"Shadow of Your Love" is a song by the American

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 ...

, originally released as a B-side in 1987. It was later released in an alternate take as a single in 2018, which entered at 31 on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart in its May 12, 2018 edition, and peaked at the week of June 23 the same year. It would later be included in the 2020 re-issue of the band's ''Greatest Hits'' album.

Background

"Shadow of Your Love" was written by

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 ...

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 ...

from

Hollywood Rose Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in June 1983. They are best known as a 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 ...

with help from Rose's friend

Paul Tobias Paul Tobias (also known as Paul Edward Huge (pronounced hugh-gee); born April 4th 1963) is an American guitarist best known for his work with the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he was associated from 1994 to 2002. Biography Born On ...

(Tobias later was a member of Guns N' Roses from 1994 until 2002). Rose mentioned being inspired by

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

in writing the lyrics, and wrote the song in "about 7 minutes". The song was first recorded by Hollywood Rose, with an original demo and two remixes later being released on '' The Roots of Guns N' Roses'' compilation.

Steven Adler Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' R ...

explained the background of the song: "The first song we played in rehearsal was 'Shadow of Your Love,' and Axl showed up late. We were playing the song, and right in the middle of the song Axl showed up and he grabbed the microphone and was running up and down the walls screaming. I thought, 'This is the greatest thing ever.' We knew right then what we had." In 1998, former Hollywood Rose guitarist

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, Izzy Stradlin, and Steven Ad ...

sued Rose over songwriting credits, claiming he co-wrote "Shadow of Your Love" (and "Back Off Bitch" from ''

Use Your Illusion I ''Use Your Illusion I'' is the third studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart '' Use Your Illusion II''. It was the band's first album to feature dru ...

'').

Release and promotion

The first Guns N' Roses version appeared as a B-side on the '' It's So Easy/ Mr. Brownstone'' 12" single in 1987, as a "faux-live" version of the song, with overdubbed crowd noise on the studio track. The same version was also released in 1988 on the '' Live from the Jungle EP''. The track was an outtake from the band's debut EP, '' Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide''. A different recording of the song was released as a B-side on the " Live and Let Die" single in 1991, which is identical to the Sound City Session version later included on the ''Appetite for Destruction Deluxe Edition''. A previously unreleased recording of the song was officially released as a single in 2018 to promote 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 ...

'' boxed set. The artwork for the single release was made by artist Arian Buhler. Buhler worked with the band previously on designing

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

for the Not in This Lifetime... Tour. Two lyric videos were released in promotion of the single. The song is also included as 7" single in the ''Appetite for Destruction'' Locked N' Loaded Box Set, backed with the 1988 acoustic version of "Move to the City". On June 6, 2018, the band played the song live for the first time since the Appetite for Destruction Tour.

Personnel

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

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 ...

– lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Duff "Rose" 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 guitar, backing vocals *

– drums, percussion ;Hollywood Rose version *Axl Rose - lead vocals *

- lead guitar *Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar *Steve Darrow - bass *Johnny Kreis - drums

Charts

References

{{Authority control Guns N' Roses songs 2018 singles 2018 songs Songs written by Axl Rose Songs written by Izzy Stradlin Songs written by Paul Tobias Speed metal songs