Matt Sorum , drummer for Guns N' Roses in the 1990s, commented on the rivalry with Metallica when the bands toured together to promote hugely successful albums.
In 1991, Guns N' Roses released the two volumes of the album Use Your Illusion , featuring hits like "November Rain" and "Don't Cry," while Metallica reached unimaginable heights with The Black Album , a groundbreaking record. The following year, the bands embarked on a joint tour.
Sorum had already toured with Metallica when he played with The Cult in the 1980s, and he noticed a difference in the audience of the thrash metal giants: there were no girls. “Girls can’t dance to And Justice For All . They need to like the music, too,” he said in an interview with Desert Sun. “Bands like Def Leppard have a 90% female audience. When I went to see Metallica back in the day, it was 99% guys. When they made The Black Album, the rest is history and they’re still around.”
The drummer also revealed the competitive atmosphere between the bands. “AXl [Rose]’s intention was to dominate the world and he wasn’t afraid to say it. Then Lars [Ulrich] came along and he also wanted to dominate the world,” he said. “Our thinking was, ‘You need to make way for us, because we dominate the world.’ They were very competitive with us.”
The albums Use Your Illusion and The Black Album are among the best of 1991 and are the subject of episode #329 of the Wikimetal podcast . To vote for your favorite, access our poll.
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