Greatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album): Difference between revisions

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Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on March 23, 2004. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart^[1] and number three on the Billboard 200 chart.^[2] Despite some criticisms towards the track listing by fans, and by Axl Rose and ex-Guns N' Roses members, who filed a joint lawsuit to try to prevent the release of the album,^[3] the album has proven a popular seller, selling 4.5 million copies in the United States to date. Greatest Hits became Guns N' Roses' second-longest charting album in their homeland (after Appetite for Destruction), finally dropping out of the chart in November 2006 following a 138-week stay.^[4] Universal Records' response to Rose's opposition to the record was that he had been given adequate time to supply them with a record but had failed to do so, and so they had produced their own Guns N' Roses record instead.

Critics of the compilation were somewhat disappointed, as many other popular songs from Appetite for Destruction were neglected from this release, namely "Mr. Brownstone", "It's So Easy" and "Nightrain", as well as the G N' R Lies track "Used to Love Her". Also notable is the exclusion of the Use Your Illusion II single "Estranged". The presence of too many covers (5 out of 14 tracks) was also criticized.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Jungle"	Axl Rose, Slash	Appetite for Destruction	4:32
2.	"Sweet Child o' Mine"	Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin	Appetite for Destruction	5:55
3.	"Patience"	Stradlin	G N' R Lies	5:56
4.	"Paradise City"	Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Stradlin	Appetite for Destruction	6:47
5.	"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover)	Bob Dylan	Use Your Illusion II	5:36
6.	"Civil War"	Rose, Slash, McKagan	Use Your Illusion II	7:42
7.	"You Could Be Mine"	Rose, Stradlin	Use Your Illusion II	5:44
8.	"Don't Cry" (original version)	Rose, Stradlin	Use Your Illusion I	4:51
9.	"November Rain"	Rose	Use Your Illusion I	8:57
10.	"Live and Let Die" (Wings cover)	Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney	Use Your Illusion I	3:02
11.	"Yesterdays"	Rose, West Arkeen, Del James, Billy McCloud	Use Your Illusion II	3:18
12.	"Ain't It Fun" (The Dead Boys cover)	Cheetah Chrome, Peter Laughner	"The Spaghetti Incident?"	5:10
13.	"Since I Don't Have You" (The Skyliners cover)	Joseph Rock, James Beaumont	"The Spaghetti Incident?"	4:18
14.	"Sympathy for the Devil" (The Rolling Stones cover)	Mick Jagger, Keith Richards	Interview with the Vampire	7:36

Notes

"Ain't It Fun" was censored for the compilation: "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt" became "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a–", with a guitar note at 3:36 instead of the final word in the line. This version had never been officially released before, but had been broadcast by most radio stations when it was released as a single in 1993. Nonetheless, other profanity on the compilation remains unedited.

Reception and Lawsuit

Although the album received mainly positive reviews and sold well, fans criticized the track listing citing lack of some popular songs as reason for complaint. Axl Rose immediately tried to block the release by suing Geffen, saying it would ruin his focus on Chinese Democracy and if he were to get the album finished and released sooner, The Greatest Hits album would be selling more, leaving the album unnoticed. Former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan helped Rose file the lawsuit against Geffen, although they did not speak to each other in person. This failed and the album was released under Geffen Record's rights.

Unincluded Songs

Appetite For Destruction's It's So Easy and Nightrain were neglected from the release for no particular reason, as well as Appetite For Destruction's Mr. Brownstone, mainly due to the fact it was only released as a single in the U.K. The GN'R Lies track "Used To Love Her" wasn't included because it was never actually released as a single. Use Your Illusion I's The Garden was not included on this album possibly because the music video did not circulate as well as other releases. Use Your Illusion II's Pretty Tied Up wasn't included due to lack of promotion. Most notable is the absence of Use Your Illusion II's Estranged. The non-album single, Oh My God, is missing due to it being considered a song from a new band by the general public.

Personnel

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, keyboards
Slash – lead guitar
Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (on tracks 1–11)
Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals
Steven Adler – drums, percussion (on tracks 1–4, 6)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion (on tracks 5, 7–14)
Dizzy Reed – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (on tracks 5–14)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (on tracks 12–13)
Paul Tobias – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (on track 14)

References

^ "Chart Stats - Guns N' Roses". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
^ "Artist Chart History - Guns N' Roses". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-12-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-03-16-axl-rose-judge_x.htm
^ http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=greatesthitschartsstatifm4.jpg

Preceded by Anastacia by Anastacia D12 World by D12	UK number one album April 24 2004 – May 7 2004 May 15 2004 – May 21 2004	Succeeded by D12 World by D12 Hopes and Fears by Keane

[UK-1] "Chart Stats - Guns N' Roses". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2008-12-07.

[US-A-2] "Artist Chart History - Guns N' Roses". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-12-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[3] ttp://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-03-16-axl-rose-judge_x.htm

[4] ttp://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=greatesthitschartsstatifm4.jpg

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 ===Unincluded Songs===
-Many of the Guns other popular songs did not make the cut which caused critisim from fans. [[Appetite For Destruction]]'s [[It's So Easy]] and [[Nightrain]] were neglected from the release for no particular release as well as Appetite For Destruction's [[Mr. Brownstone]] mainly for the fact it was only released as a single in the U.K and was rather known as a a-side to [[Welcome to the Jungle]] and [[It's So Easy]], [[GN'R Lies]] Track "Used To Love Her" wasn't included because it was never actrully released as a single it was just one of their quiet popular songs at concerts and was well rated by fans. [[Use Your Illusion I]]'s [[The Garden]] was not included on this album possibly because the music video was not well requested on [[MTV]]. [[Use Your Illusion II]]'s [[Pretty Tied Up]] wasn't included probably for its lack of promotion since no music video was ever released for it, and most notably [[Use Your Illusion II]]'s [[Estranged]] which was one of the Guns most popular songs, as it was not included fans were dissapointed. [["The Spaghetti Incident?"]]'s [[Hair of the Dog]] was not included for pretty much the same reason as Pretty Tied Up. The non album single [[Oh My God]] is missing because it was released in 1999 with a new lineup excluding Axl and Dizzy and didn't feature any other of the original members.
+[[Appetite For Destruction]]'s [[It's So Easy]] and [[Nightrain]] were neglected from the release for no particular reason, as well as Appetite For Destruction's [[Mr. Brownstone]], mainly due to the fact it was only released as a single in the U.K. The [[GN'R Lies]] track "Used To Love Her" wasn't included because it was never actually released as a single. [[Use Your Illusion I]]'s [[The Garden]] was not included on this album possibly because the music video did not circulate as well as other releases. [[Use Your Illusion II]]'s [[Pretty Tied Up]] wasn't included due to lack of promotion. Most notable is the absence of [[Use Your Illusion II]]'s [[Estranged]]. The non-album single, [[Oh My God]], is missing due to it being considered a song from a new band by the general public.
 ==Personnel==