In 2004, after Axl Rose hadn’t produced a studio album in well over ten years, record company Geffen decided to release a Greatest Hits album. It was surrounded by controversy however, as Axel Rose tried to sue Geffen in an attempt to halt the album as he disproved of it and it’s track listings. The suing failed and probably had a reverse effect, by hyping up the album so much, and perhaps caused it to go triple platinum in America.

Well at least Geffen started in the right way, with some classic 1987 Slash. The first track is one that everyone knows and one that Rose would be hard put to find a reason to keep out of the album, “Welcome to the Jungle.”  This was the bands first major significant single, and Slash has said he considers it to be the first the band wrote together. It starts off brilliantly, showcasing Slash’s talent straight away, Rose’s voice is powerful  at the start of the song, and only really lightens for a moment in the middle. It’s a great listen, and a classic song, a brilliant opener. It’s hard to believe that the song was inspired by a hobo screaming at kids.

Next up was “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Again it starts off with a great riff from Slash, but this time much lighter. It doesn’t, as many Guns n’ Roses songs don’t, have an actual chorus, but is brilliantly written, the lyrics are great and it has a wicked solo from Slash halfway through. It loses it’s lighter sound towards the end as the song finishes powerfully.

“Patience” is the first song on the album that Slash didn’t co-write and the first track on the album that didn’t come from 1987 as well. It’s a very different type of song from the first two, for one it starts off with whistle, and a soothing acoustic riff. The lyrics are very relaxing at the start, they don’t rhyme much but still have a certain flow and blend in with the music well. It doesn’t have a chorus either but shows a bit of range from the first two tracks.

“Paradise City” takes us back to 1987 and back to a song that Slash co-wrote.  It starts off calmly with some well-written lyrics, but quickly gets more powerful and heavier as Slash starts to do his thing. It has another great riff from Slash, and is the first song on the album with an identifiable chorus. It’s long enough song, but it keeps you interested with a powerful chorus, some great solos and a powerful ending.

“Knockin’ on Heavens Door” is one of the later tracks on the album having been released in 1991, and is the first track on the album form “Use Your Illusion II.” It’s the Bob Dylan song that every one has done a cover of, from Bob Marley to Led Zeppelin. Guns n’ Roses add their own touch to it, and released arguably the most successful cover version  of the song, as it reached no. 2 in the U.K charts.

“Civil War” (the second song from “Use Your Illusion II”) starts off strange, with, what sounds an old woman claiming that there are some people you just can’t communicate with, but when the singing starts off the lyrics may not be sung loudly, but they are very powerful. The lyrics keep this power throughout the song as Axl Rose adds his own louder different kind of power to the song, with Slash helping him out with his classic heavy guitar style. It’s clearly an anti-war song, that people believe to be dedicated to Vietnam, although it was used years later when Bill Clinton ousted Baby Doc’ from power in Haiti in 1994, but replaced him with someone worse.

“You Could be Mine” is the third consecutive song on the album from “Use Your Illusion II” and returns, if only a small bit, to the style of the first two songs with Slash starting it off with a heavy guitar sound. The lyrics are alright but Slash’s riffs and solos are by far the best part of the song, his solo towards the end in particular was a highlight.

“Don’t Cry” starts off very much like the song “Patience.” The lyrics aren’t quite what you’d call “moving” but are well written and have a sense of feeling about them. Slash adds his bit into this song quite nicely, maintaining it’s mellow sound but still making his own unique input.

And then it was time for “November Rain.” It starts off quite differently then any Guns n’ Roses I can remember hearing. it has a very uplifting kind of start, and 1st class lyrics, and it’s no wonder it made no. 3 in the U.S.A hot 100. It’s undoubtedly one of Guns n’ Roses best songs. It’s quite long at almost nine minutes, but it shows a great range in just one song that I didn’t think Guns n’ Roses had. Slash gets a good, light solo at 4 minutes in, but his most influential part of this is towards the end. There is a change in the song as it gets heavier towrds the end but this change doesn’t at all take away from the song. It shows Slash’s great talent (as again and again this album has) with a magnificent solo and a sensational end to the song.

Next is the classic “Live and let Die.” The song suits Guns n’ Roses style perfectly, and despite not really adding anything to the song they cover it very well. Axl Rose disappoints in a few of the bits in this song, but overall it’s a good song. Although I would recommend The Wings original version over this one.

A very good introductory album to the Guns n’ Roses despite the controversy and legal battle surronding it. It has all of their classic hits, and a few others as well. Being  the Classic Rock junkie that I am, I’m going to reccomend buying it to anyone who likes rock.