Guns N Roses Greatest Hits is scheduled for release in the U.S. on March 23, 2004 through Geffen Records.
Guns N Roses Greatest Hits track listing:
1
Guns N Roses FILES LAWSUIT
Guns N Roses have filed a lawsuit against Geffen Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc., to stop the unauthorized release of a Greatest Hits package by the band. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against this unauthorized release and was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The band has not been given the opportunity to approve the choice of songs, the artwork, the release date or the re-mastering done on the tracks included on this compilation. Guns N Roses have sold over 80,000,000 albums worldwide – almost 40,000,000 in the US alone – and founding member W. Axl Rose is concerned that not only will their audience be misled into believing that the planned compilation is an authorized release, but that it will hinder the release of the band’s long awaited new studio album CHINESE DEMOCRACY. There has been a massive outcry among the band’s loyal audience against the Greatest Hits record, as they too believe the track selection is fundamentally flawed, does not reflect the band’s best work and is clearly not the ultimate package that would be selected by the band or their fan base if they were given the opportunity. They have flooded the offices of Geffen Records senior executives with thousands of emails over the last few weeks expressing their dissent.
W. Axl Rose is joined by former band members Slash and Duff McKagan in bringing the action against Geffen Records.
Geffen Records Prevails Over Axl Rose Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday cleared the way for Geffen Records to release a greatest-hits album next week from the rock band Guns N Roses over the objection of its lead singer, Axl Rose.
Rose sued Geffen, a unit of Universal Music Group under Vivendi Universal, seeking to prevent the best-of collection from being released, claiming he was not consulted on the choice or remixing of material for the album.
He was joined as a plaintiff in the suit, filed last Friday, by two band members from the original lineup — guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan — even though their rights to the Guns N Roses name was signed over to Rose years ago when they left the group.
But U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer denied their request for a temporary restraining order, allowing Geffen to issue the album as planned next Tuesday. A hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction was set for next month.
Their lawsuit is meritless, Universal Music spokesman Peter LoFrumento said. Fortunately, since the court has denied their application for a temporary restraining order, the album will be released as scheduled on March 23.
According to the lawsuit, Rose objected to the selection of songs for the compilation album, the timing of its release, the album’s artwork and the re-mastering of the original tapes.
The album features 14 tracks in all and eight of Guns N Roses hit singles, including Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child O Mine from the mega-selling 1987 album Appetite for Destruction.
The group’s last studio album, The Spaghetti Incident?, was issued in 1993. A 2002 MTV appearance by a reconstituted Guns N Roses, with Rose as the lone member from the band’s heyday, helped spark interest in the group’s new lineup, but a subsequent U.S. tour was cut short.
The suit, which accuses Geffen of trademark infringement and breach of contract, says the label is barred under its contract with Guns N Roses from altering its master recordings without the band’s permission.
A statement from Rose’s manager added that the greatest-hits set will hinder the release of the band’s long-awaited new studio album, Chinese Democracy.
Geffen officials had no further comment on the dispute. But a source familiar with the situation said the label has been waiting seven years for Rose to deliver Chinese Democracy and has poured $13 million into production of that album after repeated promises that he was about to finish the project.
Every year there’s been a new reason why Axl is not done with the record, the source told Reuters, adding that Geffen went ahead with the greatest-hits package only because Rose failed to come through with Chinese Democracy. Had he delivered this record like he promised seven years ago, this would not be happening right now.
A representative for Rose was not immediately available for comment.
Guns N Roses have officially cancelled their appearance at Rock In Rio Lisbon, citing guitarist Buckethead’s recent departure from the group as the cause of the cancellation. Frontman Axl Rose’s official statement on the matter is as follows:
The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure.
’during his tenure with the band, Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment despite being under contract creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communication with him whatsoever.
Last time I talked to Bucket, he called to tell me he had bought a bootleg DVD off EBay and how proud he was to be in GUNS and how impressed he was with everyone’s performance. Then, in February we got word from Brain that Bucket had called him and said he was back in GUNS!? Apparently, according to Bucket he had been gone but had turned himself around and was really excited to do Rio-Lisbon and a European tour. Somewhere in the following month things changed once again. According to those who have actually spoken with Buckethead, it appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GN R and to use his involvement in the upcoming GUNS release to immediately promote his individual efforts… Nice guy!
There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed by this event, and more to the point if not this individual, certainly this individual’s choices. Regardless of anyone’s opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve, clearly the fans, individuals in this band, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment. We as a whole, definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we or more precisely, I may have done GUNS a disservice and unintentionally allowed GUNS to be put in this position.
On behalf of Guns N Roses and myself I apologize to the fans who planned to see us at Rock In Rio – Lisbon. The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time. I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Buckethead’s role in GUNS and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Bucket’s contributions and remain open to ’discussions as there are obviously several issues to resolve. In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, GUNS will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months.
This Is long over due I think. I will adding this to my collection. – said bonjovilover1969 on Mar 03, 2004
Maybe if the sales are good for this, Axl might see there is a demand and get Chinese Democracy out of the closet already! To me, Chinese Democracy is the last chance for the new G N R in my book. I think I am more looking forward to getting the Velvet Revoloer CD! – said theloudestrock on Mar 03, 2004
It will be interesting to hear, but I doubt it will come close to anything that sounds like GnR. I’m sure Axl wants a new sound. – said notoriusbug on Mar 03, 2004
It’s funny that more than 1/3 of the CD is covers… (Knockin, Live and Let Die, Sympathy for the Devil, Since I Don’t have you, Ain’t It Fun). They could have put some better songs on the Cd than those (Nightrain, Mr Brownstone, Rocket Queen) – said notoriusbug on Mar 03, 2004
The G N R Greatest Hits CD wil be on sale this Tuesday @ Best Buy for $7.99 each! Along with their video collection Welcome To The Videos on DVD for $9.99 each. – said theloudestrock on Mar 03, 2004
our these songs remastered? – said PAUZED on Mar 03, 2004
From what i read they are remastered, but don’t quote me 😉 – said theloudestrock on Mar 03, 2004
From what i read they are remastered, but don’t quote me 😉 ok i wont quote you 😀 but i bet your right. – said PAUZED on Mar 03, 2004
I’m sorry, but that whole statement was totally crazy. I mean, for him to say that about Buckethead, when he’s been guilty of the same thing!?!? I think it’s just a way for him to shift blame off of himself for once for the album not coming out any time soon. I bet that show would have been cancelled anyway even if Buckethead was still in the band! Oh well, it’s not like I was a big fan once most the original band members left, so it’s all the same to me. To me, Axl Rose does not equal G N R… .. – said Thomas Vrazel on Mar 03, 2004
axl is washed up, throw in the towel! 👿 – said PAUZED on Mar 03, 2004
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