Guns N' Roses - 'Greatest Hits' (Geffen) Released 15/03/04

Guns N' Roses have a colourful history.  1987's 'Appetite For Destruction' has sold over 15 million copies; firmly establishing them in rock'n'roll's elite, and Axl Rose has one of the most distinctive voices ever committed to record.  All was not well within the band though, and despite continued success in the shape of the two Use Your Illusion albums, Rose sacked all the other members.  In 2002 they headlined the Leeds Festival and it looked as if the new record, provisionally titled Chinese Democracy, would soon get a release.  Nearly two years on it has still to surface, so Geffen have decided to give us a greatest hits package instead.

Opening with 'Welcome To The Jungle', the attitude of the band is summed up in four and a half minutes.  'Sweet Child O' Mine' contains probably the most recognisable guitar riff written, but more importantly showed that the band could write songs of a more poignant nature.  Patience utilises an acoustic sound, allowing Rose to demonstrate his great vocal range, and 'Paradise City' is another G'N'R classic.  'Knockin On Heaven's Door' is an example of how to cover a song with integrity, 'You Could Be Mine' is from the same drawer as the opening track, and then there is 'November Rain'.  Possibly one of the greatest songs ever written, it is lyrically touching, and musically phenomenal.  From the opening piano piece, through the strings, Slash's guitar solo, and then the rousing finish, it is perfect and perhaps the band's finest moment.  'Yesterdays' finds Rose's voice in fine form yet again, and 'Since I Don't Have You' shows G'N'R could have been a blues band.

This is a reminder of how important Guns N' Roses were, and that 'Chinese Democracy' will have much to live up to.  People will dispute the absence of certain tracks ('Nightrain', 'It's So Easy') but in truth this is a fair collection from all their albums.  Despite being an obvious money-spinning exercise from Geffen, and no new material, this music deserves to be heard by those who don't already have it.