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.

Daily Jam - Dead Horse

It's Friday.  Here's Guns N' Roses doing their approximation of a country song.  Listen to "Dead Horse" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Don't Cry (Alternate Lyrics)

Few artists and albums take me back to being 12 or 13 years old the way Guns N' Roses and their "Use Your Illusion" records do.  It's not necessarily nostalgia, just a kind of distant melancholy.  Anyway, here's the band's "Don't Cry" with the superior alternate lyrics from "Use Your Illusion II," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Civil War

Feeling Guns N' Roses this morning, so here's "Civil War," our Daily Jam.

Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky - Estranged

I've been listening to both Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky for a number of years, and was instantly intrigued a month ago when it was announced that the two were collaborating on a record together.  It seemed a strange pairing, but also made complete sense, especially when looking at the trajectory of Nadler's career over the last decade, starting with Americana steeped folk music and gradually getting darker and darker until reaching a kind of dark folk/black metal hybrid kind of thing.  Anyway, when the "Droneflower" LP was announced, it was mentioned that the duo were covering Guns n' Roses' epic masterpiece "Estranged," probably my very favorite G n' R song ever.  I wanted, no, needed to hear it.  And thanks to a heads up from Shawn, hearing it i am, and it's fucking fantastic, stripped down, dark, and haunting.  Listen below, and if you haven't already, pre-order the record here from Sacred Bones, out later this month.

Nicole Atkins & Mark Lanegan - November Rain

Two of my favorite voices in pop music have collided to cover an almost 30-year old epic rock staple, Guns N' Roses' "November Rain."  Nicole Atkins lends her old sultry country twang to the song along with Mark Lanegan's gravelly croon to create a piece of dusty Americana along with slide guitars and plenty of melancholy.  It works and it's great.  Listen below.

Korallreven covers Guns N' Roses

Swedish pop band Korallreven just released a cover of Guns N' Roses' ultra-ballad "November Rain," and it's...something.  Hearing this song in the context of an icy, synthy dance track is kind of jarring at first, and i sure am missing the guitar solos and the dramatic conclusion, but i've always had a soft spot for "November Rain," and i like to see that others do as well.  Listen below.