"Estranged"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Use Your Illusion II
Released	1993
Recorded	1991
Genre	Hard rock Power Ballad
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. Image File history File links Estranged. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMGs Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Since I Dont Have You is a song by doo wop group The Skyliners. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

"Estranged" is one of Guns N' Roses' longest running songs, as well as one of the longest and most expensive music videos ever made.^{[citation needed]} 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. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... W. Axl Rose [1], commonly known as Axl Rose, (born William Bruce Rose, Jr. ...

Video

The video is the third and final part of an unofficial trilogy of videos (preceded by "Don't Cry" and "November Rain") from the two "Use Your Illusion" albums which featured a stunning theatrical film type cinematography and massive budget of about $4 million. Dont Cry is a song by Guns N Roses. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The over 9 minutes long video for "Estranged" is similar in style to the previous videos in the unofficial trilogy. However, it appears only loosely to pick up the theme 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, making the theme of separation/divorce highly relevant. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The video for "Estranged" was a big budget music video film that initially saw Axl being pursued by a group of SWAT team members while sleeping hidden in what appeared to be an abandoned mansion. Later, in a flashback, Axl is shown being escorted off that same (presumably marital) property. During this sequence, definitions for "Estranged" are flashed across the screen suggesting that Axl is going through a separation or divorce. In the end sequence, Axl goes to an abandoned ship in the middle of the ocean, where in the video's climax, he jumps into the water in an apparent suicide attempt but ends up being rescued by a group of dolphins and gains a level of inner peace in doing so. SWAT officers SWAT (an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics; originally Special Weapons Attack Team) is a specialized paramilitary police unit in major United States city police departments, which is trained to perform dangerous operations. ... This article is about the dolphin mammal. ...

In the video, the definitions of illusion, estrange(d) and disillusion appear. For other uses, see illusion (disambiguation). ...

Controversy

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For some 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. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... Jumping the shark is a slang term used by television critics since the 1990s. ...

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. In recent years the video has become more embraced by fans than when it first came out. It is finally being recognized as the beautiful work of art Axl intended. There is a strong hope from many fans that when Chinese Democracy is released, the music video for Catcher in the Rye will be even more epic than Estranged. Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that became a commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Look up Prima donna in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...