Guns N' Roses
photo: mrpanygoff · cc by-sa 3.0 ↗Guns N' Roses formed in Los Angeles in 1985, welding the blues-rock swagger of the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith to the raw aggression of punk and the street-level menace of the Sunset Strip club scene. Their 1987 debut 'Appetite for Destruction' became one of the best-selling debut albums ever, and singles like 'Welcome to the Jungle,' 'Sweet Child o' Mine,' and the sprawling ballad 'November Rain' made them one of the defining hard-rock acts of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by Axl Rose's serrated wail and built on Slash's blues-steeped lead guitar, the band bridged the excess of glam metal and a grittier, more dangerous rock and roll.
Slash and Axl Rose have repeatedly named Aerosmith among their formative influences, and Guns N' Roses covered Aerosmith's 'Mama Kin' in their early live sets and on record — a direct tribute to the bluesy, strutting hard rock of Aerosmith's 1970s work. You can hear that lineage in the loose, swaggering groove and dual-guitar interplay of the band's up-tempo rockers.
listen forDrop Aerosmith's 'Mama Kin' next to 'Nightrain' — both ride a dirty, mid-tempo blues-rock riff and a raspy, sneering vocal that turns hard-living braggadocio into the hook.
Guns N' Roses drew on the Rolling Stones' blueprint of blues-rooted riffing and dissolute rock-and-roll swagger; Slash has cited the Stones as a touchstone, and the band's loose, groove-driven rhythm playing echoes Keith Richards' rhythm-guitar feel.
listen forPut the Stones' 'Brown Sugar' up against 'It's So Easy' — listen for the same cocky, riff-first strut and sleazy, half-spoken verse phrasing.
The high-voltage, riff-driven hard rock of AC/DC shaped Guns N' Roses' heaviest, most propulsive material; the band's rhythm section locks into the same relentless, no-frills groove that AC/DC built their sound on.
listen forCue AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' and then 'Welcome to the Jungle' — both drive a chugging, instantly recognizable guitar riff with a stomping, unrelenting backbeat.