Reception and lawsuit

Although the album received mainly positive reviews and sold well, fans criticized the track listing, citing lack of some popular songs and too many covers, as reason for complaint. Axl Rose

Axl Rose

W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...

 immediately tried to block the release by suing Geffen

Geffen Records

Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

, saying it would ruin his focus on Chinese Democracy

Chinese Democracy

Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band's first studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident?" , released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio...

and if he were to get the album finished and released sooner, the Greatest Hits album would be selling more, leaving the album unnoticed. Former bandmates Slash

Slash (musician)

Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...

 and Duff McKagan

Duff McKagan

Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...

 helped Rose file the lawsuit against Geffen, although they did not speak to each other in person. This failed and the album was released under Geffen Records' rights.

Missing singles

The album omits several singles released by the band between 1987 and 1999: "It's So Easy

It's So Easy

-Personnel:* Axl Rose - lead vocals* Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, backing vocals* Slash - lead guitar* Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals* Steven Adler - drums-Cover versions:...

", "Nightrain

Nightrain

Personnel=* Axl Rose - lead vocals* Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals* Slash - lead guitar, rhythm guitar* Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals* Steven Adler - drums...

", "Estranged

Estranged

-Personnel:* Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, production* Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, production* Slash – lead guitar, production* Duff McKagan – bass, production* Matt Sorum – drums, production-External links:*...

", "Hair of the Dog

Hair of the Dog (song)

"Hair of the Dog" is the title track of Nazareth's 1975 album Hair of the Dog. It is sometimes called "Son of a Bitch" because of the repeated lyric in the hook . The title is a pun on the refrain...

", and "Oh My God". Also, "Mr. Brownstone" was dropped, when it was released in some areas as a double A-side to "It's So Easy" or "Welcome to the Jungle".

Personnel

• W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, percussion on "Welcome to the Jungle", whistling on "Patience", whistle on "Paradise City", piano on "November Rain"
• Slash
  Slash (musician)
  Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
  
   – lead guitar, acoustic guitar on "Civil War", lead acoustic guitar on "Patience"
• Izzy Stradlin
  Izzy Stradlin
  Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
  
   – rhythm guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar on "Patience", backing vocals (on tracks 1–11)
• Duff McKagan
  Duff McKagan
  Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
  
   – bass, backing vocals, rhythm acoustic guitar on "Patience"
• Steven Adler
  Steven Adler
  Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
  
   – drums, percussion (on tracks 1–4, 6)
• Matt Sorum
  Matt Sorum
  Matthew William Sorum is an American rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses and supergroup Velvet Revolver , which is comprised in part of former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Slash .-Early career :Matt Sorum was born Matthew William...
  
   – drums, backing vocals (on tracks 5, 7–14)
• Dizzy Reed
  Dizzy Reed
  Dizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
  
   – keyboards, piano (on tracks 5–14)
• Gilby Clarke
  Gilby Clarke
  Gilbert "Gilby" Clarke is an American guitarist and record producer best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion Tour...
  
   – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (on tracks 12 & 13)
• Paul Tobias
  Paul Tobias
  Paul Tobias is an American guitarist best known for his involvement with hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has collaborated since 1994.-Guns N' Roses:...
  
  – rhythm guitar on "Sympathy for the Devil"