2004.02.19 - Press Release from Geffen: Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits For The First Time

Guns N' Roses. GREATEST HITS. For the First Time

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- It may surprise some to realize that Guns N' Roses released only four full-length original albums, and two of those debuted simultaneously. But they were enough to forever change rock 'n' roll. Even more shocking is that one of the great bands in rock history, with its last studio album issued 10 years ago, has never had a "best of" compilation. Now it has. Welcome to the jungle with GREATEST HITS (Geffen), released March 23, 2004.

With 14 selections housed in a digipak, GREATEST HITS features all eight of the band's Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 tracks (five of them RIAA-certified "gold," i.e., sales of more than 500,000 units). Along with spanning the group's five album releases, GREATEST HITS also marks the debut on a Guns N' Roses album of the band's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" for the 1995 film INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE.

The first full-length album from GN'R, 1987's APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, is one of the most popular hard rock albums in history. As of February 21, 2004, the album has been on the Billboard Top 200 Albums or Top Pop Catalog chart for a total of 545 weeks. Selling more than 20 million copies worldwide -- 15 times platinum in the U.S. -- it charted #1 for five weeks. The album included three Top 10s: the gold #1 single "Sweet Child O' Mine," the anthem "Welcome To The Jungle" (#7) and the frenzied rocker "Paradise City" (#5).

1988's G N'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. Zooming to #2, the Grammy-nominated album (for Hard Rock Performance) was five times platinum (each platinum level connotes sales of more than one million units) and claimed the gold #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. I featured two gold singles with "November Rain" (#3) and "Don't Cry" (#10) plus another Top 40 with "Live And Let Die" (#33). II boasted another gold hit with the previously-released single "You Could Be Mine" (#29), heard in the film TERMINATOR II: JUDGEMENT DAY. Each of the USE YOUR ILLUSION albums went seven times platinum. I reached #2 and II reached #1. II 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 #4 and 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.