Sorry gotta disagree here.............i think all that "Use Your Illusion 1 and 2" shit sucked!
Appetite for Destruction was a fucking brilliant album ....."don't cry" november rain" was crap IMO
Appetite was one of the best ever. If they had all died in a plane crash after that record, they'd be the greatest band in history. Much like if Jimi had lived, he'd be just another fat burnout hippie today, not the 'greatest ever'.
Illusion... they realized the power ballads were money makers, so the record/singles was about tracks like Civil war, Yesterday, Knockin, november, and Dont cry... I think "you could be mine" was the only heavy song they released as a single from those CDs?
They sold out, plain and simple. I love GNR and worship Slash - I can play any solo on Appetite or Illusion note-for-note, sitll to this day... but yeah, they chased the $.