in an entire career. They deserve to be in the Hall of Fame for that alone.
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The question is going tocome up in a few years...Does Nirvana deserve to be in the Hall of Fame for essentially one album...Nevermind? That album drastically changed the musical landscape...probably more than Guns N' Roses did.
I do agree with you though, Guns N' Roses should be in the hall, but my question is does one album (seminal albeit) make you hall of fame material?
Look at any other hall of fame, it is your body of work that gets you in, not your stats or one off performance.
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When your album is that monumental, I say yes.
Also, your forgetting that Guns had a lot of great music on the Illusion albums, as well as some missteps. Nirvana's In Utero does as well.
And, for that matter, I think Guns N' Roses paved the way for Nirvana, and the sort-of Alt-Rock Revolution that came in their wake. Guns showed that LA Hard Rock could be REAL...and thus, it THEY who killed Hair Metal....not Nirvana. Although, Nirvana sure put the final nail in the coffin.
I digress, it's not about the number of albums you put out, but the impact that you had. Warrior Soul (for example) put out 6 albums, and they'll never get inducted into the RRHOF.
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