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Thx. It came quickly.Bought this as a gift for a friend.He says "it's perfect".
If your religion is rock music, then Axl Rose is your God and his albums is your Bible. In fact, Axl's new album is way way better than any Slash or Duff's solo projects. are always missing: beautiful melodies.
Unexpectedly Buckethead is just as great as he is, or even better. "Chinese Democracy" is definitely the best rock album since 1991. Slash is my guitar hero of all time.
It got what the other great rock bands like Metallica, AC/DC, etc. Buy more copies of this masterpiece for your family and friends to do them a huge favor. Try one of Buckethead's albums, you will fall in love with and finally get addicted to his underestimated talent.
Buckethead can play any style as well as guitar god Jeff Beck.
Live Era 87-93 contains all of GNR's best songs and is like there best of except live. The beat just keeps going on and after you listen too this album you will find yourself listening too it again and again. Buy today Filled with roaring crowds and ear shattering drums and guitar and vocals you cannot miss this album. Starting out with a nice version of Nightrain with an announcer ranting, "You wanted the best but you didnt get it so heres what you get from hollywood GUNS AND ROSES.", Then the band launches off and the rest is history.
But then, something happened: they grew up; they evolved. They understand the difference between the two environments, but sadly, the guys in GN'R didn't. 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. 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. 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. The choice is yours. 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.
Oh well.With five stars for sound quality and one star for its musical offering, "Live Era" earns 3 stars for its overall execution. 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. 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. Let me give you a clue: listen closely to the drums.
However, those of you with enough interest and a keen ear will find no problem whatsoever: like I said, the difference is brutal. The record includes no further information as to the sources of these performances other than the purposely vague "recorded across the universe" tag. Therefore, I think that the selections included in "Live Era" should have been limited to include NOTHING beyond that point. 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). 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.
Why do I bring this up. They just presented themselves as they were, and because of that, they came across as genuine. 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). You WILL hear the difference, I promise.
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). But the problem is not the sound, but rather the performances: the bloated, overindulgent, pretentious performances chockfull of superfluous elements. 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. 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. 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.
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 meant 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). 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 'Cause I think that you should know where I come from and where my 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. 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. 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. 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.).
If you're a newcomer, chances are you're going to end up disappointed. I mean, ALL the songs from Appetite for Destruction should come from shows of that era, wouldn't you agree. 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. 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. Listen to the drums on "Estranged", and then listen to the drums on "My Michelle", and then listen to the drums on "Nightrain". Rock in Rio '91 comes to mind as well, but they had sound problems and some even say lack of rehearsal time.
Musically though, they were pretty raw: singer W. 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. The song selection is adequate but not great, essentially representing their "Illusion" tour setlist. 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. Granted, there are a couple of tracks that lie in a somewhat "gray area" if you will (It's so Easy, Mr Brownstone), but once again, if you listen closely, you will hear the difference.
The fact that they didn't leave of tracks from Lies is great as it is truly the bands best work. 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. Guns N' Roses-Live:Era '87-'93 *****Depending on where you find it Live:Era can run you a pretty penny. 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. Short, sweet, and brilliant. Axl's voice sounds pretty good through out and his interaction with the crowds is wonderful.'Welcome To The Jungle' is done fantastic. 'Dust N' Bones' kicks; Izzy dominates here.
'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. 'Move To The City' is phenomenal.
Duff holds is own with Steven Adler and sometimes Matt Sorum. 'Used To Love Her' is as ruthless as always.
Well it is worth the price of admission. 'Patience' is chilling because the crowd almost over powers Rose.
Yeah there may be a better version of 'You Could Be Mine' but who has the time to find it on their own. Extended solos in some places and some all around impressive work always.
The intro is classic.
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