''The Roots of Guns N' Roses'' is a compilation album containing old songs of

Hollywood Rose Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during l ...

. It was released on June 22, 2004, by

Deadline Music Deadline Music is a record sub-label wholly owned and operated by Cleopatra Records. Deadline was founded at the turn of the century during a revival of 1980s glam/ hair metal bands in which there were new albums from Quiet Riot, White Lion, Wa ...

(

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

Background

The album was produced by

Chris Weber Christopher Garrison Weber (born October 16, 1966) is an American musician best known as the guitarist and founder of the groups U.P.O. and Hollywood Rose (which featured future Guns N' Roses members Axl Rose, Slash (musician), Slash, Izzy Stradl ...

, the band's ex-guitarist. Cleopatra records bought the five tracks from Weber, who originally paid for the recordings in 1984. It contains three sets of five demos: the first five are original versions, the following five have been remixed by former-

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

guitarist Gilby Clarke, and the last five have been remixed by

Fred Coury Fred Coury (born October 20, 1967) is an American musician best known as the drummer for the glam metal band Cinderella. Coury lists Neil Peart, Peter Criss, Bobby Blotzer, John Bonham, Eric Carr, Tommy Lee and Tommy Aldridge as his drumming i ...

, the drummer of

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

, who took part in a tour with Guns N' Roses when Steven Adler broke his wrist. The "

Shadow of Your Love "Shadow of Your Love" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, originally released as a B-side in 1987 and then later released in an alternate take as a single in 2018. The song entered at 31 on the Mainstream Rock chart in its Ma ...

" and " Reckless Life" remixes by Gilby Clarke were recorded with the first guitarist of Guns N' Roses,

Tracii Guns Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich (born January 20, 1966), known professionally as Tracii Guns, is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns, as well as the Supergroup (music), supergroups named Brides of Destru ...

. The songs "

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

" and "Reckless Life" were later recorded again by Guns N' Roses. They were released on the albums ''

Appetite for Destruction ''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following ...

'' and ''

G N' R Lies ''G N' R Lies'' (also known simply as ''Lies'') is the second studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses and was released on November 29, 1988, by Geffen Records. It is the band's shortest studio album, running at 33 and a half minutes ...

'', respectively.

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

and Steven Adler, together with

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

, Chris Weber and

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), best known as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist. He was a co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of their fame in 1991, and with whom he ...

, were credited as the composers of "Anything Goes", "Shadow of Your Love" and "Reckless Life". These songs were originally performed by Hollywood Rose and were only later played by Guns N' Roses. In fact, when Rose, Weber and Stradlin composed these songs, they were not yet in touch with Slash, McKagan or Adler. On January 18, 2005, the Japanese version was released by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, together with a bonus DVD. Before the album's release in June 2004, Rose sued the record label Cleopatra Records for "trademark infringement, violation of rights in his name and likeness, and for unfair competition", and filed a motion to block the release, however a judge denied the motion and the album was released.

Track listing

Personnel

– guitar and backing vocals on tracks 9 and 10 *Johnny Kreis – drums *

W. Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inc ...

– lead vocals *

– rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals *

– lead guitar, bass

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roots Of Guns N'roses, The 2004 compilation albums Hollywood Rose albums Guns N' Roses