G N' R Lies

{{See also|Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide{{!}}Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide}}

The first four tracks consist of the previously released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide. These four tracks were also included as bonus tracks on the 2018 reissue of Appetite for Destruction.

The last four songs were recorded with acoustic guitars. They were written and recorded in only a few studio sessions (with the exception of "You're Crazy", which appeared in an alternative version on Appetite for Destruction), which producer Mike Clink called "one of those magical rock and roll history moments".

In later interviews, Axl Rose stated that while he loved how the band sounded on the last four songs, he hated the sound of his voice. Rose recalled that his voice was husky and scratchy from the band's lengthy touring at the time, and if he could he would have re-recorded his vocal tracks in a separate session.

A significantly faster version of "You're Crazy" with electric guitars had previously been released on the band's debut album, Appetite for Destruction, and was now recorded as originally intended.{{cite web|url=http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd/crazy.htm |title=Song info at GNRSource.com |access-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071021005816/http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd/crazy.htm |archive-date= October 21, 2007}}

"Used to Love Her" was written as a joke after Izzy Stradlin disliked a song he heard on the radio featuring "some guy whining about a broad who was treating him bad". Slash stated that "People think it's about one of our old girlfriends, but it's actually about Axl's dog."{{cite web|url=http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/lies/utlh.htm |title=Song info at GNRSource.com |access-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071206110805/http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/lies/utlh.htm |archive-date= December 6, 2007}}

Three of the four songs from the G N' R Lies EP are included on the 2018 remastered release of the album Appetite for Destruction, with the exception of the controversial "One in a Million".{{cite web|title=Guns N' Roses' Massive New Box Set Omits "One In A Million"|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1994833/guns-n-roses-massive-new-box-set-omits-one-in-a-million/news/|website=Stereogum|access-date=April 17, 2019|date=May 4, 2018}}

File:Guns_and_Roses_GNR_Lies.jpg

The cover is a parody of tabloid newspapers, as are the liner notes. The album's cover art underwent several minor modifications when the title was released on CD,{{cite magazine |last=Kim |first=Wook |date=April 19, 2012 |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/04/20/top-10-controversial-album-covers/slide/gun-n-roses-g-nr-lies/|title=Shock and Awe: Top 10 Controversial Album Covers: Gun N' Roses, GN'R Lies|magazine=Time |access-date=August 19, 2015}} though early pressings of the CD retain the original cover art. First, in the bottom left corner reading "LIES LIES LIES" originally read "Wife-beating has been around for 10,000 years." Secondly, instead of "Elephant gives birth to midget", the original headline reads, "Ladies, welcome to the dark ages." Many copies of the original LP release also contained an uncensored picture of a nude model on the inner LP sleeve.Guns N' Roses, G N' R Lies. Geffen Records, GHS 24198; 1988.

{{see also|One in a Million (Guns N' Roses song)}}

The song "One in a Million" has caused controversy and raised accusations of racism, homophobia and nativism due to the lyrics, which include the slurs "nigger" and "faggot".{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Patrick|title=Behind the Guns N' Roses Racism Furor|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 15, 1989|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-15-ca-485-story.html|access-date=December 19, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150711095629/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-15/entertainment/ca-485_1_axl-rose|archive-date=July 11, 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1989/10/15/essay-fighting-words/713b38e9-bf34-410e-81a3-30b9472d19f6/|title=Essay Fighting Words|first=Juan|last=Williams|date=October 15, 1989|access-date=December 17, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122042014/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1989/10/15/essay-fighting-words/713b38e9-bf34-410e-81a3-30b9472d19f6/|archive-date=November 22, 2015}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/06/07/axlrose/index.html |title=Axl Rose: American Hellhound |last=Cave |first=Damien |date=July 7, 2001 |website=Salon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010610222242/https://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/06/07/axlrose/index.html |archive-date=June 10, 2001 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 19, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/11/18/rock-turns-mean-and-ugly/|title=Rock Turns Mean And Ugly|website=Chicago Tribune |date=November 18, 1990 |access-date=December 17, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221100430/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-11-18/entertainment/9004050924_1_geto-boys-racism-and-misogyny-motley-crue|archive-date=February 21, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/pop-view-there-s-a-new-sound-in-pop-music-bigotry.html|title=There's a New Sound in Pop Music: Bigotry|date=September 10, 1989|website=The New York Times|access-date=December 17, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220005220/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/pop-view-there-s-a-new-sound-in-pop-music-bigotry.html|archive-date=December 20, 2017}} Rose denied that he was a racist and defended his use of the word "nigger", claiming that "it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black." He cited the rap group N.W.A and the John Lennon song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" as other examples of musicians using the word.{{cite magazine|last=James|first=Del|title=The Rolling Stone Interview with Axl Rose|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=August 10, 1989|url=http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=3|access-date=December 19, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720032323/http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=3|archive-date=July 20, 2011}} Several years later, Rose conceded that he had used the word as an insult towards black people who had tried to rob him, and because the word is a taboo.{{cite magazine|last=Neely|first=Kim|title=Axl Rose: The Rolling Stone Interview|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=April 2, 1992|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/axl-rose-the-rolling-stone-interview-19920402 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427181915/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/axl-rose-the-rolling-stone-interview-19920402 |archive-date=April 27, 2012|access-date=December 17, 2017|quote=RS:Does it bother you that so many people think you're misogynous, homophobic and racist Rose: 'It can bother me. But the racist thing is just bullshit. I used a word that was taboo. And I used that word because it was taboo. I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism. When I used the word faggots, I wasn't coming down on gays. I was coming down on an element of gays'.}} In response to the allegations of homophobia, Rose stated that he considered himself "pro-heterosexual" and blamed this attitude on "bad experiences" with gay men.{{cite magazine |last=James |first=Del |date=September 1992 |editor=Lonn Friend |editor-link=Lonn Friend |title=I, Axl |url=http://ladydairhean.0catch.com/Axl/Interviews/article025.htm |magazine=Rip |publisher=Larry Flynt Publications |access-date=March 19, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320043737/http://ladydairhean.0catch.com/Axl/Interviews/article025.htm |archive-date=March 20, 2018 }}

Although initially against the song, other members of the band have since defended the song,Kent, Nick. Pop, Iggy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DObXzPKC3i4C&dq=niggers+with+attitude+and+public+enemy+are+racist&pg=PA231 The Dark Stuff: selected writings on rock music] Page 232. Da Capo Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-306-81182-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-306-81182-1}} claiming it was misunderstood.Kent, Nick. Pop, Iggy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DObXzPKC3i4C&dq=niggers+with+attitude+and+public+enemy+are+racist&pg=PA231 The Dark Stuff: selected writings on rock music] Page 232. Da Capo Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-306-81182-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-306-81182-1}} Nevertheless, the song was not included in future compilation releases that otherwise included all the other tracks on Lies.{{Cite magazine|last=Hiatt|first=Brian|date=2018-08-14|title=Slash Speaks! Inside the Guns N' Roses Reunion and His New Album|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/slash-speaks-inside-the-guns-n-roses-reunion-and-his-new-album-710144/|access-date=2020-09-16|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}{{cite magazine|last1=Grow|first1=Kory|date=June 6, 2019|title=How Duff McKagan Got Woke|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/duff-mckagan-tenderness-guns-n-roses-interview-837548/|magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{efn|Future pressings & digital releases of the album itself still contain the song in unmodified form.}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r8760|pure_url=yes}}|title=G N' R Lies|website=Allmusic |access-date=February 17, 2012}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = B{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1991/08/09/guns-n-roses-discography/|title=Guns N' Roses discography|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Browne|first=David|date=9 October 1991|access-date=April 12, 2025}}

| rev3 = Rolling Stone

| rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/g-n-r-lies-19890126 |title=G N' R Lies | Album Reviews |last=Neely |first=Kim |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=January 26, 1989 |access-date=January 10, 2012}}

| rev4 = The Village Voice

| rev4score = E{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=March 14, 1989|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv289-89.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=April 29, 2013}}

}}

Rolling Stone, in a 4 out of 5 star review, stated "Given that Guns N' Roses could probably release an album of Baptist hymns at this point and go platinum, it would be all too easy to dismiss G n' R Lies as a sneaky attempt by the band to throw together some outtakes and cash in on the busy holiday buying season ... The good news is that Lies is a lot more interesting than that ... The calm folk-rock melodies of these four acoustic songs reveal yet another welcome facet of Guns N' Roses. They should also end any further mutterings from the doubting Thomases out there who are still making snide comments about the band's potential for longevity." AllMusic, in a 3.5 out of 5 review, criticized some of the songs on the acoustic side, stating "Constructed as a double EP, with the "indie" debut Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide coming first and four new acoustic-based songs following on the second side, G N' R Lies is where the band metamorphosed from genuine threat to joke. Neither recorded live nor released by an indie label, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide is competent bar band boogie, without the energy or danger of Appetite for Destruction. The new songs are considerably more problematic. "Patience" is Guns N' Roses at their prettiest and their sappiest, the most direct song they recorded to date. Its emotional directness makes the misogyny of "Used to Love Her (But I Had to Kill Her)" and the pitiful slanders of "One in a Million" sound genuine.

In a negative review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau stated "Axl's voice is a power tool with attachments, Slash's guitar a hype, the groove potent "hard rock", and the songwriting not without its virtues. So figure musical quality at around C plus and take the grade as a call to boycott, a reminder to clean livers who yearn for the wild side that the necessary link between sex-and-drugs and rock-and-roll is a Hollywood fantasy" while condemning "One In a Million" and "Used To Love Her".

In a 2014 review, Metal Hammer dissected the controversy around the album, stating "Conceived as a stop-gap release, the second Guns N' Roses album remains a remarkable one-off – in every sense.{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/guns-n-roses-gn-r-lies|title=Guns N' Roses: GN'R Lies|date=November 30, 2021 }} Ultimate Classic Rock stated "Ironically, G N' R Lies' tabloid-style cover art also hinted at the incessant scandals and resulting paranoia that would soon engulf the band, and its singer in particular, sowing the seeds to their eventual dissolution after the twin Use Your Illusion behemoths, and protracted creative silence until 2008's historically delayed Chinese Democracy opus."{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-lies/|title=Guns N' Roses Showed Off Both Sides of Themselves on 'G N' R Lies'|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=November 30, 2013 }}

Songwriting credits via ASCAP.

{{track listing

| headline = 1986 (Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide: Faux-live songs)

| title1 = Reckless Life

| writer1 = {{hlist|Axl Rose|Izzy Stradlin|Chris Weber}}

| length1 = 3:23

| title2 = Nice Boys

| note2 = Rose Tattoo cover

| writer2 = {{hlist|Angry Anderson|Mick Cocks|Geordie Leach|Dallas "Digger" Royall|Peter Wells}}

| length2 = 3:01

| title3 = Move to the City

| writer3 = {{hlist|Stradlin|Weber|Daniel Nicolson (a/k/a D.J.)}}{{cite web |title=Document Number: V2726P040 |url=https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/detailed-record/2287749 |website=U.S. Copyright Office Public Records |access-date=October 23, 2022}}{{cite web |title=GN'R Song Archive: Move To The City |url=https://www.a-4-d.com/t86-move-to-the-city |website=Appetite For Discussion |access-date=October 23, 2022 |archive-date=October 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023172417/https://www.a-4-d.com/t86-move-to-the-city |url-status=dead }}

| length3 = 3:42

| title4 = Mama Kin

| note4 = Aerosmith cover

| writer4 = Steven Tyler

| length4 = 3:57

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 1988 (Acoustic songs)

| total_length = 33:29

| title5 = Patience

| writer5 = Guns N' Roses

| length5 = 5:56

| title6 = Used to Love Her

| writer6 = Guns N' Roses

| length6 = 3:13

| title7 = You're Crazy

| writer7 = Guns N' Roses

| length7 = 4:10

| title8 = One in a Million

| writer8 = Guns N' Roses

| length8 = 6:09

}}

Guns N' Roses

• W. Axl Rose − lead vocals, piano, whistling
• Slash − lead guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar
• Izzy Stradlin − rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Duff "Rose" McKagan − bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Steven Adler − drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• West Arkeen − additional guitar, backing vocals on tracks 5–8
• Howard Teman − percussion on tracks 5–8

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Argentina|type=album|title=GNR Lies|artist=Guns 'N Roses|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|certyear=1991|certref={{cite web|url=http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=&album=&LanDesde_MM=1&LanDesde_AA=1980&LanHasta_MM=12&LanHasta_AA=2010&Galardon=O&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110706084844/http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=&album=&LanDesde_MM=1&LanDesde_AA=1980&LanHasta_MM=12&LanHasta_AA=2010&Galardon=O&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP |archive-date= July 6, 2011 |title=Discos de oro y platino |access-date=July 12, 2019 |publisher=Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas |language=es |url-status=dead }}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|title=Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|certyear=1990|certref={{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/kHqGBKb.jpeg|title=ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Ending 22 APR 1990 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 15)|publisher=ARIA|via=Imgur.com|access-date=May 9, 2024}} N.B. The triangle symbol besides a title represents ARIA Platinum certification, as indicated in the box at the bottom of the page.}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|type=album|title=Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1992|access-date=July 13, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|type=album|title=Guns R' Lies|artist=Guns|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1993|access-date=February 21, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=album|title=G'N'R' Lies, The Drugs, The Sex|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1993|access-date=July 13, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|type=album|title=G'N'R' Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1994|certmonth=2|access-date=July 13, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|title=G'N'R' Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|id=1989-11-10|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|certyear=1989}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|title=G N' R Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1989|access-date=September 3, 2020|id=2454-145-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=G 'N R Lies|artist=Guns N' Roses|award=Platinum|number=5|relyear=1988|certyear=1995|access-date=September 3, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

{{notelist}}

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{{Guns N' Roses}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1988 albums

Category:1988 controversies

Category:Guns N' Roses albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Clink

Category:Geffen Records albums