LA Guns Albums Ranked

L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1983. Currently, there are two versions of the band. One version consists of original members Kelly Nickels (Bass, backing vocals) and Steve Riley (Drums) along with newer members Scott Griffin and Kurt Frohlich (Lead vocals and rhythm guitar). The second version of L.A. Guns consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Martin (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Scot Coogan (drums). The first incarnation of the group was formed by Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner in 1983 and merged with fellow Los Angeles group, Hollywood Rose, to form Guns N’ Roses in March 1985. After only a brief tenure in that band, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with a new lineup, consisting of Paul Black, Mick Cripps, Robert Stoddard, and Nickey Alexander. Black would soon be replaced by former Girl singer Phil Lewis while former Faster Pussycat bassist Kelly Nickels was added to the group. Later, Alexander would be replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley with this being known as the “classic lineup” of L.A. Guns. They achieved moderate chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the group went through numerous lineup changes (with Riley being the most consistent member) and failed to regain mainstream attention. Here are all of the LA Guns albums ranked.

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10. American Hardcore (1996)

“L.A. Guns is a very good band who have been greatly overlooked. This album is very different than most of their catalog, as they went for a more metal sound, rather than their normal sleaze/glam rock approach. From other reviews, it looks like a lot of the listeners were taken off guard by the new sound and we’re”

9. Hollywood Forever (2012)

“Hollywood Forever is arguably among the Guns’ best releases. It doesn’t stray far from what made them: sleazy riffs that ooze personality and that Hollywood Vampire style that only they seem able to cultivate. Phil Lewis sounds as great as ever and the guitar work here is better than solid even though Tracii Guns is long gone. There are some nice twists on the formula and it’s clear this band loves what they do. That’s cool.”

8. Tales From The Strip (2005)

The album is easily one of the bands best to date. The production is fabulous throughout the album and adds a quality melodic side that the band has been missing since the early 90s. The songs on the album are bigger and thicker than most of their recent albums, while retaining a certain aggression and rawness that makes people love melodic rock music. The musicianship of the band shows a band in top-notch form that elicits feelings of warmth about the greatness of bands from yesteryears.”

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7. The Devil You Know (2019)

“The Devil You Know is the 2nd studio release by founding members Tracii Guns & Phil Lewis since reuniting (they also released the excellent Live In Milan CD/DVD). In terms of sound (fidelity), The Devil You Know does not sound like their last album The Missing Peace (another great record). The quality of the songs are great on both, but a few of the tracks on The Devil You Know have a slight Punk edge to them, which completely works for this band.”

6. Man In The Moon (2001)

“The title track Man in the Moon is a decent track, my favorite song is the one that follows it “Beautiful”. Beautiful is the only song that I put on my ipod to listen to at work. I have most of LA Gun’s work but this album just didn’t do it for me. I’m going to go grab “Hollywood Forever” and “Tales from the Strip” and enjoy them again.later”

5. The Missing Peace (2017)

“This is a great album! I’ve got several favorites already including “The Devil Made Me Do It,” “The Flood Is the Fault of the Rain,” “The Missing Peace,” and “Gave It All Away.” There are plenty of other strong tracks on here including the first single, “Speed,” and “A Drop of Bleach.” Honestly, there aren’t any songs on it that I don’t like. Phil and Tracii are back as strong as ever, and they’ve got some fresh blood along for the ride in the form of Johnny Martin, Shane Fitzgibbon, and the fabulous Michael Grant.”

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4. Shrinking Violet (1999)

“While LA Guns has a solid and quite large body of work, SHRINKING VIOLET is one of the best cds they’ve made. If you missed this disc the fist time around, do yourself a favor and pick this up. Every track on this cd is a winner sans Bad Whiskey which is a ratio few bands fail to achieve in this era. . At that point you’ll be ready to enjoy the remainder of this gem. Seriously, its really good. Interestingly they’ve switched out a studio track, Decide, for a live version of the same track that absolutely smokes.”

3. Hollywood Vampires (1991)

“The LA Guns self-titled debut doesn’t have anything quite as memorable as the songs on “Appetite For Destruction,” but it does have its’ hedonism, raw energy, and raunchiness. From the opening “No Mercy” to the closing “Down in the City,” every song is a winner. The album opens up strong and never lets up. The songs all have good hooks and killer solos. This is a great 80s metal album.”

2. L.A.Guns (1988)

“L.A. Guns released the first in a string of amazing pop-metal records in 1988. The band typically played a very radio friendly version of hard rock like Poison and Warrant, but for some reason they just never achieved the same level of success that those bands were able to. Do not let that deter you from this band though; L.A. Guns are one of the best bands to emerge from the Hollywood scene in the 1980s.”

1. Cocked And Loaded (1989)

“This album was great, Cocked and Loaded was great, I then started following G N’ R but because of Axel Rose’s temper tantrums I lost interest in these bands, but theirs one band that’s never mentioned anywhere and is just as good as L.A.GUNS at least, and that band is JUNKYARD. If you like any of the bands with the word guns in it you’ll like JUNKYARD, their a sunset strip band but these guys are really from Texas, theirs some southern rock along with Hollywood Sunset Strip sleaze mixed all together to make one of the greatest least known bands of the 80’s. check them out.”