10 Bands Who Should Have Stopped After One Album

7. Guns N' Roses

The Strokes
Sarah Koury

Appetite For Destruction is a hard rock classic, a perfect distillation of mid-80s LA sleaze. The Guns N’ Roses the world first met were dangerous, unhinged. They lived what they sang - life was an endless party, pausing only to hit the studio and lay down further audio venom.

It’s fair to say Guns N’ Roses lost their momentum after their debut. The follow up EP was marred by the regrettable “One In A Million”, a six minute racist, homophobic diatribe. Following this was 1991’s Use Your Illusion 1&2 - nearly two and a half hours of stodge.

The fans, eagerly anticipating the next release, felt jipped, having to buy two records to get their fix, and they were even less happy when they gave the albums a spin. Both feature good tracks, but songs like “November Rain” suck the energy out of an already trying listening experience.

Constant line up changes, the unpredictable behaviour of Axl Rose, and delays to the ultimately disappointing Chinese Democracy haven't helped, but it’s safe to say Guns N’ Roses, in some form or another, can tour Appetite For Destruction forever. Given how indestructible the members have proven to be, they’ll probably do just that.

In this post: 
The Strokes
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Yorkshire-based writer of screenplays, essays, and fiction. Big fan of having a laugh. Read more of my stuff @ www.twotownsover.com (if you want!)