ALL GUNS WERE BLAZING WHEN THE GUNNERS BROUGHT ON A CIVIL WAR

Despite questionable musical abilities and notorious drug addictions
which always threatened to derail the band from its inception, G N`R,
also known as Guns N`Roses, was the quinessential agro rock band of
the late 80`s and early 90`s. Formed originally from the remains of
two established club bands, Hollywood Rose and LA Guns, which were
the combined surnames of singer Axl Rose and short lived founding
member Tracii Guns, each from the diffrent bands, G N`R would go
on to conquer the hard rock world with their brash punk powered
brand of blues based rock, sell out stadiums and sell countless
copies of four multi-platinum releases, `Welcome To The Jungle`,
and the two from 1991, `Use Your Illusion 1` & `Use Your Illu-
sion 2`, not forgetting the half bootleg/half acoustic EP from
1988 called `G N`R Lies`, containing the classic downtempo-ish
`Patience`. The one song which i regard as the best song which
the Gunners ever recorded is the number one song on `Use Your
Illusion 2` called CIVIL WAR. The song has got the raw edge of
ones off the official debut `Welcome to The Jungle`, like pop-
ular classics `Paradise City`, `Sweet Child O`Mine` & the bru-
tal title track, but it`s better because of its tight knit ballad
like structure and greater emotiveness. CIVIL WAR starts with
an acoustic/whistling duet, the verses showcase Axl Rose sing-
ing at his best, while the thumpingly hard rocking powerchord
charged repeated chorues sees Slash and Izzy Stradlin tearing
down the tent with a wall of classic heavy rock guitar chops.
The last refrain, while still just as heavy and containing a
massive meaty guitar riff courtesy of Slash and Stradlin, is
enhanced even more by the intro of some out of nowhere
piano, tempering the simmering aggression Rose stirs up
from the beginning. The song ends with the sound of rain &
thunder, perhaps an intentional artistic reference to the be-
ginning of Black Sabbath`s namesake song from 1969, which
is thought to be a groundbreaker in terms of innovation and
heaviness for its time. I could open many cans of worms with
G N`R, but for now i`ll leave you savour the best of the best.