Would you say Guns N' Roses a hair metal band, or something different? For me personally they're like a unique band in-between 80s Hair Metal and 90s Grunge--A taste of what was before mixed with the rawer taste of what was to come, but not quite in either category and were in many senses a throw back to early 70s Heavy Rock like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith.

Never infect GnR with the grunge genre because they were awesome.
Grunge music was guys with deep voices singing like they were on suicide row.  GnR was none of that

I'd say they're ultimately hair metal but they are as you say pretty unique for that era. I definitely don't really think of them as grunge though.

Guns N Roses was a very talented heavy metal band that didn't really on makeup like the rest of the bands from that era. 

They were hair metal, minus the gimmicks, makeup, and cheesy clothing.

They were hair metal, minus the gimmicks, makeup, and cheesy clothing.

I gotta disagree with you, McBain.   ;)

While they might have emerged from the same L.A. scene that all the other cheesy hair metal bands came from, Guns N' Roses were much more raw and aggressive and infinitely more talented then the rest. I didn't like most of the cheese metal bands at the time, and when G N'R first came out in 1987 they were like a badass 70's band that traveled forward in time and just destroyed everything else.

Sure Axl is a complete asshole (not to mention batsh!t insane), but he's also one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time and a very gifted songwriter. And sure, the rest of the band eventually imploded due to heavy drug use and personality conflicts, but when Guns N' Roses were still firing on all cylinders they were one of the greatest rock bands ever. Appetite For Destruction is an absolute masterpiece, and as far as I'm concerned Sweet Child O' Mine is as good a song as anything Lennon and McCartney ever wrote. And they f*cking ROCKED.

Tell me this doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.   8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2dI_a3GpS0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC9L-BZ1PI0&feature=related

"With your bitch-slap rappin' and your cocaine tongue, you get nothin' done..." How can you not just love that?  ;D ;D ;D

GnR had more gravity than the hair bands, such as Whitesnake or Bon Jovi.  If I was into hard rock, I would have liked them more -- but I'm not so I just found them kind of annoying.  Never thought of them as a hair metal band.  I associate GnR with the same badass raunchiness as the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Good on you if that's you're thing, but you can scalp my ticket!
8)

GNR was the "bridge" between hair metal and grunge.