Guns N' Roses-G N' R Lies (1988)
Artist: Guns N' Roses
Format: CD
Cat: M2G 24198
Year of Release: 1988
Country and Year of Edition: US 1989 Columbia House
Date of Sale: 7/31/23
Sell Price: $3.55
Condition: VG+/VG+
Discogs Last Sold:5/11/23 $3.99
Low: $0.99
Median: $2.56
Average: $3.67
High: $5.00
Current low price: $1.28
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 18
Have/Want: 320/108
Where Sold: Columbus, OH
Time It Took To Sell: 11 years
Where and When Bought: used on half.com for 75 cents plus shipping sometime in the early aughts
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+
Sad To See It Go: No
I avoided GNR in the 80's as much as I could, but it was not possible. They WERE the Voice of White Trash America. The ones who weren't going to college. The ones you went to high school with or worked a job with. The ones getting in a fight on a street or at the party you went to. The ones that I wanted to avoid like the plague. From 1988 this album sold 5 million copies in the United States and this was intended as a stop-gap in the wake of Appetite For Destruction. I hated that record except for one song I heard in a record store, "Mr. Brownstone." When it first came out I was assured I would love it and it sounded like Glam but I thought they sucked and Axl was annoying.
At some point in the late 90's early aughts, I had a change of heart and got all their CD’s used online for like 75 cents each, but I didn't really put much time into any of them. Over the years I've seen more ink on the "One In A Million" lyric than I’ve heard the song itself. The gist? White boy comes from a small town to the big city--Los Angeles on a bus. Police tell him to move along and Black people trying to sell him shit. He doesn't want to be hustled either for his little cash or his tight ass. He doesn't want religion shoved down his throat either. He'll gladly play with a Black guitarist and hobnob with Elton John when he is famous, so you can't say he didn't grow out of the "Reckless Life" he sang about on the opening 1986 live track. He was at war with everybody on his level on the street, they all want something from a sucker. On "One In A Million" he is trying to make some sense of rags to riches fame and tell us where he came from. Self analyzing baby steps from the hyper self aware. Small town hick takes a bus to the big city. He knows he's reckless when he follows his epithet with "that's right." 5 million understood but maybe not completely. He's ready to fight but its not a White Power trip, at least not in the traditional sense. He got the power young and he's reflecting on what got him there.
When "Patience"' was a hit I managed not to hear it as it ascended the Billboard charts until I was in a bar underage with some lady playing pool that was into it when it came on the jukebox. I've always kinda liked that song ever since for that reason.
As for the rest, well the first side was a reissue of their 1986 live indie debut Live Fuck Like A Suicide or whatever the expletive symbols meant. I gotta say they sound strong as a young hungry live band. "Nice Boys" don't play rock and roll or get to do anything said Rose Tattoo. The "Mama Kin" Aerosmith cover tell you where they want to go. They are offensive on purpose looking to break every class and social taboo possible on the corporate level. So explicit you can't take "I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her" seriously. Once upon a time Ramirez or Manson before him had to read into rock lyrics to deflect criminal responsibility. GNR were so straight up they only inspired media outcry.
The undertone was serious, but they might be playing you.
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