Guns N Roses Greatest Hits Album

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Marcelo Chaplin

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:03:37 PM8/3/24

to abgicipi

Pitchfork especially was and probably still is the biggest offender of these types of reviews that just come off as a soapbox for meandering bullshit. Like this reviewer sounds like they have absolutely no fun in their life and that music is srs business. Actually using the word retarded makes then lose all credibility.

The one point they're kind of right about is in the ninth paragraph box regarding the song selection and the amount of covers though LALD and KOHD are pretty much staples. Ain't it Fun and Since I Don't Have You are kind of puzzling but they at least give every album to that point some representation.

even that part wasn't a valid point cause it's called "greatest hits", it's not a best of compilation. The "retarded" usage and the Schindler's list bit was in poor taste. Greatest Hits was just a cash grab though but kinda funny how it was probably only released cause Axl didn't release Chinese and it sold all those copies, making it a much bigger commercial success than Chinese.

First off, completely forgot that Pitchfork reviewed this album back in the day. Second off, I tend to forget just how insufferable and overwrought those old Pitchfork reviews, up until about 2010, really were. They started toning it down considerably after that, and even more so once they got bought. But my God, those older reviews are like reading the old movie reviews at Ain't It Cool News from the 1990s.

For all the hate it gets, I consider the Greatest Hits album to possibly be one of the most important in terms of the band's commercial legacy. This album and Velvet Revolver combined helped introduce the band to a whole new generation of young adults at a time when many saw GN'R as a footnote in musical history. It helped cement the band's status as a legacy band.

Even as a greatest hits collection you could probably completely ignore The Spaghetti Incident and I'd hardly call the songs on there hits. My Michelle, You're Crazy from Lies, and Rocket Queen could all replace them and SFTD. Those songs feel like a much better representation of the band.

The funny thing is the reviewer Chris Ott was such an asshole that Pitchfork decided to just delete his reviews from their website entirely. The only way to find his reviews is through the Wayback Machine.

this was a greatest hits compilation album by the record company with no involvement from the band as you probably know, solely designed to generate sales. I think it's a good mix of all the albums Gn'R released with what a new or a casual fan will want. It was only 1 Spaghetti song wasn't it? considering how well it did sales wise, I'd say it was the perfect cheap way to cash in on the nostalgia.

Pitchfork is infamous for deleting older reviews; particularly when they use less than PC language (like this one) or when it's negative review for band that later gained popularity, credibility, or a general critical reassessment. They reviewed Appetite for Destruction in 2017 (as part of their Sunday review of classic albums) and gave it a perfect score.

To be fair, if I remember correctly, their Chinese Democracy review, while not positive, was more even-handed and actually gave some thoughtful discussion to the music. Also, they gave more attention to "Absurd" and "Hard Skool" than a lot of other major publications which cover rock music.

I think you are confusing a Greatest Hits with a Best Of. My Michelle and Rocket Queen were not hits, those were not even released as singles. These songs would have to be included on a Best Of, but not a GH, so maybe the tracklisting makes a bit more sense to you now. The songs weren't chosen for "representation".

If you look at it from a label perspective it seems like Sympathy for the Devil, Since I Don't Have You, and Ain't it Fun were kind of included for representation especially if people wanted to buy The Spaghetti Incident. SFTD is a different case since the GH album is where it got its widest release.

A lot of times the distinction between greatest hits and best of is blurred by the artists/record labels. My point is there's a bunch of songs that are well known and also concert staples that could've easily made it. The last 3 tracks on that album feel out of place imo.

It's amazing how the guy used "doubtless" for something that is absolutely false. Slash always said that Fear was one of the few punk rock bands he dug. The rest came mostly from Duff. And the comment about Axl's musical acumen is either ignorance or bad faith.

Yeah, tbf to this review, the Greatest Hits was a horrible release. It was the first Guns album I brought and I remember looking in the liner notes and realising 5 songs were covers and feeling a bit surprised.

already got Civil War and NR in there so maybe another long epic is too much for the casuals, which I'm guessing was the audience for this product, mostly. Also maybe the record label was trying to release a compilation which represents every Gn'R album and notable release. Honestly, I think it works well as kind of an introduction to Gn'R.