Guns N' Roses - Live Era '87-'93

Guns N' Roses' career could be neatly summed up in a lyric from their song "Pretty Tied Up": "I just found a million dollars that someone else forgot." Indeed, GNR satisfied a grassroots public hunger for bigger-than-life hard rock at a time when legions of alternative bands were enjoying their first burst of overweening critical attention and commercial cachet. The last and most spectacularly successful band to prosper from Hollywood's burgeoning 1980s Sunset Strip glam-metal scene wrapped a couple decade's worth of sometimes tired clichés around a tight, assaultive musical attack that enticed millions yearning for poor role models. And if their edgy songs often blurred fantasy and reality, the best of them had a street-level honesty that couldn't be denied. A de facto greatest-hits collection culled from performances recorded around the world, Live Era best documents the early, ferocious performing prime of GNR's original quintet on its first disc, leaning heavily on their landmark Appetite for Destruction album to great effect. But the second volume often chronicles the band's steady decline into bloated self-parody and neo-Vegas "professionalism." This band needs a horn section like Slash needs another drink! --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

welcome to the bundle...

Back in '91, I was THE biggest GN'R fan on the face of the earth: I knew all of their lyrics word by word (even though I didn't understand 'em all, they played a huge part in my future mastery of the language), knew every single cymbal crash from their drums, I could sing every single note of their guitar solos. But then, as the original lineup of the band started to slowly but surely erode, so did their impact on me and I started to get interested in other artists by default. Why do I bring this up? 'Cause I think that you should know where I come from and where mi head's at now in order to get the full picture of this review.

GN'R started as a glamed out, punked up hard rock band from L.A in the mid 80's. But unlike some of the earlier Californian rock bands such as Van Halen, Ratt, Motley Crue and countless others, there was something inherently different to this bunch of slackers: they were a mean, angry, borderline violent group that mean EVERY SINGLE word they said, be it their paranoid delusions ("Out ta get me"), their macho posturing ("It's so Easy"), their struggle with addiction ("Mr Brownstone") or...their fragility ("Sweet Child o' Mine).

They just presented themselves as they were, and because of that, they came across as genuine. Musically though, they were pretty raw: singer W. Axl Rose was an energetic and effective frontman, but he could also be pretty rough around the edges; drummer Steven Adler was far from being a virtuoso, but made up for that with energy to spare; rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin was a great songwriter but a somewhat limited player (by his own admission), bassist Duff McKagan was adequate but not stellar, and riffmeister Slash was a diamond in the rough, alternatively mind blowing and lackluster depending of his inebriated state. And yet for all their original shortcomings, one had only to witness a live performance by the band to be sold, such was the overwhelming RN'R vibration that they were able to generate.

But then, something happened: they grew up; they evolved. By the time they cut their mammoth "Use Your Illusion" project, they had sacked Adler (a casualty of his overindulgence) in favor of session player Matt Sorum, added keyboards courtesy of one Dizzy Reed and started writing grandiose, sprawling, 9 minute epics. This transition meant that the band, in order to fulfill their higher musical aspirations, had to grow as people and as musicians, push themselves to the limit and shed some of their earlier spontaneity (along with most of their chemical dependencies) in favor of a more calculated, cerebral, musical approach. And to top it all, just 2 months after the release of the "Illusion" records and barely 3 weeks prior to the beginning of the next leg of their tour, Izzy jumps ship and he is quickly replaced by LA bar circuit veteran Gilby Clarke (actually, an old friend of Izzy's from before the time there even was a GN'R...now how's that for irony and/or fate?), whose tangible contribution to the band was very limited, for one reason or another (I don't intend to enter a debate about his musical merits and/or the band's internal politics and workings here).

Both of these tangents are captured in after-the-fact release from 1999 "Live Era 87-93" (released 6 years after the last live performance by the band), but unfortunately, the results are less than stellar: indeed, the "before" and "after" sonic pictures herein don't mesh all that well together, as the difference between the two is pretty brutal and can leave the uninitiated quite confused. The record includes no further information as to the sources of these performances other than the purposely vague "recorded across the universe" tag. Many people (critics and fans alike) complain about this issue, arguing that because of this omission, it is "impossible" to know which tracks feature the original five some and which the "Illusion" band.

However, those of you with enough interest and a keen ear will find no problem whatsoever: like I said, the difference is brutal! The vast majority of the tracks come from the 2 year-plus "Use your Illusion World Tour", which is hardly surprising considering that most of these tracks had never been played live before that tour went underway, and the presence of keyboards, horns, synthesizers and backup singers are the easy giveaway (Move to the City, Patience, Don't Cry, November Rain, etc). And then you have a handful of tracks recorded by the original band (My Michelle, Used to Love Her, You're Crazy, Out ta Get me). Granted, there are a couple of tracks that lie in a "gray area" if you will (Welcome to the jungle, Sweet Child o'Mine, Rocket Queen), but once again, if you listen closely, you will hear the difference. Let me give you a clue: listen closely to the drums. Listen to the drums on "Estranged", and then listen to the drums on "My Michelle", and then listen to the drums on "Nightrain". You WILL hear the difference, I promise.

The song selection is adequate but not great, essentially representing their "Illusion" tour setlist. There are, however, a few suspicious omissions: "Live & Let Die", "Bad Obsession", "So Fine", "Civil War", "Double Talking Jive" (to name but a few) all got the big thumbs down in favor of extended versions of "November Rain", "Estranged" and Axl's spotlight number "It's Alright" (notice a trend, here?)

Another criticism leveled towards this release is in regards of its sound quality: many argue that the performances have been greatly manipulated and fixed in the studio. Having listened to several bootlegs from the "Use Your Illusion" tour (Paris, Mexico, etc), I have to say that I don't fully agree with this observation: for the most part, the sound of this CD is fairly consistent with what I've heard over the years; there is, however, one aspect of the performances that might have been doctored: the vocals. Indeed, after repeated listening, some of the songs (Nightrain, for instance) sound as if the vocals had been chopped up and spliced together from several different takes, not necessarily studio takes, but several different live takes. And I find it more than a little suspicious that the list of people involved with the production of the album includes so many engineers/sound programmers, including future A Perfect Circle mastermind Billy Howerdel.

Many fans feel that they have been shortchanged with the release of a subpar product, and they argue that a release from a single, full show from their bar days would have been the superior choice. I partially agree: see, most people think that "Live Era" is a flawed representation of a great band, while I on the other hand believe that it is a great representation of a flawed band. You can't really argue with the sound quality here, as it is crystal clear, above and beyond any of the bootlegs I've heard. But the problem is not the sound, but rather the performances: the bloated, overindulgent, pretentious performances chockfull of superfluous elements. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with horn sections, backup singers and/or synths in RN'R, but one thing is the studio environment and a whole different one is the live setting. Take Aerosmith for example: they have used strings and horns from day one on their recordings, but that doesn't mean that when they hit the road they take a big band ensemble with them. They understand the difference between the two environments, but sadly, the guys in GN'R didn't.

Personally, I believe that GN'R reached their absolute musical peak during their "Get in the Ring Motherf#cker Tour", which took place right before the release of the "Illusion" package (don't take my word for it, just go to youtube and see it and HEAR it for yourself), simply because the band reached a new level of musicianship while still retaining a fair amount of reckless rage (granted, most of it was due to intra-band warfare, but still...). Therefore, I think that the selections included in "Live Era" should have been limited to include NOTHING beyond that point. I mean, some of the songs don't even seem to have rhythm guitar at all (Don't Cry, Sweet Child o' Mine, Rocket Queen) with Slash's omnipresent guitar conducting the proceedings, while others (Patience) sound just plain wrong. I personally am a big fan of live albums, but I don't necessarily believe that a great live album HAS to be culled from a single performance. So I think that a much more balanced CD could have been made by a) using as many performances from the original band as possible b) bypassing their horns n' babes phase wholly c) making different song selection. I mean, ALL the songs from Appetite for Destruction should come from shows of that era, wouldn't you agree?

Finally, while I do agree that releasing a full, early show from their bar days (such as their shows at the Marquee in London, which were recorded for use as b-sides of their European singles and produced such mythical tracks as their version of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie") would undoubtedly blow "Live Era" right off the water, there is the teeny, tiny problem of those shows being relatively short (an hour and 20 minutes or so) in comparison. Rock in Rio '91 comes to mind as well, but they had sound problems and some even say lack of rehearsal time. Oh well...

With five stars for sound quality and one star for its musical offering, "Live Era" earns 3 stars for its overall execution. If you're a diehard GN'R fan, you'll probably want to have this while holding your breath waiting for a DEFINITIVE live release from the band. If you're a newcomer, chances are you're going to end up disappointed. At its best, "Live Era" is barely an adequate snapshot of one of the greatest Rn'r of the last 20 years, and at its worst, a sad testament to the powers of a once great band on a downward spiral. The choice is yours...
November 11, 2008

Live: Era '87-'93

Guns N' Roses-Live:Era '87-'93 *****

Depending on where you find it Live:Era can run you a pretty penny. Well it is worth the price of admission. As the title suggest it takes performances from all around the globe from 1987 through 1993 when the band was on their Lose Your Illusions tour.

Slash, Izzy, and on a few tracks Gilby Clark play some killer guitar. Extended solos in some places and some all around impressive work always. Duff holds is own with Steven Adler and sometimes Matt Sorum. Axl's voice sounds pretty good through out and his interaction with the crowds is wonderful.

'Welcome To The Jungle' is done fantastic. The intro is classic. 'Dust N' Bones' kicks; Izzy dominates here. The fact that they didn't leave of tracks from Lies is great as it is truly the bands best work. 'Patience' is chilling because the crowd almost over powers Rose. 'Used To Love Her' is as ruthless as always. 'Move To The City' is phenomenal. 'Rocket Queen' blows away the studio version as does 'Paradise City.' 'Estranged' could have been better but they all hated each other by then so that's alright.

What really makes this worth owning is Axl's cover of Black Sabbaths 'Its Alright.' Absolutely stunning. Short, sweet, and brilliant. Take a listen and see what I mean because this has to be heard to appreciate.

Live: Era is essential for the true GNR fan. Yeah there may be a better version of 'You Could Be Mine' but who has the time to find it on their own? September 4, 2008

Not worth buying

In addition to other comments: the versions of the songs presented here are far from the best ones available. Sometimes the band sounds like they desperately need to sober up/get their act together, or as if they're just bored.

Mastering is bad: when you get crackling during solos no need to reach to check your speakers - it's on the recording.

Contrary to what I was expecting this album sounds completely uninspiring, and it has Civil War missing. Look elsewhere for GNR. July 12, 2008

It's /CENSORED!!/

I just got this, so yeah, I'm a bit behind the times. I was looking to replace my stolen Appetite CD, and saw and ordered this.

The good? It's GNR. It is /so/ GNR.

The bad? They censored GNR!! Rather than put a flipping sticker on it like they used to, most of the f-bombs are blurred out, the word "kill" in Used To Love Her is blurred, the word "cocaine" in You Could Be Mine...

I love these guys and this music, but every time I notice something missing I want to replace it with my own swearing. And blast it, Axl's better at it than I am. July 7, 2008

Natural sounding blast of rockin' times

Strange feeling I have about this one. Part of me screams that this is a cynical way of grabbing a few more dollars for tunes that have already been paid for. But part of me figures that if some bands can put out live albums after only one proper studio album (yes I'm talking to you Evanescence) then surely after three albums, the Lies collection and the Spaghetti Incident then `the most dangerous band on the planet' deserves to be able to put out a live release.

And what a raft of tunes to choose from. The reasons for this bands mega bucks empire is writ large across the two discs of this collection that is quite impressive if for no other reason than that you feel like it was largely recorded at the same gig. Which apparently isn't the case. So the people who put this together really knew what they were doing. And the tunes themselves speak for themselves. If your a fan like me you'll probably already have all the studio works and it's just a matter of completism. For me it was an easy choice as to whether to buy this or not, listening to stuff from either their early or late periods will have you grinning from ear to ear. Strangely enough in a weird way the band are now considered a `classic' band and accorded a devout following within the hard rock and metal universe. Which is strange indeed if you were there at the time.

Fans of the band can buy this with confidence, as the discs unfold you'll not feel ripped off. Even if like me your not necessarily a fan of the live album format. And with 22 tracks spread over the collection your getting your moneys worth. Not to mention the booklet complete with photos of the band and examples of flyers for their early gigs which adds to the sense of history inherent in this release. As for those who may be new to the harder end of the music spectrum or just new to the band itself, it's a toss up whether you'd be better off getting this or the greatest hits album that consists of studio tracks. While I rate this as a very healthy four stars my heart tells me you should get the studio best of collection in order to hear the tunes as they were originally intended and to hear them the way those around at the time heard them for the first time. June 13, 2008

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