Whatever happened to Greatest Hits 2?

[rocknroll41]

Mods; please feel free to move if this is the wrong section for a topic like this.

I remember reading on Chinese Whispers that, back in 2005, Geffen was planning to release a two-disc compilation called Welcome To The Jungle - The Very Best of Guns N‘ Roses, which had a tracklist curated by Axl himself that even Slash approves of, apparently.

Chinese Whispers used to have the leaked artwork for this canceled album, but I went back to check just now and it’s gone. From what I remember, the front cover was gonna be the North American tour logo from late 2006 (brown star with the two guns and wrapped roses in front of it), in front of a red background. Same cover art as the one that was eventually used as the art for the early release of Shackler’s Revenge on Rock Band 2. The first disc had a picture of bullets, and the second disc had a picture of rose pedals. Can’t remember the track list of either disc.

can anyone help me find this stuff?

Does anyone think we’ll ever get something like this someday? Would probably be smart of the band to put something like this out as a “warm up” to a new album, with maybe a couple of new songs added to it. Maybe later this year to go alongside the new mini tour? If my theory there does pan out, I imagine it’d be called Not In This Lifetime, to go along with the tour title. I feel like Slash wouldn’t have been recording a new song at Axl’s house in the middle of a quick solo tour break unless it was for something soon.

Then again, compilation albums are pretty much a dead concept at this point thanks to online playlists, so who the fuck knows.

[Towelie]

How much of a "warm-up" do GNR need for a new album??

[rocknroll41]

3 minutes ago, Towelie said:

How much of a "warm-up" do GNR need for a new album??

Idk... I’m starved at this point so I’ll even take just one or two new songs. XD

[rocknroll41]

Nevermind, I found what I was looking for:

I’d be down to see something like this with some new songs, if we never get an actual new album.

Oh well. Time will tell, I guess.

[AxlRoseCDII]

Only GNR, a band with almost nothing but hits, would choose such a eh collection of songs with most of them being covers. 

[rocknroll41]

1 minute ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Only GNR, a band with almost nothing but hits, would choose such a eh collection of songs with most of them being covers. 

Are you talking about the official Greatest Hits that came out back in 2004? My understanding is that the label selected that track list, not the band.

[History2010]

1 hour ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Only GNR, a band with almost nothing but hits, would choose such a eh collection of songs with most of them being covers. 

The Big Three sued the label to try and stop that release from happening. It was very much not endorsed. GH2 was Axl's choice for a compilation.

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

I have a double cd with GNR's greatest hits and some covers that I bought from amazon.com

[History2010]

It's very hard to read from the photo, but someone on another form transcribed the list: 

 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: THE VERY BEST OF GUNS N' ROSES

Disc One

01. Welcome To The Jungle
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Sweet Child O' Mine
04. November Rain
05. Civil War
06. 14 Years
07. Used To Love Her
08. Out Ta Get Me
09. Down On The Farm
10. Perfect Crime
11. My Michelle
12. Coma
13. Move To The City
14. Nightrain
15. Live And Let Die
16. Don't Cry

Disc Two

01. It's So Easy
02. You Could Be Mine
03. Paradise City
04. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
05. Patience
06. Yesterdays
07. Pretty Tied Up
08. Black Leather
09. Double Talkin' Jive
10. Locomotive
11. Dead Horse
12. You're Crazy
13. Estranged
14. Rocket Queen

[31illusions]

I appreciated the GH CD back then but who needs it now? We've got the remasterd AFD. Just copy and paste the songs to your phone/iPod/laptop and there you go! GH part 2!!! Artwork optional.

Edited June 28, 2019 by 31illusions

[mikeman5150]

10 from AFD

3 from Lies

7 from UYI 1

8 from UYI 2

2 from TSI

All of their material is so good. I hope if anything new comes out, that it can be worthy of being included alongside these songs. 

[rocknroll41]

On 6/28/2019 at 3:01 AM, mikeman5150 said:

10 from AFD

3 from Lies

7 from UYI 1

8 from UYI 2

2 from TSI

All of their material is so good. I hope if anything new comes out, that it can be worthy of being included alongside these songs. 

The version of You’re Crazy which was gonna be included is actually the Lies one, so it’s really 9 from AFD and 4 from Lies.

id say the ChiDem songs worthy of inclusion alongside these are Chinese Democracy, Better, and This I Love. I’d also argue that SOYL has earned its place now alongside all of these.

should be interesting to see if there is ever any new music that joins these ranks too.

Edited March 9, 2020 by rocknroll41

[Gracii Guns]

14 hours ago, History2010 said:

It's very hard to read from the photo, but someone on another form transcribed the list: 

 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: THE VERY BEST OF GUNS N' ROSES

Disc One

01. Welcome To The Jungle
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Sweet Child O' Mine
04. November Rain
05. Civil War
06. 14 Years
07. Used To Love Her
08. Out Ta Get Me
09. Down On The Farm
10. Perfect Crime
11. My Michelle
12. Coma
13. Move To The City
14. Nightrain
15. Live And Let Die
16. Don't Cry

Disc Two

01. It's So Easy
02. You Could Be Mine
03. Paradise City
04. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
05. Patience
06. Yesterdays
07. Pretty Tied Up
08. Black Leather
09. Double Talkin' Jive
10. Locomotive
11. Dead Horse
12. You're Crazy
13. Estranged
14. Rocket Queen

I'd take that playlist. No doubt that it would have boiled down to economics. We the sheeple are more likely to buy a Funko Pop than a new album. 

[mikeman5150]

17 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

The version of You’re Crazy which was gonna be included is actually the Lies one, so it’s really 9 from AFD and 4 from Lies.

id say the ChiDem songs worthy of inclusion alongside these are Chinese Democracy, Better, and This I Love. I’d also argue that SOYL has earned its place now alongside all of these.

eould be interesting to see if there is ever any new music that joins these ranks too.

I totally agree with the inclusion of CD songs

[Its Tino]

4 LPs do not warrant 2 greatest hits albums, IMO. 

[rocknroll41]

1 hour ago, Its Tino said:

4 LPs do not warrant 2 greatest hits albums, IMO. 

Yeah that’s a good point that I hadn’t considered before actually.

[UsedYourIllusion]

Hmm, i dig the tracks, but they aren't put into a good order i think? It's the same issue i have with UYI I & II, the tracks are just in a wonky order lol. It would have been better to do more of a live setlist with a slight variation. For me though, it'd be hard to put a setlist for the album together because the studio performances are 'meh' for me compared to the live versions i.e.: Perfect Crime, Bad Obsession, Dust N' Bones, Pretty Tied Up, Yesterdays, You're Crazy, etc. 

Whether we get a new GN'R album remains to be seen, but at the very least, we need rereleases of the UYI albums, or some live albums

[Gunsdrummer63]

On 6/27/2019 at 6:00 PM, History2010 said:

It's very hard to read from the photo, but someone on another form transcribed the list: 

 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: THE VERY BEST OF GUNS N' ROSES

Disc One

01. Welcome To The Jungle
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Sweet Child O' Mine
04. November Rain
05. Civil War
06. 14 Years
07. Used To Love Her
08. Out Ta Get Me
09. Down On The Farm
10. Perfect Crime
11. My Michelle
12. Coma
13. Move To The City
14. Nightrain
15. Live And Let Die
16. Don't Cry

Disc Two

01. It's So Easy
02. You Could Be Mine
03. Paradise City
04. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
05. Patience
06. Yesterdays
07. Pretty Tied Up
08. Black Leather
09. Double Talkin' Jive
10. Locomotive
11. Dead Horse
12. You're Crazy
13. Estranged
14. Rocket Queen

Estranged and RQ to end disk 2 is a killer combo

[Dean]

It would have been ridiculous for a band with so little in terms of albums to have released 2 compilation records. Despite the botched Greatest Hits release and their refusal to be involved in its creation, they have all benefited from its fantastic sales and Axl eventually toured in support of it in 2012 and beyond.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Dean
How to English

[rocknroll41]

I just realized something interesting. Since this canceled Best Of’s tracklist was curated by Axl himself, the song choice gives us a glimpse into what he probably woulda considered a good single-disc version of UYI.

When you take all the UYI tracks between the two discs detailed above, it adds up to about 83 minutes (I excluded KOHD cause, according to the test version of the Best Of that troccolli got, a live version was used instead of the studio version).

Since a disc can only hold 80 minutes, you’d still have to exclude one more of the songs. I chose to scrap LALD, since it’s also just a cover.

So, when re-arranging the remaining songs in a more “album-like” order, you get this:

1.You Could Be Mine

2.Perfect Crime

3.Double Talkin’ Jive

4.November Rain

5.Pretty Tied Up

6.Dead Horse

7.Civil War

8.14 Years

9.Yesterdays

10.Locomotive

11.Estranged

12.Don’t Cry (Original)

13.Coma

^i bet, if Axl had to cut UYI down to just one album, it would look something like that. The coolest thing for me is that it’s exactly the same songs I chose for my own UYI, except I had Garden of Eden and You Ain’t the First in place of 14 Years.

Edited June 30, 2019 by rocknroll41

[Ant]

That artwork is painful... dodged a bullet.

[Gunsdrummer63]

1 hour ago, rocknroll41 said:

I just realized something interesting. Since this canceled Best Of’s tracklist was curated by Axl himself, the song choice gives us a glimpse into what he probably woulda considered a good single-disc version of UYI.

When you take all the UYI tracks between the two discs detailed above, it adds up to about 83 minutes (I excluded KOHD cause, according to the test version of the Best Of that troccolli got, a live version was used instead of the studio version).

Since a disc can only hold 80 minutes, you’d still have to exclude one more of the songs. I chose to scrap LALD, since it’s also just a cover.

So, when re-arranging the remaining songs in a more “album-like” order, you get this:

1.You Could Be Mine

2.Perfect Crime

3.Double Talkin’ Jive

4.November Rain

5.Pretty Tied Up

6.Dead Horse

7.Civil War

8.14 Years

9.Yesterdays

10.Locomotive

11.Estranged

12.Don’t Cry (Original)

13.Coma

^i bet, if Axl had to cut UYI down to just one album, it would look something like that. The coolest thing for me is that it’s exactly the same songs I chose for my own UYI, except I had Garden of Eden and You Ain’t the First in place of 14 Years.

I was never a fan of You Ain't the First and Garden of Eden, would rather they replaced Perfect Crime with breakdown

[rocknroll41]

9 minutes ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

I was never a fan of You Ain't the First and Garden of Eden, would rather they replaced Perfect Crime with breakdown

Breakdown is a long song tho so it’s difficult to make it fit into either a hypothetical single-disc UYI, or even one of the two hypothetical Best Of discs detailed above (especially when there are already so many other long songs in play like Civil War, November Rain, Estranged, Coma, and Locomotive).