Live: Era '87-'93 [PA]

Performer: Guns N' Roses
Artist: Gilby Clarke
Producer: Del James (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Guns N' Roses: W. Axl Rose (vocals); Slash, Izzy Stradlin (guitar); Dizzy Reed (keyboards); Duff McKagan (bass); Steven Adler (drums). Additional personnel: Gilby Clarke (guitar); Matt Sorum (drums); Teddy Zig Zag Anoreadis, Roberta Freeman, Tracey Amos, Cece Worrall, Anne King, Lisa Maxwell. Engineers include: Chuck Reed, Bryan Golder, Eric Caudieux. Recorded live between 1987 and 1993. Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace. Recording information: 1987-1993. Photographers: Jack Lue; Gene Kirkland; Robert John. The six years these performances represent include all lineups of the band until it broke under the weight of Axl Rose's temper and ego. Guns' unflinchingly rebellious music addressed life on the streets and among the band's most incendiary material were songs about the school of hard knocks ("Welcome to the Jungle"), drugs ("Mr. Brownstone"), and mortality ("Dust n' Bones"). The only time this dangerous edge became worrisome was when the band cut "I Used to Love Her," a catchy number that attracted the ire of many people because of its flip treatment of abuse in a relationship. Much of G N' R's oeuvre may have been fueled by the snarling guitars of Slash and Izzy Stradlin (and later Gilby Clarke), but later songs were impressive epics swept up in passion, including the larger-than-life "November Rain" and the lesser-known but equally impressive "Estranged." Beneath the tattoos and snarls, Guns N' Roses also had a more sensitive side that can be heard on the bittersweet "Yesterdays" and this package's only previously unreleased number, the transformation of Black Sabbath's "It's Alright" into a piano-driven solo piece sang and played by Axl Rose.

Rolling Stone (1/20/00, p.56) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...visceral evidence of a time when Guns n' Roses ruled the Earth and every show was 'A Rock N Roll Bash Where Everyone's Smashed'." Q (1/00, p.138) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...leans on the more credible hellfire days of 1987's APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION and 1989's G'N'R LIES....tightly wound moshpit napalm as 'Nightrain', 'Welcome To The Jungle', and 'Mr Brownstone'..." CMJ (12/27/99, p.22) - "...an orgy of raunchy, sweaty, ferocious rock....proves that Guns N' Roses, at its peak, actually lived up to its still-snowballing legend..." Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.98) - "...captures the raw, heady rush of their zenith with goosebump-raising live versions of classics 'Nightrain', 'Mr. Brownstone', and 'Welcome To The Jungle'....a surprisingly welcome whiff of patchouli..."

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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