The Greatest Hits reviews thread (Post album reviews here)

[Mutherfunker]

What an idiot, most of the UYI songs were written before AFD came out. Yes, there was some of those thing added, but I'm sick of people thinking that that is what UYI were. The majority of tracks didn't have any choirs, etc/weren't ballads.

@#$%Muther

[SlashFan]

What an idiot, most of the UYI songs were written before AFD came out. Yes, there was some of those thing added, but I'm sick of people thinking that that is what UYI were. The majority of tracks didn't have any choirs, etc/weren't ballads.

@#$%Muther

I agree with you on that subject

[SlashFan]

From
www.goldendiscs.ie



Review written by Stephen Watts

Guns ?N? Roses Greatest Hits is long overdue but with such a frustrating delay comes even greater anticipation.
It?s often the case that a band will bring out a greatest hits album that simply doesn?t do them justice, Pink Floyd springs to mind but in this instance we are presented with an album that has obviously endured much thought and care before it?s final track selection and track placement.
Making a deliberate statement as to the journey ahead, the album begins with the hard rock anthem, ?Welcome To The Jungle? a track that sparked the beginning of something special way back in 1987.
This fourteen track album rarely falters in it?s presentation of a band that captured the world with their brash attitudes, infectious guitar riffs, haunting ballads and sheer head thumping music. Timeless songs featured include the number one single, ?Sweet Child O? Mine? the epic ?November Rain? the soundtrack to Terminator 2, ?You Could Be Mine? the song that epitomised the wonderful feeling of a live gig, ?Paradise City? and the down right mean cover of ?Live And Let Die?.
Guns ?N? Roses were masters of their craft and this fourteen track C.V. is the perfect example of it. Guns ?N? Roses Greatest Hits collection is released March 12th.
 

[C0ma]

http://www.nme.com/reviews/11574.htm

pretty cool review

[Johnnyblood]

Yes, nicely done by NME. Thanks for posting.

[kujo722]

I'm sure Jarmo will love the comparison to "The Darkness"  

[WalrusOct9]

I'm sure Jarmo will love the comparison to "The Darkness"

You mean that new collaboration between Spinal Tap and Robert Smith from the Cure?

[jarmo]

I'm sure Jarmo will love the comparison to "The Darkness"  

It only said they got some ideas from GN'R......

It could've been worse, for example "The Darkness are the new GN'R".  


/jarmo

[Eeebs]

Here is a pretty nice review with some band info / stories, courtesy of the NME website ::

http://www.nme.com/reviews/11574.htm

***

Guns N' Roses : Greatest Hits
The last thing I loved about Guns N' Roses was their music. On the contrary, I gave their UK debut at the old Marquee a right slagging back in June ''87; said they were silly, dumb throwbacks.

As a consequence, I received a phonecall from the singer, Axl Rose. He said the band were on the way to the airport in a cab and he wondered if I'd be in the office so they could swing right by and FUCKING SORT ME OUT!! Needless to say, I had a pressing engagement elsewhere but I had to admire their balls.

And so it was that, four years later, I found myself crammed into a room the size of a garden shed backstage somewhere in the US of A with all five members of Guns N' Roses, listening to AC/DC's 'Back In Black' just as loud as the human ear will allow.

This was the Gunners' pre-show ritual - to ingest the brutal majesty of the greatest rock album of modern times, then go out and top it. The band were in such disarray at this point that the ritual and the show were the only times the five individuals ever met together. They were rock's greatest soap opera and there were so many reasons to adore them that it's hard to know where to start.

There was Axl who was so insane he travelled with his own shrink and was forever getting arrested for inciting audience riots. He had a voice like gravel, a snake-hipped dance that became the signature image for the fledgling MTV and he wore bandanas and cycling shorts!

There was Slash,in the top hat, his face forever hidden behind a curly curtain of hair. Slash kept snakes for pets, was a junkie and had to carry notes around in his pockets so that, if you found him OD'd, you'd know who to call. He played guitar like Picasso - straight lines, no fucking about.

Then there was Izzy, the intelligent one. Was a junkie. Quit. Travelled to shows in a camper van with his dog and his bicycle like some gypsy prince. And Duff, the peroxide bassist. A total babe magnet, just pure fucked up the whole time. But not as fucked up as Steven, the drummer, who was so fucked up they sacked him. Amazingly, this chaotic rabble had become the biggest band in the world. Then, of course, Kurt Cobain came along and changed the landscape and Axl sacked the band and we're still waiting for that 'Chinese Democracy' album he promised us 11 years ago.

Anyway, now we've got 'Greatest Hits' and, distanced by a decade from all the hoo-ha, it still sounds fucking great. You'll know 'Sweet Child O' Mine' with its serpentine Slash intro and glorious chorus. You should also get into 'Paradise City' and 'Welcome To The Jungle' if you wanna know where The Darkness got the idea of screwing pop choruses into HM verses. And if lighters aloft rock is your bag, say hello to the mighty 'November Rain'.

This shit still sounds hot today. It's packed with pomp, spunk and circumstance, makes blokes want to fight and girls want to dance. What the fuck else is there?

Steve Sutherland

[Malcolm]

Hey everyone the hits cd is released tomororw in north america so heres the review thread ...ill be abck tomororw with my review of it

[jarmo]

Hey everyone the hits cd is released tomororw in north america so heres the review thread ...ill be abck tomororw with my review of it

Nothing wrong with using the old thread since it's the same album.



/jarmo

[Malcolm]

k thanks...so this is the review thread for the march 23rd release in north america..see yas tomorrow

[Booker Floyd]

Dont think this has been posted yet.

Allmusic.coms review, courtesy of everybodys favorite music critic...



Otherwise known as the album Axl tried to kill, Guns n' Roses' Greatest Hits is essentially a last-ditch effort by Geffen to get some GNR product, any GNR product out on the shelves. And, really, who can blame them? When they originally planned to release the disc in time for Christmas 2003, they had been waiting 12 years for a new album of original material from Guns n' Roses, and despite a flurry of activity in the fall of 2002 ? Axl unveiling his Frankenband at the MTV Video Awards then took them out on a tour that imploded almost immediately ? the label was still waiting for the forever-delayed Chinese Democracy a year later, so they were set to rush it out for holiday sales. While it didn't materialize for that season, it was ready to surface in March 2004, when Rose, supported by his numerous ex-bandmates, filed a lawsuit against Geffen claiming the record was unauthorized, would do damage to their reputation, and distract from Chinese Democracy, which was, of course, no closer to completion than it was a year prior. A week before its scheduled release, a federal judge denied the band's request for an injunction, and the record came out on March 23, 2004. Was it worth a lawsuit? For Geffen, probably, since it's good for them to get new GNR in the stores, but it's also easy to see why the band was irked by Greatest Hits, since it bears all the hallmarks of a slapdash compilation, hastily assembled by the label as a way to buy time between releases. There are no liner notes, the cardboard packaging is flimsy, the remastering isn't notable, and any compilation that contains more songs from The Spaghetti Incident? than G N' R Lies is unbalanced. That said, it does offer the biggest hits ? "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child o' Mine," "Patience," "Paradise City," "Don't Cry," "You Could Be Mine," "November Rain," "Live and Let Die" ? which may satisfy some fans. Still, there's not only a number of hits and important songs missing ? anywhere from the charting singles "Nightrain" and "Estranged" to the essential album tracks "It's So Easy," "Mr. Brownstone," and "Used to Love Her," among many others ? the preponderance of epics, ballads, and covers (a full five of the record's 14 tracks are covers, including their horrid version of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," previously unavailable on any GNR record) gives an inaccurate portrait of the band, effectively neutering its reckless rage. It also could be argued that this is all a question of semantics, since this is the "greatest hits" not the "best of," and all of these tracks were big radio hits and therefore fulfilling the promise of the title. However, Guns n' Roses aren't necessarily a band that's well suited to hits compilations, since their albums capture the raw, messy vitality of their music. Here, they sound tamer than they ever were, even if the song selection does follow the charts closely. But even if you sympathize with the band's argument that this is not an especially flattering picture of the band, it's easier to sympathize with the label since there are undoubtedly some fans that would like a hits comp, no matter how uneven it is, but the label has been stuck with no more than a whisper of a promise of a new GNR record for so long they've been left to manufacture their own. If that angers Axl, maybe he should finish that damn album while a handful of people still care. ? Stephen Thomas Erlewine

[Booker Floyd]

My take on the review...

I agree with almost everything Erelwine said, except his comments on "Sympathy For The Devil".  Aside from the lame Casio synthesizer sound effects present in the intro, its a pretty good song.  Great guitar-work by Slash and some great screaming from Axl.  He touched on the most deserved criticisms (the inclusion of 5 covers, the abundance of TSI? songs, lack of radio classics such as "Nightrain," "Mr. Brownstone," and "Used To Love Her," as well as "Estranged") and accepted that these are the hits, and good enough for the average fan.  His assessment on the presentstate of GNR is right-on.  You have to understand why this is being released, and Axl should really "finish that damn album".

[madagas]

I think that review is fine as well.

[Mutherfunker]

I haven't always agreed with Mr Erlewine's reviews, but that was pretty damn right on. Very good review.

And Mr. Floyd..... I couldn't agree more.

@#$%Muther

P.S. He has always had some major problem with that version of SFTD. Always will, nevermind.

[madagas]

Funky, because doing a cover of Sympathy is akin to someone doing a cover of Welcome to the Jungle. Some songs you just don't touch because you can never top the original...or even come close.

[Drew]

Yes, I did pick up my GH copy today at Best Buy. I know alot of people here have different opinions on whether to purchase this cd or not. But I did. The songs do sound more crisp and "updated" if I may say so. But I could always be mistaken.

The feeling I got when I saw the cd on the display rack was amazing. Chillbumps to the extreme. I can only imagine the feelings I'll have if Chinese Demoracy is released.  

[AC]

Mine's a Digipak. The re-mastering is quite good.

I give it a 7/10.

I'd give it 8/10 if "Ain't It Fun" was the album version.

I'd give it 9/10 if it had "Estranged" and the album version of "Ain't It Fun".

I'd give it 10/10, if all of the above was met, and it had some unreleased material on it, and was entirely endorsed and re-mastered under Axl's supervision. It wouldn't all fit on one CD, but it doesn't have to. Maybe someday.... until then Chinese Democracy will be here soon!

However subjective, they are my thoughts.

AA.

[AC]

Furthermore, "Appetite" is spelled correctly in mine. Not sure what kind of CD the rest of you have....

AA.