L.A. Guns vs L.A. Guns – The Pistol Wars Vol.2
Here is a translated version of the story L.A. Guns vs L.A. Guns – The Pistol Wars originally written on May 7th 2020 here on Junkyard Rock Stories.
Regardless of whether you are a die-hard fan of this band, have only heard one of their songs here and there throughout your life, or perhaps know them only through the story of how Guns N’ Roses came to be, it really does not matter. The situation we can currently find on the ground would confuse even the most devoted followers of this Los Angeles sleaze rock band. Therefore, we feel it is necessary to take a look at the current state of affairs, or rather, to make a Junkyard analysis of what is going on inside this once very important band from the late-eighties Sunset Strip scene.
Bands appearing under the same name while operating with two completely different lineups are hardly a new phenomenon. The story of the split within L.A. Guns, or War Vol. 1, actually began back at the start of the previous decade. Similar situations occurred at certain points in the careers of bands such as Ratt, Great White, Faster Pussycat, Yes, Queensryche, to name just a few.
Looking at this list, it would be easy to conclude that we are mostly talking about bands that achieved their greatest fame during the eighties, more or less the so-called “hair metal” bands. We rarely use that term here because of its obvious intention to diminish the entire movement, so we prefer to use terms such as glam, sleaze metal and rock. Essentially, the entire movement and the bands associated with it still carry some inexplicable stigma to this day, one that makes their existence even more difficult in the modern music industry. No other musical movement or group of bands has suffered quite the same fate, not even those that lasted for a shorter period or achieved far less success. This is a very broad subject that deserves its own article, although it could easily become a book. For that reason, we will leave it for another time.
Let us now return to the central subject of this story. L.A. Guns released a new single called Crawl on April 20 of this year and announced the release of an album titled Renegades. Seventeen days later, the same band, meaning L.A. Guns, released another song called Let You Down and announced another new release. Someone looking at all this from the outside would probably ask who exactly has lost their mind here. For those who have been following this band’s career, however, none of this is particularly new. Welcome to the “Second L.A. Guns War”!
Our readers will surely remember that about a year ago we talked about the album The Devil You Know, which actually won our 2019 Album of the Year poll. Those who have been with us longer will also remember the 2017 album The Missing Peace, which we described at the time, among other things, as a “comeback” album. A comeback from where, exactly, and from what? Alongside those releases, the band also put out a live album in 2018 and an EP shortly before Christmas 2019. That brings us to the key question: how did so many releases appear within such a short period of time, and what is actually going on here?
To establish who is who and give ourselves a proper starting point, we need to go back a little. The main protagonists of this soap opera are the band’s founder and guitarist Traci Guns and drummer Steve Riley. Each holds 50% of the rights to the L.A. Guns name.
The nineties were for L.A. Guns much the same as they were for every other band from this scene. The beginning was promising. The 1991 album Hollywood Vampires was a natural continuation of the previous two records and delivered several key songs in the band’s catalogue. It was also the last album recorded by the classic lineup: Phil Lewis on vocals, Traci Guns on guitar, Mick Cripps on guitar, Kelly Nickels on bass and Steve Riley on drums.
After that, as the nineties progressed and the music industry decided to promote a different kind of rock music, L.A. Guns, like everyone else, began a gradual decline. By the end of the decade, they had released three more albums and one EP. First came Vicious Circle in 1994, without drummer Riley. Then came American Hardcore in 1996, on which the band drastically changed its sound, with vocalist Phil Lewis absent and Riley returning. This was followed by the EP Wasted, on which vocals were handled by Ralph Saenz, better known today as Michael Starr of Steel Panther. Finally came the album Shrinking Violet, with Jizzy Pearl taking over vocal duties. It is also worth mentioning that rhythm guitarist Mick Cripps and bassist Kelly Nickels both left the band during this decade.
Still, following the release of that last album, L.A. Guns attempted a small reunion of the original lineup. It resulted in a mini-tour and the release of a re-recorded version of the band’s 1989 classic Cocked and Loaded, titled Cocked and Re-Loaded, in 2000. Cripps and Nickels left the band again, and in 2001 L.A. Guns released the rather unremarkable album Man in the Moon.
This brings us to a crucial moment in the band’s career and probably the most important album of that period. Waking the Dead, released in 2002, was without a doubt not only the band’s best release since its first three albums, although it could easily stand alongside them, but also its best album to this day. What is crucial for our story is that the record was made by Traci Guns, Phil Lewis and Steve Riley, with bassist Adam Hamilton helping out. The entire eighties scene had started experiencing a revival at the beginning of the 2000s, and this album was definitely one of the pillars of that comeback. Believe it or not, even Rock Express magazine, which was published in our part of the world at the time, wrote about this album!
However, just when the band had an opportunity to make the most of this favourable situation, its founding guitarist and the man who had given the band its name decided to leave this camp and form a supergroup with Nikki Sixx called Brides of Destruction. The group released an album titled Here Comes the Brides in 2004, which also became one of the pillars of the revival of this struggling movement, this time presented in a completely new and modern way.
Meanwhile, L.A. Guns essentially continued without Traci, working with various guest guitarists such as Keri Kelli and Brent Muscat until Stacey Blades joined the band as a long-term solution and replacement for Guns.
In the meantime, several events took place that would complicate the situation for years to come. First of all, Nikki Sixx left Brides of Destruction in 2004 for the simple reason that talks about a reunion of Mötley Crüe had finally begun that same year, after fans had waited for it for many years. Sixx could hardly afford to miss such an opportunity. Traci, on the other hand, was essentially left on his own. He continued playing with Brides of Destruction and even recorded another album with them in 2005.
At the same time, L.A. Guns released a solid album called Tales from the Strip in 2005, with almost the exact same lineup that had recorded Waking the Dead in 2002, except for Traci Guns, of course. The album may not have been on the same level as its predecessor, but it certainly marked the beginning of a new era for the band.
Brides of Destruction broke up a year later, and Traci Guns decided to form his own version of L.A. Guns, since the way and timing of his departure made a return to the previous version of the band impossible. More precisely, the 50/50 arrangement that Traci Guns and Steve Riley had agreed upon in the mid-nineties had now come into play.
This marked the beginning of the “First L.A. Guns War”. Over those few years, from 2002 to 2006, the 50/50 rule was used twice. First, when Steve Riley decided to continue with the lineup he had left, which included vocalist Phil Lewis. The second time came when Traci Guns ended his chapter with Brides of Destruction and decided to “form” his own L.A. Guns once again.
The situation with two versions of the band continued until 2012, when Traci Guns decided to shut down his version and walk away from what could fairly be described as a very unsuccessful chapter. Meanwhile, the version led by drummer Steve Riley and vocalist Phil Lewis recorded a covers album, Rip the Covers Off, in 2010, followed by an album of completely new material, Hollywood Forever, in 2012. The latter may well be the weakest release in the band’s history.
That almost unproductive period received its conclusion shortly after the album’s release, when guitarist Stacey Blades announced his departure from the band. The group continued performing for a while, more precisely until the beginning of 2016, when the situation once again turned 180 degrees.
Questionable album releases, such as the covers record and the 2012 album, further damaged the already seriously battered reputation of the band. Still, the impression at the time was that public opinion was much more favourable toward the version of the band that had continued as L.A. Guns after 2002. Traci Guns, on the other hand, was often accused of being the person who had created the problem and started the split in the first place.
So what happened in that fateful 2016? Nothing particularly spectacular, except that vocalist Phil Lewis himself left the Riley-led L.A. Guns and joined Traci, creating a new version of the band: L.A. Guns feat. Lewis and Guns. Or, simply, L.A. Guns!
As we have already written, this version, which was actually the only one during that short period, released two very strong albums in 2017 and 2019. Fans celebrated and were almost unanimous in their belief that the real reunion had finally happened. This was the reunion everyone had been waiting for, with the founding guitarist and the band’s main vocalist finally coming together and restarting the story. It seemed as though the soap opera had finally come to an end.
Steve Riley, however, who held 50% of the rights to the band name, was not sitting around doing nothing. When the Lewis/Guns version turned down an offer to perform at the M3 Festival in 2018 under what they considered very unfavourable conditions, Steve Riley quickly accepted the same offer and the same spot on the bill. He then hastily put together a new band in which, pay attention here, the former bassist played guitar, the bassist from the first original lineup was also present, and there was a brand-new vocalist. Whether that was underhanded or not, you can decide for yourselves.
In the end, the question is what can we as fans actually expect from all of this? Considering that even the American courts have still been unable to untangle the situation and determine who actually owns the rights to the name, who has infringed upon those rights and who is using them at the expense of the other side, it is probably best that we stay out of those matters for now.
The latest lawsuit was filed by Traci Guns, who accused Riley of taking advantage of the situation created by Lewis/Guns over the past few years, without making a clear distinction in the name of his version of the band. All of this creates enormous confusion among the fans, and to make matters even worse, we now have two official Facebook profiles, while the music on streaming services appears under a single shared profile. This creates situations where the latest release is shown as a new song by Riley’s band at the top of the page, complete with a profile picture of Traci and Lewis above it, or the other way around. We do not even dare to imagine how they divide the streaming revenue.
Considering that a new “arms race” has already begun, with two singles released within just twenty days, it looks like we will be seeing plenty more of this in the future. At this point, all we can do is accept the situation and wait for the story to unfold while enjoying the good music, assuming there is any to enjoy.
On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a side in the “war”. Which side that should be is still entirely up to you!
