It's become cliché to make fun of Axl Rose and company, but they made it so darn easy with all that Use Your Illusion stuff, much of which is collected here, making for a Greatest Hits album that's pretty useless. The first four tracks are the exception: "Welcome to the Jungle," with its boozy swagger and manly squeals, is hands down the ultimate in '80s big-hair decadence; the cheeseball opening guitar line of "Sweet Child o' Mine" is pure pop genius, and the only reason this band got any attention in the first place; intended to exemplify the sensitive side of these hirsute leather purveyors, "Patience" made campfire singalongs fun again; and, of course, the huge snare and caffeinated riffs of "Paradise City" are all adrenaline and rock 'n' roll excess. Rather than buy this, though, just throw "Patience" onto the end of Appetite for Destruction and you're set.
