Daily Jam - Estranged

It's solar eclipse day, so what better way to celebrate than with another rambling, semi-coherent column, this time around as a nod to one of the most bloated, overwrought, and ostentatious songs of the 20th century that I also happen to have an unbridled and unwavering adoration for. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the epic majesty that is "Estranged" by Guns 'N Roses.

Clocking in at over nine minutes, "Estranged" kicks off the back end of 1991's Use Your Illusion II, a dramatic and overstuffed finale to an already dramatic and overstuffed double (quadruple on vinyl!) series of albums from the then biggest rock band in the world. There's a reason that raw and unfussy punk rock came roaring back to life that same year. There was an overwhelming sense that rock music had gotten too big for its proverbial britches, a gold and garish sheen of light glowing like the Vegas strip for all to behold. But goddamn, behind all that bloat and bluster, is something truly breathtaking to hear, see, and experience. Axl and Co. may be trafficking unfettered in every single artistic urge and idea that pops into their heads (More solos! More bridges! More dolphins!), but the end result is never not entertaining.

Watch the video below, our Daily Jam.