Guns N' Roses - Greatest Hits (2004, RMST)

If time is the true test, then Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits confirms that they really were one of the greatest rock & roll bands in the world. While, in retrospect, fellow graduates of the class of 1987 are about as cool as poodle perms and spandex, the L.A. bad boys still rock like gods. Listening to the sun-drenched chords of "Paradise City" and the ensuing stadium-sized swagger is enough to make wearing leather trousers and bandanas seem like a good idea. Of course, it helped that for them sex, drugs, and rock & roll was a way of life, not a fashion statement. As Axl Rose wails "I wanna watch you bleed" on "Welcome to the Jungle" like a chain-smoking lunatic possessed, it's hard not to believe he meant it. Yet equally, it was his surprisingly poetic nature that made genuinely touching love songs of "Patience" and "Sweet Child of Mine". It may surprise some to realize that Guns N’ Roses released only four full-length original albums, and two of those debuted simultaneously. But they were enough to forever change rock ‘n’ roll. Even more shocking is that one of the great bands in rock history, with its last studio album issued 10 years ago, has never had a "best of" compilation. Now it has. Welcome to the jungle with Greatest Hits (Geffen), released March 23, 2004. With 14 selections housed in a digipak, Greatest Hits features all eight of the band’s Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 tracks (five of them RIAA-certified "gold", i.e., sales of more than 500,000 units). Along with spanning the group’s five album releases, Greatest Hits also marks the debut on a Guns N’ Roses album of the band’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ "Sympathy For The Devil" for the 1995 film Interview With The Vampire.
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".
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). Producer: Bill Levenson (Compilation). All songs digitally re-mastered.

Tracklist:

01. Welcome To The Jungle
02. Sweet Child O' Mine
03. Patience
04. Paradise City
05. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
06. Civil War
07. You Could Be Mine
08. Don't Cry (Original)
09. November Rain
10. Live And Let Die
11. Yesterdays
12. Ain't It Fun
13. Since I Don't Have You
14. Sympathy For The Devil

Audio CD: March 23, 2004
Label: Geffen Records