"Coma" is a song by the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

. It is the final song on their album '' Use Your Illusion I''. At 10 minutes and 14 seconds, it is the longest track released by the band, and has no choruses.

Composition

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 th ...

states that he wrote the music to this song in a house he and

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...

rented in Hollywood Hills, following the ''

Appetite for Destruction ''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. It initially received little mainstream attention, and it was not until the following year that ''App ...

'' tours. In a 2011 interview, he stated he wrote the song in a "heroin delirium". In an interview,

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

talks about writing "Coma": In an interview, on August 31, 1990, with MTV's Kurt Loder on ''Famous Last Words'', Axl talks about the song "Coma":

Reception

Coma was ranked the 19th best Guns N' Roses song by

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

Live performances

From 1991-1993 the song was performed only four times. A rare live version was featured on Japanese and

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

copies of the Guns N' Roses live album '' Live Era: '87-'93''. On April 8, 2016, the song was performed for the first time in almost twenty three years (last performed April 10, 1993) and became a setlist regular during the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.

Personnel

;Guns N' Roses * W. Axl Rose –lead vocals, production *

– lead guitar, production *

– rhythm guitar, production *

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...

– bass, production *

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

– drums, production ;Additional personnel * Johann Langlie, Bruce Foster – sound effects * Diane Mitchell, Michelle Loiselle, Monica Zierhut-Soto, Patricia Fuenzalida, Rose Mann, Susanne Filkins – spoken word female vocals

References

{{authority control Guns N' Roses songs 1991 songs Songs about death Songs about drugs Songs written by Axl Rose Songs written by Slash (musician) American progressive rock songs