I won't tell you no Lies (G'n'R - Lies - Guns n' Roses)

Member Name: looby5

Product:	G'n'R - Lies - Guns n' Roses
Date:	18/08/04 (492 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All out rock n' roll

Disadvantages: not everyones thing

Guns and Roses were more than a band to me. They represented a state of mind. They happened at a time in my life, which was full of the usual teenage angst, the whirling hormones and a feverish love of rock music combined to make them, to me at least, the most important thing on the planet at that time 88-91.

After the sublime and amazingly successful Appetite for Destruction they released G?NR Lies. A collection of old and new recordings which quenched the thirst for new material while the band squabbled and fought about going into the studio to record the second album which turned out to be the ultimately disappointing Use your Illusion compilations.

The sleeve of this record is done in the style of a red top tabloid newspaper, with live photos on the inside of the gatefold. You are entertained even before the needle hits the vinyl.

Side 1

This side comprised of live tracks. They are all raw and angry and very much captured the flavour of G n R at their very best. This was what it was all about.
?Reckless Life? starts the proceedings in an explosive way. Lyrically, this side embodies the vision of G n R, expanding on the ?Appetite? feel.
?I lead a reckless life, and I don?t need your advice? Axl spits and screams his way through this track and warms us up nicely. Straight into ?Nice Boys?- This is high octane, fast moving, Rock?n? Roll on a par with the best the genre has to offer from The Pistols to Areosmith.
?Move to the City? is another classic. Telling the story of moving to LA, while the boys were waiting to make it big ? along with a million other rock wanna? be?s. You can almost taste the haze of underground LA life. This track injects some funk in to what has been up to now balls to the wall hard rock.
Bringing side one to a close is ?Mama Kin? the Aerosmith track given the G n R treatment and it is superb. I can?t help feel the sentiment may not be entirely sincere -?Keep in touch with Mamma Kin, tell
here where you?ve gone and been.? ?Tell about you?re fantasy ? sleepin? late and smokin? tea?.

The imagery in the lyrics is absolutely superb and each time I listen to this record all that teenage angst comes flooding back. Great stuff. The guitar riff in Mamma Kin is one in one of my favourites but then each song has either a lyric or a riff that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The whole attitude of side one is very much F**K YOU! And I love it.

Side 2

Much more mellow in feel, Side 2 is predominantly acoustic. ?Patience? kicks off the proceedings and provides the obligatory swaying, lighters aloft moment all true rock classics need. This was the albums only UK single I believe and I also bought it on 7? single. It truly is a classic. ?I Used to love her? (So I had to kill her), charming, continues the acoustic theme and injects some fun and a little light hearted relief to what has so far been a record of extreme emotions to say the least.

?You?re Crazy? is a slowed down version of the song that appears on ?Appetite?. It gets into a groove that makes it feel like an entirely different song and entirely warrants this alternative recording. It fits a treat.

?One in a million? draws this album to a close in typically controversial fashion. It was deemed by some to be racist and homophobic at the time, by people it seems to me, largely missed the point. The lyrics aren?t nice, they are not meant to me but listen to them and understand what they mean before you condemn. G n R are not a racist band, Slash is of mixed racial origin for a start.

The Verdict

?Lies? is a superb album. Critics say it was an attempt to cash in on the anticipation of the record buying public for the new G n R material, which it may well have been. Whatever, this is a far more valued part of my collection than the ?Use your Illusions 1 & 2? records that followed. It means a great deal to me personally an
d I would recommend it wholeheartedly to any Gun?s fans that missed it the first time round or any of the new breed of fans.

Well worth a listen.

Summary: