Greatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album)

Infobox Album
Name = Greatest Hits
Type = greatest
Artist = Guns N' Roses


Released = March 23, 2004
Recorded = 1986–1994
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 79:02
Label = Geffen
Producer = Bill Levenson, Mike Clink, Guns N' Roses
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8iazqjkwojha link]
*Pitchfork Media (3.9/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/18274/Guns_N_Roses_Greatest_Hits link]
*"Stylus" (D+) [http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/guns-n-roses/greatest-hits.htm Mar 17, 2004]
Last album = "" (1999)
This album = "Greatest Hits" (2004)
Next album = "Chinese Democracy" (2008)

"Greatest Hits" is a compilation album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album was released on March 23, 2004. It hit #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. Despite some criticisms towards the track listing by fans (even Axl Rose and ex-Guns N' Roses members, who filed a joint lawsuit to try to prevent the release of the album), the album has proven a popular seller, selling 4 million copies in the U.S. to date. "Greatest Hits" became Guns N' Roses second-longest charting album in their homeland (after "Appetite for Destruction"), finally dropping out of the Billboard 200 chart in November 2006 following a 138-week stay. [http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?
] 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, including "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".

Track listing

# "Welcome to the Jungle" (Rose, Slash) – 4:32
#* From "Appetite for Destruction" (1987)
#* #7 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Sweet Child o' Mine" (Rose, Slash, Stradlin) – 5:58
#* From "Appetite for Destruction" (1987)
#* #1 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Patience" (Stradlin) – 5:56
#* From "G N' R Lies" (1988)
#* #4 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Paradise City" (Mckagan, Rose, Slash, Stradlin) – 6:52
#* From "Appetite for Destruction" (1987)
#* #5 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) – 5:35
#* From "Use Your Illusion II" (1991)
#* #2 on UK Singles Chart
# "Civil War" (Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan) – 7:41
#* From "Use Your Illusion II" (1991)
# "You Could Be Mine" (Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 5:35
#* From "Use Your Illusion II" (1991)
#* #29 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Don't Cry" (original version) (Rose, Stradlin) – 4:51
#* From "Use Your Illusion I" (1991)
#* #10 on U.S. Hot 100
# "November Rain" (Rose) – 8:57
#* From "Use Your Illusion I" (1991)
#* #3 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 3:02
#* From "Use Your Illusion I" (1991)
#* #33 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Yesterdays" (Rose, Billy McCloud, Del James, West Arkeen) – 3:18
#* From "Use Your Illusion II" (1991)
#* #72 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Ain't It Fun" (Peter Laughner, Cheetah Chrome) – 5:10
#* From ""The Spaghetti Incident?"" (1993)
# "Since I Don't Have You" (Joseph Rock, James Beaumont, The Skyliners) – 4:18
#* From ""The Spaghetti Incident?"" (1993)
#* #69 on U.S. Hot 100
# "Sympathy for the Devil" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 7:38
#* From "Interview with the Vampire" soundtrack (1994)
#* #55 on U.S. Hot 100

Edited songs

The song "Ain't it Fun" (a cover that appeared on ""The Spaghetti Incident?"") had a line that went "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt." However, in this Greatest Hits album, it had been dubbed over, and the line is simply "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a" with a single guitar note playing and then going into a short riff. This version had never been officially released before, but was broadcast by most radio stations when it was released as a single.

Nevertheless, the spoken word line "Yeah, we're fucked" that appeared in "Since I Don't Have You" remains unedited.

Personnel

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

References

succession box
before = "Anastacia" by Anastacia
"D12 World" by D12
title = UK number one album
years = April 24 2004 – May 7 2004
May 15 2004 – May 21 2004
after = "D12 World" by D12
Hopes and Fears" by Keane