Greatest Hits

Performer: Guns N' Roses
Artist: Michael Monroe; Gilby Clarke; Shannon Hoon
Producer: Bill Levenson (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Guns N' Roses: W. Axl Rose (vocals, piano, synthesizer, percussion, programming); Slash (acoustic & electric guitars, 6-string bass); Izzy Stradlin (guitar, percussion, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Duff McKagan (bass, background vocals); Matt Sorum (drums, background vocals); Steven Adler (drums). Additional personnel includes: Shannon Hoon, Michael Monroe (vocals); Gilby Clarke, Mike Staggs, Paul Huge (guitar); Matthew McKagan, Rachel West, Robert Clark, Jon Trautwein (horns); Stuart Bailey, Reba Shaw, The Waters (background vocals). Hard-rock juggernauts Guns 'N' Roses arrived as rock & roll saviors in a dark time of generic hair metal and bloated pop. With only five studio albums to draw from (one being the all-covers SPAGHETTI INCIDENT), nearly a third of the material on GREATEST HITS is unsurprisingly devoted to other people's songs. Inclusions range from a dramatic version of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heavens Door" and an outsized take on Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" to punk classic "Ain't It Fun" and doo-wop nugget "Since I Don't Have You." The band's original songs, however, are the heart of G'N'R's appeal. Start with the quintessential heavy-rock anthem "Welcome to the Jungle." Amid the thunderous time-keeping and tasty riffing are slinky grooves, sexy swagger, and quite an aura of danger. The acoustic "Patience" found these tattooed bad boys showing off a softer side, while archetypal power-ballad "Sweet Child O' Mine" is a perfect hybrid of sentiment and soaring guitar solos. Think of GREATEST HITS as a sampler for the sumptuous buffet that is G'N'R's recorded oeuvre.

While the 1980s Los Angeles rock scene will forever be associated with pretty-boy glam metal, it also spawned Guns N' Roses, one of the most in-your-face, streetwise, and controversial bands of the era. Axl Rose, Slash, & company's roots lay in The Stones, Aerosmith, and The New York Dolls, with a gentle touch of pop-metal edge. The act ruled critics' minds, the pop charts, and MTV in 1988 with the still revered APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, which included the oft-covered #1 hit "Sweet Child O' Mine." The double-album USE YOUR ILLUSION continued their reign. The original band was slowly replaced, and by the late '90s only Rose remained to annually promise CHINESE DEMOCRACY, which he delivered in 2008, and while it received some critical raves, the album failed to live up to the almost impossible sales expectations.

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