Pop means popular. Guns are a popular ROCK band, theres a massive difference. Dont Cry and Patience are hardly pop songs, they arent written or aimed to a different audiences than the other GnR songs.
And whats all this crap about "amazing choruses", what, songs with catchy lyrics are pop songs? It really annoys me that Guns are like the only band i like who have never comprimised their style and approach to writing for the sake of a quick hit or a radio friendly song.
The mere fact they decided on a 2 double albums (Illusions) rather than making one LP, which would have been regarded as an all time great a record, shows they didnt sell out and go for a sure hit.