The Playlist: Guns N' Roses

They tore into the music scene with a take-no-prisoners mentality. In a world of pop music and glam metal, they stood out for having an appetite for destruction.

Some called them the next Rolling Stones. And while they didn’t have the longevity of Mick and the gang, they still rank high, on lists compiled by Rolling Stone magazine and VH1, for their contributions to the rock genre.

Axl Rose’s trademark red bandanna and microphone sway. Slash’s customary top hat, sun glasses, and cigarette. For about five years, before fame and egos caused Guns N’ Roses to implode, they were the face of rock ‘n’ roll.

While the band still exists today and tours, it’s a shell of its most famous line up. A new album is in the works, “Chinese Democracy,” but after being teased for a decade it’s unclear when it will be released.

TIME magazine’s Joel Stein wrote last week, regarding the album, “Every few years Rose assures his fans that it's about to be released, and then it isn't. It's gotten so ridiculous that the album title is used to mean something that is long promised but will never happen, like "That marriage proposal is total Chinese Democracy. Move on, girl."”

While we might never get another GN’R album, or at least not another good one, we can enjoy the music they’ve already given us, like these songs:

“Welcome to the Jungle” (1987)
Album: Appetite for Destruction
Billboard Top 100 peak position: 7

You know where you are?
You’re in the jungle, baby
You’re gonna die



The fourth-best-selling album in US history was anchored by this, the band’s first breakout hit. Despite being aired in the early morning hours on MTV, the video went on to be the channel’s most requested.

"I wrote the words in Seattle,” Axl once said in an interview. “It's a big city, but at the same time it's still a small city compared to L.A. and the things that you're gonna learn. It seemed a lot more rural up there. I just wrote how it looked to me. If someone comes to town and they want to find something, they can find whatever they want."

“Sweet Child o’ Mine” (1988)
Album: Appetite for Destruction
Billboard Top 100 peak position: 1

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain



While “Welcome to the Jungle” put the band on the map, “Sweet Child” made them a mainstream success. The song was inspired by Axl’s then wife, Erin Everly. And if the last name sounds familiar, it should. Her dad is Don Everly of the Everly Brothers (Bye Bye Love). Sheryl Crow won a Grammy for her cover of the song in 1999, used in the Adam Sandler film “Big Daddy.”

“The thing about 'Sweet Child,' it was written in five minutes,” bassist Duff McKagen once said. “It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothin', it'll be filler on the record.’”

“Patience” (1989)
Album: G N’R Lies
Billboard Top 100 peak position: 4

Said sugar make it slow
And we'll come together fine
All we need is just a little patience



The bare-bones acoustic love song is a concert favorite for the likes of Finger Eleven, Carrie Underwood, and Slash’s current band, Velvet Revolver. For Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion tour in 1991 and 92, “Patience” followed a cover of the Rolling Stones classic “Wild Horses.”

I was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for over an hour during Kings Mountain’s recent furniture giveaway and heard this song coming from another car. It fit the occasion.

“You Could Be Mine” (1991)
Album: Use Your Illusion II
Billboard Top 100 peak position: 29

When I come home late at night
Don't ask me where I've been
Just count your stars I'm home again



The antithesis of “Patience,” “You Could Be Mine” saw a full-throttle aggressive GN’R. The song was featured in the 1991 summer blockbuster “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” after director James Cameron decided to take advantage of already having the band’s t-shirts and posters in the film. Reportedly, Arnold Schwarzenegger even had the band over to his house to negotiate use of the song. Schwarzenegger also appeared in the song’s music video, which was put in heavy rotation that summer.

“November Rain” (1992)
Album: Use Your Illusion 1
Billboard Top 100 peak position: 3

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same



With an orchestral backing and a running time of 8:57, “November Rain” stands as arguably the band’s crowning achievement. And while the power ballad earned Guns N’ Roses even more accolades, it also marked the point in which they “jumped the shark.” It was their last Top 10 hit and subsequent singles failed to even reach the Top 50. The video, which remains one of the most costly of all time, starred Rose’s then-girlfriend, Victoria’s Secret model Stephanie Seymour.

Those are my picks, what about you? Shoot me an e-mail at grahamcawthon@shelbystar.com.