On September 25, GUNS N' ROSES' 2004, multi-platinum best-of compilation "Greatest Hits" (Geffen/UMe) will be released on vinyl for the first time. Previously only available digitally and on CD, "Greatest Hits" will be pressed as a 2LP set on 180gram audiophile black vinyl, a 2LP set on silver colored vinyl with red and white splatter, plus a 2LP picture disc available exclusively through the band's official store. The vinyl edition of "Greatest Hits" will also feature the band's single "Shadow Of Your Love", which hit No. 5 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Originally recorded in December 1986, "Shadow of Your Love" made its debut on the 2018 box set "Appetite For Destruction".
All three versions can each be pre-ordered here.
In 2004, "Greatest Hits" reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and in 2007 hit No. 1 on the Catalog Albums chart. Featuring all eight of the band's Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 tracks (six of them RIAA-certified "gold," i.e., sales of more than 500,000 units), "Greatest Hits" spans the group's five album releases, including their cover of THE ROLLING STONES' "Sympathy For The Devil" for the 1995 film "Interview With The Vampire".
The first full-length album from GUNS N' ROSES, 1987's "Appetite For Destruction", is one of the most popular hard rock albums in history and has been on the Billboard Top 200 albums or Top Pop Catalog chart for a total of 746 weeks. Certified 18 times platinum in the U.S., "Appetite For Destruction" charted No. 1 for five weeks and includes three Top 10s: the anthem "Welcome To The Jungle" (No. 7), the frenzied rocker "Paradise City" (No. 5) plus their platinum selling No. 1 single "Sweet Child O' Mine". The video for "Sweet Child O' Mine" recently hit over 1 billion views on YouTube.
1988's "GN'R Lies", comprised of songs from the group's independently released 1986 EP "Live?!*@Like A Suicide" plus new studio recordings, followed "Appetite For Destruction" up the charts, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The Grammy-nominated album (for "Best Hard Rock Performance") was five times platinum (each platinum level connotes sales of more than one million units) and claimed the gold No. 4-charting ballad "Patience".
Then, on September 17, 1991, with one of the most anticipated releases ever in music, both "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" debuted. "Use Your Illusion I" featured two gold singles with "November Rain" (No. 3) and "Don't Cry" (No. 10) plus another Top 40 with "Live And Let Die" (No. 33). "Use Your Illusion II" boasted another gold hit with the previously released single "You Could Be Mine" (No. 29), heard in the film "Terminator II: Judgement Day". Each of the "Use Your Illusion" albums went seven times platinum, with "Use Your Illusion I" going to No. 2 and "Use Your Illusion II" hitting No. 1. "Use Your Illusion I" was Grammy nominated for "Best Hard Rock Performance" as was the WINGS cover "Live And Let Die". "Greatest Hits" also culls from "II" "Yesterdays", "Civil War" and GN'R's take on Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".
A collection of GUNS N' ROSES covers of classic, mainly punk, songs that had influenced the bandmembers since their early days, 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?" hit No. 4 and is certified platinum. Included on "Greatest Hits" are its renditions of THE DEAD BOYS' 1978 track "Ain't It Fun" and an unlikely cover of THE SKYLINERS' '50s doo-wop gem "Since I Don't Have You".
Track listing:
LP1 - Side G
01. Welcome To The Jungle
02. Sweet Child O' Mine
03. Shadow Of Your Love
04. Patience
LP1 - Side N
01. Paradise City
02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
03. Civil War
LP2 - Side F'N
01. You Could Be Mine
02. Don't Cry (Original Version)
03. November Rain
04. Live And Let Die
LP2 - Side R
01. Yesterdays
02. Ain't It Fun
03. Since I Don't Have You
04. Sympathy For The Devil
