Knockin

Coordinates: 52°47′38″N 2°59′35″W / 52.794°N 2.993°W / 52.794; -2.993

Knockin is a village and civil parish lying on the B4396 some 8 km south-east of the town of Oswestry in north-west Shropshire, England.

History

The former name of Knockin was Cnukyn. The village comprises mainly historic detached buildings in a rural setting. Much of Knockin was owned by the Earl of Bradford until it was sold off in lots to meet other financial demands. The Earl still owns the cricket pitch and other small pockets of land in the area. The local public house is called the Bradford Arms and displays the Bradford family coat of arms. The pub also has a clock with three faces, hung outside above the main entrance. The motto displayed on the sign is that of the Bridgeman family Earls of Bradford "Nec temere nec timide" (Neither rashly nor timidly).

Knockin Castle

All that remains of Knockin Castle today is a large tree-covered mound of earth. The castle was of a motte and bailey design and was constructed between 1154-1160 under the authority of Guy le Strange. Ownership remained with the family for much of the Middle Ages but by 1540 it was described as "ruinous". Like most Shropshire castles which are now only marked by grassy sites, its stones live on in a number of buildings in the area.

Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. The classic lineup, as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, Use Your Illusion–era keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman. The band has released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, including shipments of 45 million in the United States, making Guns N' Roses one of the world's best-selling bands of all time.

Freddie Stroma

Frederic Wilhelm C.J. Sjöström (born 8 January 1987) is an English actor and model, best known for playing Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter film series and Luke in the 2012 musical comedy film Pitch Perfect. He starred as Adam Cromwell on the dramedy series UnREAL, which premiered on Lifetime in June 2015. He starred as Brit Vayner in the 2016 Michael Bay war film, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. And in April 2016, he will play Dickon Tarly during the sixth season of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones.

Early life

Stroma was born in London, England, to father Stefan Sjöström, a Swedish-born computer industry executive, and a German mother, and grew up in Ascot, England in the East Berkshire county, about 25 miles west of London. He was educated at the public boys'-only boarding school Radley College in Oxfordshire, graduating in 2005. He has an older sister and a younger brother, Philipp Sjöström.

When he was 16, Stroma was accepted to the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He had roles on various British TV shows, including Casualty and BBC's detective show, Mayo (aka The Gil Mayo Mysteries). While studying neuroscience at University College London, Stroma continued to work as an actor and model. He ended up taking a year off from university to play the role of Cormac McLaggen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After filming was over, Stroma completed his degree at University College London. In 2009, he attained a 2:1 BSc (an upper-second-class degree) in Neuroscience.

Axl Rose

W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.; raised as William Bruce Bailey; February 6, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, a position he has held since its inception in 1985. Due to his powerful and wide vocal range and energetic live performances, Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone and NME.

Born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana, Rose moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, where he became active in the local hard rock scene and joined several bands, including Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. In 1985, he co-founded Guns N' Roses, with whom he had great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their first album, Appetite for Destruction (1987), has sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S. with 18 million units sold. Its full-length follow-ups, the twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II (1991), were also widely successful; they respectively debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide.

G N' R Lies

G N' R Lies, also known as Lies, is the second studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in 1988. While officially an extended play, it was treated as a studio album when released. According to the RIAA, the album has sold over five million copies in the United States alone. "Patience" was the only single released from Lies; it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background and recording

The first four tracks consist of the previously released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide. The last four songs were recorded with acoustic guitars. They were written and recorded in only a few studio sessions (with the exception of "You're Crazy," which appeared in an alternate version on Appetite for Destruction), which producer Mike Clink called "one of those magical rock and roll history moments."

In later interviews, Axl Rose stated that while he loved how the band sounded on the last four songs, he hated the sound of his voice. Rose recalled that his voice was husky and scratchy from the band's lengthy touring at the time, and if he could he would have re-recorded his vocal tracks in a separate session.