The Los Angeles hard rock band Guns N’ Roses released just six albums during a contentious decades-long run marked by infighting, drug abuse, and concert riots. They also managed to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide, and release the highest-selling debut album in United States history.
All of that added up to induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the band’s first year of eligibility. It was a well-earned honor, even if the band members themselves claimed not to want it.
When I started looking for songs to fit my Stranger Things “predict the next 80s viral hit” challenge, Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ was the first one I considered a slam dunk.
This anarchic classic has the perfect feel for a show about the threat of apocalypse, and the epic sweep of its soundscape — particularly in the opening minute — would beautifully match images of death and destruction.
My theory is that any “great” album has to have at least three great songs. If the rest are ok, and exhibit the same general style as the great ones, the whole album will earn a solid reputation.
Guns N’ Roses 1997 debut, Appetite For Destruction, is a good example. It features an all-time classic in ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and two other greatest hits-worthy tracks in ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Paradise City.’ The rest of the songs are entirely forgettable.
Closing out week one of the 30 Day Music Challenge, our mission today is to name ‘A Song That Needs To Be Played Loud.’ Certainly many songs fit the bill, but I’m trying to go with the first thing that occurs to me for each of these categories. And the first thing that occurred to me for this one was Guns N’ Roses’ classic ‘Welcome to the Jungle.’
This is a song that needn’t be played at all if it isn’t played loud. It was named the best hard rock song of all time by VH1, and the best hard rock songs need to be played at 11.
Here’s another entry from Postmodern Jukebox, a New Orleans jazz version of Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’
This might be my favorite clip of theirs yet, because I love that New Orleans sound, the singer (Miche Braden) has a wonderful voice and it’s so completely unexpected.
Meet Me In Montauk 