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The last of the great rock bands, Los Angeles gave birth to Guns N' Roses in the late eighties, the group combining the hedonism of Motley Crue, the rough blues of Aerosmith, and punk-rock attitude of Black Flag, creating a cocktail of bad boy behaviour, drug abuse and riveting live performances. After a self financed EP, produced to pay for drug and rent bills far in arrears, the group signed to Geffen in 1986 blowing their advance in a matter of weeks, yet managing to turn their experience into one of the most riveting debuts in all of hard rock history, 'Appetite For Destruction'. Released in 1987, it contained several of the bands signature tunes, with three of the best included here - "Welcome To The Jungle" perfectly sums up the madness of the L.A. club scene at the time, "Paradise City" is another insight into the city of dreams and heartbreak, while "Sweet Child O' Mine" is surely their finest moment, a brilliant piece of rock n' roll Jagger and Richards would be proud of, and a demonstration of top hatted guitarist's Slash sublime fretwork. 'GN'R Lies' followed the album, combining new acoustic material with their debut EP, the song included here, "Patience" is a more reflective moment, showing another side to a group whose reputation was now starting to outweigh the music. The next studio project would see line up changes (drummer Steven Adler was fired for constant drug intoxication) and would end up becoming a double LP epic with singer Axl Rose's meglomania now out of control - his ego in top gear. Still the albums 'Use Your Illusion Vol. 1 & 2' contained some fabulous material including covers of Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and McCartney's "Live And Let Die", alongside original classics such as "November Rain", "Yesterdays" and "You Could Be Mine" - powerful songs that confirmed Guns N' Roses were the biggest band in rock. The infighting continued though, and the clashing of two huge ego's in Slash and Rose would hamper the group's future progress and the release of the covers album, 'The Spaghetti Incident?", did little to satisfy fans wanting more original ouput. The year is 2004 and still we wait for another Guns N' Roses LP, Axl Rose is now the only remaining member, and has promised a new album for nearly six years. Thankfully the group had already left testament to their greatness as this compilation proves, and who now knows what lies around the corner. Perhaps the last band whose explosive history was as interesting as their music, GN'R were like their influences, a moment in time, a product of their enviroment, where rock'n'roll and out of control debauchery went hand in hand. And amongst it all they made a bunch of damn fine rock tunes too. Recommended.
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