Estranged
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Estranged" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Guns N' Roses | ||
| from the album Use Your Illusion II | ||
| Released | 1993 | |
| Recorded | 1991 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 9:23 | |
| Label | Geffen Records | |
| Writer(s) | Axl Rose | |
| Guns N' Roses singles chronology | ||
| "Hair of the Dog" (1994) | "Estranged" (1994) | "Since I Don't Have You" (1994) |
"Estranged" is a song and music video by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, from their album Use Your Illusion II.
"Estranged" is one of Guns N' Roses' longest running songs, as well as one of the longest and most expensive music videos ever made. It has many verses, and no set chorus, as well as distinguished guitar and piano solos. Use Your Illusion II's liner notes thank Slash for "the killer guitar melodies," which captured Axl Rose's vision.
[edit] Video
The video is the third and final part of an unofficial trilogy of videos "Don't Cry" and "November Rain" from the two "Use Your Illusion" albums, which featured a stunning theatrical film type cinematography and massive budget.
While similar in style to the videos "Don't Cry" and "November Rain", "Estranged" itself has very little connection to the story of the previous two videos. This is mainly because Axl Rose and then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour (who played Axl's girlfriend in "Don't Cry" and "November Rain") had broken up prior to filming the video, forcing Axl and the director to abandon their original plans for the video and instead film a video with little connection to the story of the previous videos, but still in the same cinematic style of the others.
The video for "Estranged" was a big budget music video film that saw Axl being arrested by a group of SWAT team members. Axl is then shown being taken to a mental health clinic, while definitions of various emotional disorders flash on screen as Axl talks to his therapists about his emotional problems (a theme that was touched upon in the video for "Don't Cry"). In the end, Axl is released from the clinic goes to an abandoned ship in the middle of the ocean, where in the video's climax, Axl jumps into the water and swims with a group of dolphins and gains a level of inner peace in doing so.
In the video, the definitions of illusion, estrange and disillusion appear.
[edit] Controversy
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For many fans, especially die-hard hard rock fans, the video for "Estranged" was seen as a huge disappointment and represented Axl Rose (who had taken an active role in the production of the band's videos) succumbing to rock star excesses with such self-indulgent images of Axl swimming with dolphins, the costly abandoned ship sequence, and the overly indulgent nature of the band's videos. Many felt the video damaged or outright killed Guns N' Roses' credibility as hard rock superstars and for many, the video marked the moment in which Guns N' Roses jumped the shark creatively.
Some critics have argued that the backlash against the video was not an isolated incident, but instead a flashpoint towards a building backlash against Guns N' Roses. The rise of grunge, anger at Axl Rose's increasingly hostile prima donna behavior, and the excessiveness of the band's previous videos, including "November Rain", led many to use "Estranged" as a flashpoint for attacking the band.
However, among many fans, "Estranged" is regarded as the band’s masterpiece as the symphony, melody and integration of all instruments, lyrics and enchanting tempo of the song are unique and represent the peak of Guns 'N Roses style.
