Rock and roll history is littered with controversy. Some of the best examples come from the music itself.
One example that comes to mind is GN’R Lies. The second studio album from Guns N’ Roses, GN’R Lies was released on November 29, 1988. The eight-track album is divided into two parts. The first part, which is the first four tracks, is a re-release of the band’s 1986’s EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide.
Meanwhile, the second part is made up of four acoustic tracks. Among them is the hit song “Patience,” which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also included is an acoustic version of “You’re Crazy,” the original version of which is on 1987’s Appetite for Destruction.
RELATED: Slash's Explanation Why He Doesn't Want a GN'R Biopic Makes Sense
The second half also features “Used to Love Her.” We previously wrote of this track in our ranking of every GN'R song, “Not sure if there’s an award for ‘Catchiest Songs About Murdering Your Significant Other,’ but if there is, ‘Used to Love Her’ would at the very least be in the running. The only thing about this song that has really aged well is its melody, which is still a solid earworm.”
This leads us to the final acoustic song, which also serves as the final track on the album: “One in a Million.” While Guns N’ Roses have plenty of songs in their catalog that still sound fresh today, “One in a Million” certainly has not.
In a February 2023 interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, this track was brought up to Slash. The guitar icon said he doesn’t like dwelling on the past. However, he does admit that most things GN’R did in their heyday wouldn’t fly today.
” … Most of everything that [Guns N’ Roses] did would’ve gotten us canceled in this day and age,” said Slash. “We would not have fared well in this environment, for sure — I mean, on so many different levels.”
With GN’R Lies and “One in a Million” in mind, here’s a look at just five of rock’s most controversial songs.
