S.O.D. "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses

5/31/2016     This 1988 hard rock tune made it to plenty of "best of" lists, not only for the song but just as popular is Slash's guitar solo which has been ranked at #61 on Q Magazine's greatest guitar riffs of all time. The song itself is rated the 104th greatest song of all time and the #1 Best Song of 1988 by Acclaimed Music.  Rolling Stone placed it on their list of the 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World, and RIAA ranked it at #204 for their Songs of the Century list.  Believe it or not, it is the group's only tune to make the #1 spot in the U.S. and it began as a simple string skipping exercise on the guitar for Slash.  

     The heavy metal/glam metal hit is from their 1987 album "Appetite for Destruction" which went platinum in 10 of the 15 countries it was certified in.  In Argentina and the UK it went 3x platinum and an unbelievable 18x platinum in the U.S.  All five members of the band would often collaborate on the composition of a song including this one.  

     The rockers, who got their start in Los Angeles have been active since 1985, accumulating 23 members including the seven current members. They also used a number of touring and session musicians.  They have won quite a few awards including the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, won by lead vocalist Axl Rose.  You will have fun reading about these guys if you look them up because aside from their kick-ass musical abilities, they are f@cking crazy.