* En anglais uniquement
Although veterans of the Sunset Strip's hair metal scene,
L.A. Guns are also known for being one of the two bands (along with
Hollywood Rose) that merged in the mid-'80s to form
Guns N' Roses. Formed in 1983, the group's first lineup included
Tracii Guns and vocalist
Axl Rose, the latter of whom eventually left to form his own group with childhood friend
Izzy Stradlin.
Rose and
Guns decided to combine their two bands in 1985, thus creating the earliest incarnation of
Guns N' Roses.
Tracii Guns handled lead guitar duties for several months before being replaced by
Slash; suddenly finding himself without a band, he bounced back by rejoining his old bandmates in
L.A. Guns, who'd continued playing shows in his absence under the leadership of vocalist Paul Black.
With
Guns back in the lineup and Black writing most of the songs, the band landed a deal with Polygram Records and made plans to record a debut album. Black was replaced by former
Girl frontman
Phil Lewis before
L.A. Guns could enter the studio, though, and the rest of the lineup shifted as well, eventually solidifying around
Guns,
Lewis, drummer Nickey Alexander, bassist
Kelly Nickels, and guitarist
Mick Cripps.
In 1988,
L.A. Guns released their self-titled debut album, featuring a raunchy,
Aerosmith-influenced sound and a number of songs that had been written by ex-member Paul Black. Former
W.A.S.P. drummer
Steve Riley joined the lineup during the tour that followed, and
L.A. Guns quickly returned to the studio to bang out a second album,
Cocked and Loaded. Released in 1989 and propelled by the Top 40 single "The Ballad of Jayne,"
Cocked and Loaded went gold, giving the band a minor stake in the hair metal explosion that
Guns N' Roses had helped spark. Released two years later,
Hollywood Vampires managed to hold the audience's attention by peaking at number 42. Nevertheless, the guys laid low for four years, waiting for grunge to fade away.
When
L.A. Guns released their fourth album,
Vicious Circle, in early 1995, they retained a core group of followers but failed to capture the mainstream's attention. It was their weakest-selling album to date and set off a chain of lineup shifts, with
Johnny Crypt taking over bass-playing duties, Chris Van Dahl assuming the frontman role, and
Guns serving as the band's sole guitarist. Polygram dropped the band in the wake of
Vicious Circle's slow sales, and 1996's
American Hardcore introduced the band's new lineup but fared no better.
Greatest Hits & Black Beauties, a collection of re-recorded favorites and new material, followed in 1999 after a succession of new vocalists that included
Ralph Saenz (on 1998's Wasted EP) and
Love/Hate singer
Jizzy Pearl. That same summer, the group released a
Gilby Clarke-produced collection of new material, entitled
Shrinking Violet, with
Pearl serving as lead vocalist. For 2001's Man in the Moon (again produced by
Clarke),
Phil Lewis and
Mick Cripps returned to the lineup, joining
Guns,
Riley, former
Pretty Boy Floyd member Keff Ratcliffe and new bassist
Muddy.
Waking the Dead followed a year later, and founder
Tracii Guns left the group to form
Brides of Destruction with
Nikki Sixx.
Following
Guns' departure,
Phil Lewis took over as lead singer for
L.A. Guns. This iteration of the band would go on to release four full-length albums,
Rips the Covers Off (2004),
Tales from the Strip (2005),
Covered in Guns (2010), and
Hollywood Forever (2012). During that time,
Tracii Guns was operating under the moniker
the Tracii Guns Band with former
L.A. Guns members Paul Black and Nickey Alexander, along with
Brides of Destruction live bassist Jeremy Guns. To make things even more confusing,
Tracii Guns owned the rights to the
L.A. Guns name, so between 2006 and 2012, there were two bands operating under the moniker.
In 2016,
Guns and
Lewis buried the hatchet and performed together for the first time in 14 years. They played a series of live shows which culminated in the release of the aptly named
The Missing Peace,
L.A. Guns' 11th studio long-player released by
Frontiers Records. The album's success prompted
Lewis to sever all ties with the
Riley lineup, and he and
Guns forged ahead to play the Frontiers Rock Festival in Milan which yielded the 2018 live set Made in Milan. The reunion continued in 2019 with another studio album, The Devil You Know, in the similar metal vein of their previous outing. The following year saw the
Riley-led incarnation of the group issue the LP
Renegades. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Andrew Leahey