Classic Rock 100 Greatest Rock Songs & Alan Nivens Great 8 GNR songs

Each Band Had One Song Selected This Is GNR's

Welcome To The Jungle

Guns N Roses first manager, Alan Niven didnt go for an obscure Guns classic, he chose the song that put GN'R on the map: Welcome To The Jungle. " Despite the fact it was probably the weakest performance on the demo i recieved from Geffen, it was obvious this was a song that would be important to GN'R" says Niven. " I made that plainly known to their A&R man and to the band. The band duly 'nailed it' in the studio, Axl and Slash coming up Roses in particular".

" Chosen to be the first video, no-one was quite sure how to represent the song until i suggested we steal from three classic movies: Midnight Cowboy, (The Story of an innocent loose in the underbelly of New York), The Man Who Fell to Earth , (A Bowie movie about an alien trying to comprehend human behaviour), and Krubricks Clockwork Orange. Geffen wouldnt come up with the budget needed, so I 'piggy backed' the shoot on a Great White video Shoot using the same director and crew. Great White had already broken through with Rock Me. By using cameras and crew for four days we could spread the rental costs and expenses over four days, get discounts and get the Storyboard for .... Jungle Shot.

" Sent to MTV, .... Jungle was Ignored for six months. Just as it was at album radio stations. Still, word of mouth from the tours with The Cult, Alice Cooper and Motley Crue drove sales to 250000 albums. Geffen thought they would call it a good day for a debut album at that point. But there was enought belief in Guns in a number of key people that the video was given the slimmest of chances in an overnight showing.

" The response was instant and legendary. Geffen claimed all the creditfor the airplay, but many people pressed for the airtime - Geffen would demand that any and every video they made got played. Ultimately it got played because of the undenible groundswell that the band themselves had generated by making a brilliant record and touring behind it.

The Great Eight By Alan Niven

This is why GN'R worked so well together. Izzy had the eternal Rock 'N' Roll groove (he and keef are from the same mould); Steven Adler provided a vital exuberance despite being a less then technical drummer; Duffer locked it all - and Steven down; and Slash's slithering and laconic guitar played brilliantly against Axl's angst-ridden voice of sandpaper and molasses.

Their best songs? The following are those that would connect on one beat, no matter what frame of mind i was in:

1. Welcome To The Jungle

The anthem the whole world embraced: the helter skelter intro riff., the banshee howl from out of the shadows and darkness of paradise city lost. No-one has since topped this sonic mayhem. It is still the song used to raise the adrenaline and stir a crowd at any sporting contest. Take that one to heart.

2. Paradise City

The Magnificent sweep of sound that contains all the heart, soul and muscle of GN'R. Groove, power, attitude, lyricism, a serpentine middle eight guitar part and a truely demented and barely controllablecoda. Just huge.

3. Sweet Child O' Mine

All about the vocal and the lyric: 'Her hair reminds me of a safe place where as a child I'd hide' is so personal, particular and poetic that would be sufficient reason alone. But then Slash rose to the challenge of Axl's content and performance with his intro and solo.

4. Rocket Queen

The strength and swagger of this groove would be enough, but then the lyric demystifies the Axl enigma. Sex for powers sake? Grace 'n' love for gods sake. He Cared

5. Nightrain

The anthem the world missed; a great mythological lyric, and a sizzling guitar solo out that i still think ends far to soon.

6. Reckless Life - The Demo

Close your eyes and you are back to the autumn of 1986 and in The Troubadour. A blistering manifesto.

7. Dust N' Bones

Its so fucking Izzy. i love him and his vibe. 'Nuff said.

8. Its So Easy

The first single ever released. 'How do you like us now, fuckers?

Of course there are other terrific songs and moments. Civil War, for example, should be noted as a key moment when Axl shifted from LA sexual politics to social statesmanship and commentary. November Rain, on the other hand, as superb as it is, has always felt like an Axl solo track to me - the beginnings of Chinese Democracy.

Taken from the Sept 2008 Issue of Classic Rock now go buy it , any spelling mistakes are probably mine in the copying.