The Roots of Guns N' Roses

The Roots of Guns N' Roses

The Roots of Guns N' Roses

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It's one of L.A. rock's dirty little secrets: The big-haired, neo-glam '80s metal revival that culminated in Guns N' Roses briefly taking over the world was also--with apologies to the "Silverlake scene"--arguably the city's last truly thriving grassroots club movement. This collection of demos by early Hollywood metal scene fixture Hollywood Rose revolves around the presence of two ambitious, recently transplanted Hoosiers--guitarist Jeff Isabelle and vocalist William Bailey, soon to be better known as GNR's Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose, respectively. Fans of the star-crossed metal superstars will welcome a raw early version of Appetite for Destruction's "Anything Goes," a chance to hear Axl's distinctive shriek in mid-evolution, and Izzy's churning, bluesy riffing, even if HR's energized punk-metal merely toys with the decadence and insanity that would eventually swallow GNR whole. Original GNR manager Vicki Hamilton offers up some personal insights, too. But there's also a downside: The disc only contains five 16-track demos, padded out by lovably executed, if largely disposable, remixes by latter-day Gunner Gilbey Clarke and Cinderella's Fred Coury, featuring a few new overdubs by fellow Hollywood glam-metal fixture Tracii Guns. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
No other decade in the history of civilization symbolized the glamorous, sleazy, over-the-top party rock lifestyle like the 1980s! No band on earth represents said excess better than the legendary Guns N' Roses. This collection of rare demo tracks from Axl, Izzy & crew has long been rumored to be the holy grail of glam rock - the genesis of screams & riffs that would eventually evolve into the most massive offering of the period - the mighty 'Appetite!' Now, with the help of Rose alum, Chris Weber, fans & collectors can own these mythic, raw (yet surprisingly well recorded) demos of this pre-G N'R band for the first time ever on CD! As an added bonus, the songs are polished with a modern production compliments of former Gunner Gilby Clarke, Cinderella skinsman, Fred Coury & the man who brought the Guns to Guns N' Roses...Tracii Guns! ROCK ON!

The Roots of Guns N' Roses,Hollywood Rose,Cleopatra,Hair Metal,Hard Rock,Heavy Metal,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop
The Roots of Guns N' Roses
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Reality Check
  • Guns N' Roses fans.....we have finally gotten some of what we have been waiting for!!!!
  • Awesome ... Totally Awesome!!!
  • Roots of GN'R
  • ANYTHING GOES TONIGHT!!!!!
 The Roots of Guns N' Roses
Hollywood Rose
Manufacturer: Cleopatra
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard RockHard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
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GlamGlam | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
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  3. Live Era: '87-'93
  4. G N' R Lies
  5. Use Your Illusion II

ASIN: B00022LJBA
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

  1. Killing Time (Original Demo Version)
  2. Anything Goes (Original Demo Version)
  3. Rocker (Original Demo Version)
  4. Shadow Of Your Love (Original Demo Version)
  5. Reckless Life (Original Demo Version)
  6. Killing Time (Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke)
  7. Anything Goes (Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke)
  8. Rocker (Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke)
  9. Shadow Of Your Love (Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke)
  10. Reckless Life (Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke)
  11. Killing Time (Newly Remixed By Fred Coury)
  12. Anything Goes (Newly Remixed By Fred Coury)
  13. Rocker (Newly Remixed By Fred Coury)
  14. Shadow Of Your Love (Newly Remixed By Fred Coury)
  15. Reckless Life (Newly Remixed By Fred Coury)

Product Description

Original Demo Versions:
1. Killing Time
2. Anything Goes
3. Rocker
4. Shadow Of Your Love
5. Wreckless Life

Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke:
6. Killing Time
7. Anything Goes
8. Rocker
9. Shadow Of Your Love (Feat. Tracii Guns - over dub guitar)
10. Wreckless Life (Feat. Tracii Guns - over dub guitar)

Newly Remixed By Fred Coury:
11. Killing Time
12. Anything Goes
13. Rocker
14. Shadow Of Your Love
15. Wreckless Life

Format: CD

Amazon.com

It's one of L.A. rock's dirty little secrets: The big-haired, neo-glam '80s metal revival that culminated in Guns N' Roses briefly taking over the world was also--with apologies to the "Silverlake scene"--arguably the city's last truly thriving grassroots club movement. This collection of demos by early Hollywood metal scene fixture Hollywood Rose revolves around the presence of two ambitious, recently transplanted Hoosiers--guitarist Jeff Isabelle and vocalist William Bailey, soon to be better known as GNR's Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose, respectively. Fans of the star-crossed metal superstars will welcome a raw early version of Appetite for Destruction's "Anything Goes," a chance to hear Axl's distinctive shriek in mid-evolution, and Izzy's churning, bluesy riffing, even if HR's energized punk-metal merely toys with the decadence and insanity that would eventually swallow GNR whole. Original GNR manager Vicki Hamilton offers up some personal insights, too. But there's also a downside: The disc only contains five 16-track demos, padded out by lovably executed, if largely disposable, remixes by latter-day Gunner Gilbey Clarke and Cinderella's Fred Coury, featuring a few new overdubs by fellow Hollywood glam-metal fixture Tracii Guns. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Reality Check.......2006-04-07

First off, if anyone says (or reviews) this as a great album, or better than Guns N' Roses, they are either delusional, glam-hair metal fanatics... or Tracii Guns.

Just based on the material I would rate this 2 and a half stars. The songs are demos and were written by a bunch of kids (I think Axl was 17 or 18 at the time) who were just learning how to write music. But the songs also show the origins of one of the most brilliant albums in history: Appetite For Destruction.

Killing Time - The song is mediocre, but it really shows where Axl and Izzy were headed.

Anything Goes - This actually surprised me. This was the weakest song on AFD but I actually dig the punk flavor here. I have no idea why the producer of AFD (Mike Clink) decided to slow it down into an Aerosmith wannabe. I'm more impressed with the song now.

Rocker - This song follows in the same punk-metal style of the others, but it comes across as almost a Judas Priest tribute song; the chorus makes me cringe.

Shadow Of Your Love - A song that's been floating around for a while. It would eventually be turned into Reckless Life.

Reckless Life - True Guns fans know this song. This is just a blue print of what it would become. Still interesting to hear it in its conception stage, which GNR would later record and release on Lies

All in all, not a great record and it was just a way for a few guys to make money off the GNR name. But more than anything else you can hear a very young singer flashing signs of what will become the most distinct voice in Rock N Roll. And you see two tragic/genius/anomalies just finding their songwriting skills. If you love Guns N' Roses its worth having. Even if its just for nostalgia.

4 out of 5 stars Guns N' Roses fans.....we have finally gotten some of what we have been waiting for!!!!.......2006-01-01

As a die hard Guns N' Roses fan,it is finally nice to see albums like "The Roots of Guns N' Roses" finally seeing the light of day. While this CD is not perfect,it is really good and solid. It feautures five tracks from Hollywood Rose,the band that Guns N' Roses band members Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were in together before GN'R with Chris Weber and Johnny Kreis,presented in three different forms(the original demo versions of the songs and two forms of remixes of the songs). Not only is it very interesting to hear the original demo versions of "Anything Goes"(which later appeared on Guns N' Roses' debut album,1987's "Appetite For Destruction")and "Reckless Life"(which appeared as a live version on the Guns N' Roses EPS "Live?!Like a Suicide" and "G N' R Lies"),it is very cool to see how much "Anything Goes" was really written over before Guns N' Roses used it on "Appetite For Destruction" and to hear "Reckless Life" presented in a studio form(considering the fact that Guns N' Roses released it on two different EPS,presenting it as a live track). The other three songs on this CD("Killing Time","Rocker",and "Shadow Of Your Love")are really good,catchy,and entertaining,as well. And while the only dissapointment about this CD is the fact that it only has five actual songs on it(not counting the remixes)there is more good news about this album. Former Guns N' Roses rythmn guitarist Gilby Clarke(who joined GN'R after Izzy Stradlin had left the group,and is now in the band Supernova with original/current Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted)and Fred Coury(the former drummer for the hair metal group Cinderella who is currently in a rock band called Union that also includes ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and former Scream and Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi)both did the two forms of remixes for the songs that are on this album,and thanks to Fred Coury,you can hear Duff McKagan singing background vocals on "Shadow of Your Love"(ironic considering the fact that even though Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin were the only future Guns N' Roses band members who were in Hollywood Rose,Duff McKagan,along with Slash and Steven Adler,co-wrote half of the songs that are on this album). Accompanying this CD is a nice booklet,which has rare pictures of Hollywood Rose from when they were starting out,and liner notes written by Vicky Hamilton(the first manager of Guns N' Roses)that talk all about the Hollywood Rose years and how Hollywood Rose eventually became Guns N' Roses. It is also worth noting that L.A Guns guitarist Traaci Guns' guitar overdubs on Gilby Clarke's remixes of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Reckless Life" sound really good and that having someone like Traaci Guns do a guitar overdub on two of the remixes on this CD was a really cool and creative idea(especially since Traaci Guns WAS involved in the formation of Guns N' Roses),and that Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin both shine on their performances of songs that are on this CD(with this album,you sort of see how both Rose's and Stradlin's songwriting style changed once both Rose and Stradlin were in Guns N' Roses).If you like Guns N' Roses and 60's/70's/80's style hard rock,then you will love this album. Not only is it really good,it should do a good job at somewhat holding Guns N' Roses fans over until(or if)"Chinese Democracy" sees the light of day,and hopefully,more CDS like this for members of bands such as KISS,Aerosmith,Motley Crue,etc. will also be released sometime in the future.

5 out of 5 stars Awesome ... Totally Awesome!!!.......2005-08-16

If you love Rock N' Roll AND better yet if you LOVE Axl's gutter snipe screeches and wails then this one's for you. This should be in the collection of every Axl/Izzy/Guns N' Roses fan WITHOUT A DOUBT! This baby ROCKS!!!!

5 out of 5 stars Roots of GN'R.......2005-03-29

This CD is fantastic. It features Axl with his very raw and high voice, and Izzy's bluesy guitar playing. The demos sound good, but the remixes sound like they could have come straight from Appetite. A lot of people gripe about the lack of songs, but there are 15, and they all sound a bit different. The inside features the story of Hollywood Rose and their eventual break into the rock scene as the better known Guns N' Roses. A definite must have for anyone who likes Guns, and if you want to get into it, buy this with Appetite, and listen to this first. Great stuff.

5 out of 5 stars ANYTHING GOES TONIGHT!!!!!.......2005-03-08

every guns n roses fan knows that to be a real gunner you have to have1.appetite for destruction 2.use your illuison 1&23.hollywood rose cd.
when this cd came out i was so excited couldnt sleep at night.next day i finally got my hands on 1 of the copies.i ran home i puted in my cd player and the first thing i hear was "tallal its time for dinner"tallal is my real name.i te then i litend to the cd and it was great!!!anything goes was a crazy song and when i heared the remix it was better.some people might say its a wast of money to buy this cd because it doesnt have alot of songs.i agree but im not gonna let songs interfere in my overall impression
this is a must have cd for every guns n roses fan
Roots of Guns N' Roses
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Cool stuff, but the import is a rip-off
 Roots of Guns N' Roses
Hollywood Rose
Manufacturer: Sony Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard RockHard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
GlamGlam | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
RockRock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002XVTZU
Release Date: 2004-11-01

Tracks:

  1. Killing Time
  2. Anything Goes
  3. Rocker
  4. Shadow of Your Love
  5. Reckless Life
  6. Killing Time
  7. Anything Goes
  8. Rocker
  9. Shadow of Your Love
  10. Reckless Life
  11. Killing Time
  12. Anything Goes
  13. Rocker
  14. Shadow of Your Love
  15. Reckless Life

Album Description

Japanese pressing of 2004 release, scheduled to include exclusive bonus enhanced material. Details TBA.

Album Details

Japanese Release featuring an Exclusive Dvd, Ntsc Format, Region Code 2.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Cool stuff, but the import is a rip-off.......2004-12-21

Roots Of Guns N' Roses (2004.) A collection of 1984 demos from Hollywood Rose.

Long before Guns N' Roses owned the metal scene in America in the late 1980s, vocalist William Bayley and guitarist Jeff Isabelle, better known as Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, repsectively, performed in a band called Hollywood Rose. Unfortunately, the group never released any true albums, and their recordings were all but forgotten... until now. The Roots Of Guns N' Roses collection resurrects five forgotten demos from the band, and serves up three versions of each! Read on for my review of this collection.

The music featured on this CD is simply awesome. If you're a fan of heavy metal that was inspired by the fast and furious British stuff from the late seventies and early eighties, you're absolutely going to love this stuff. It's more NWOBHM-related than Guns N' Roses. The CD is composed of five demo tracks the band recorded, plus two alternative mixes of each, for a total of fifteen songs overall. For demos, the sound quality here is VERY GOOD. You even get to hear an early version of Anything Goes, a song that these guys would perform on the Guns N' Roses album Appetite For Destruction. I just wish there were more than the five songs, because the music on here is so damn good - I personally like this stuff more than I like Guns N' Roses, and that's saying a lot since I'm a huge GN'R fan! Despite its somewhat lacking nature, this is a highly recommended package.

There's an import version of this album available with a bonus DVD - but it costs roughly TRIPLE as much as the domestic version that lacks a DVD. Yes, I said triple. In other words, this is a good set, but just stick with the domestic version!

I had high expectations for this album, and it surpassed them! The only thing that would have made this release perfect is if there had been more actual songs and less remixes. But I'm not complaining. If you're fan of British-inspired eighties metal, or you just want to hear what a young Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin sounded like, you've come to the right place.
The Roots of Guns N' Roses
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		The Roots of Guns N' Roses
    Hollywood Rose
    Manufacturer: Zyx Music
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
    Hard RockHard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
    GlamGlam | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B000AYQDTS
    Release Date: 2005-10-25

    Tracks:

    1. Killing Time [Original Demo Version]
    2. Anything Goes [Original Demo Version]
    3. Rocker [Original Demo Version]
    4. Shadow of Your Love [Original Demo Version]
    5. Reckless Life [Original Demo Version]
    6. Killing Time [Gilby Clarke Remix]
    7. Anything Goes [Gilby Clarke Remix]
    8. Rocker [Gilby Clarke Remix]
    9. Shadow of Your Love [Gilby Clarke Remix] - Tracii Guns, Hollywood Rose
    10. Reckless Life [Gilby Clarke Remix] - Tracii Guns, Hollywood Rose
    11. Killing Time [Fred Coury Remix]
    12. Anything Goes [Remix]
    13. Rocker [Fred Coury Remix]
    14. Shadow of Your Love [Fred Coury Remix]
    15. Reckless Life [Fred Coury Remix]
    Roots of Guns 'N' Roses
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Roots of Guns 'N' Roses
      Hollywood Rose
      Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD
      ASIN: B000N0UQR4
      Release Date: 2004-10-26
      Roots of Guns N Roses
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Roots of Guns N Roses

        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
        ASIN: B000CNDJGC
        Release Date: 2006-08-15
        The Roots of Guns N' Roses [Japan Import] + Bonus DVD
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          		The Roots of Guns N' Roses [Japan Import] + Bonus DVD
          Hollywood Rose
          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD
          ASIN: B000KHPL02

          Product Description

          Exlusive limited edition import from Japan (long out of print) of these early recording by LA hair metal sensation "Hollywood Rose" (featuring a young Axl Rose, and Tracii Guns, among others). This Japanese import comes loaded with 15 tracks, as well as a bonus DVD with rare, never before seen material, exclusive for Japan (DVD total playing time: 74 mins). 2004, Nippon Columbia records.

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