In case Axl doesn't get enough press this month

A friend confided with me (over Lucky 13s) that he can't stand Guns n' Roses.

Writing about G n' R this month is selling coals to Newcastle. Besides being one of the most obsessed over, stalked and written about rock bands in history, Chinese Democracy is allegedly really coming out now, commencing an inescapable whirlwind media frenzy that I'm not giving any more time to. Rather than debate whether Axl's band is really Guns n' Roses, or if Chinese Democracy's really coming out, or if it'll be any good or why Velvet Revolver sucks, re-visit (or appreciate) one of the greatest bands in American history.

As to not reiterate what everyone already knows, none of these songs came from the unauthorized and entirely useless Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits that came out a few years ago.


"Nightrain"



There's not a more badass song than this.

"Coma"



Buried on the final track of Use Your Illusion I, rarely played lived for its exhausting length and complicated structure, "Coma" remains one of the finest examples of G n' R's talents. Axl's internal crises are at the forefront, with Slash's monstrous playing pushing the entire band to their limits. It's a huge, frightening, stunning and beautiful mess, kind of like the band that plays it.

"Pretty Tied Up"



Axl, Slash and Duff are overflowing with attitude and charisma, but any G n' R fan worth his Jack Daniels could tell rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin' wrote some of the band's best tunes. Lots of bands write about being "Pretty Tied Up," but never as tunefully or as convincingly insane as these guys.

"Bad Obsession"



Another Stradlin' gem. If they'd stayed together, I'd like to think that the band would be tapping more into their Stones influence, the way that they do here.

"You're Crazy"



Really anything from Appetite for Destruction is as great as music gets, as is much from the Use Your Illusions. On the Lies EP, Axl and the boys recorded an acoustic shakedown of Appetite's "You're Crazy." More impressive than their drastic rearrangement of the original is the way that the stripped down, folksy and communal-sounding version still sounds fierce. I'd hate to meet the person that Axl would deem "crazy."

Encore:

Check out Elton John's performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Just watch it.