Axl ‘shoot myself in the foot’ Rose and his band of merry men return from a lengthy hiatus with the release of their official greatest hits package. Although I say official, in truth had Axl had his way then this release would never have seen the light of day. As hard as he and Slash tried, even efforts in court failed, they couldn’t stop Geffen Records releasing what they saw as an acceptable package. Geffen it seemed, having been taken to the limit with constant promises of Chinese Democracy, took it into their own hands to place together a collection of songs and rush release it. If I were to be honest, this is one of the worst ‘hits’ packages that you will find, not because of the music, rather due to the circumstances. Firstly, for a greatest hits package there is very little here that can’t be purchased on a market stall for £3.99, a flimsy collection of a mere 14 songs from a band that have a career spanning 20 years, quite frankly isn’t acceptable. The big hitters are all here - November Rain, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City and Civil War, but it just doesn’t suffice for what is supposedly their greatest hits……….

Live and Let Die
Don’t Cry (original version)
November Rain

Thinking slightly more positively, Geffen have at least got 50% of the track list to standard, with the first half of the album without doubt the strongest, giving us all the big ‘guns’ within the first 7 tracks, leaving November Rain and Don’t Cry as the sole big hitters in the latter half of this hour long compilation. ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, a horrendous Rolling Stones cover, is one that truly should have stayed on a comeback album for a 2020 release, with the original being a shambles the hint should have been well and truly taken not to venture into murky waters. The packaging to the album is at first glance a good view - a very neat cardboard sleeve with a good selection of pictures and information included overleaf, but the one thing I shall warn you about is that these ‘modern‘ style cardboard sleeves tend to wear thin very quickly (much like my patience for the record).

The most endearing moment is the epic cover of Bob Dylan’s classic ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ a song covered by many, but rarely this well. Slash makes it his own and Axl sounds like he’s been singing it all his life, truly wonderful. As some of you may know from past reviews, I have a huge soft spot for November Rain, the track that turned me onto the louder side of life and a track that I hold great respect for. The nine minutes that it spans for drift by as if a second had past, showing that when the jobs done right, it’s magnificent, but sadly enough it’s just not done regularly enough and I would honestly say only purchase this if your getting into the band. As I’ve been a fan for years I can freely turn to my CD collection for the omissions.