LIVE ERA '87-'93
Guns N' Roses
(Geffen Records)

NOTES: 1. Among the 22 tracks is a cover of Black Sabbath's "It's Alright". (The original version is from B.S's 1976 album, "Technical Ecstasy").

2. Includes a well-designed 24-page booklet, packed with colour photos.

3. You can watch a video for the live version of "Welcome To The Jungle" at www.geffen.com/.

The 22 performances here constitute nothing less than a prolonged, retroactive farewell to a bygone era. It's a grand gesture that this two-CD set embraces in everything from its title to its cover, a pastiche of old concert posters that makes explicit the set's status as an official artifact.

That said, virtually everything here will remind you just how potent a live act GN'R could be during its heyday. From a blistering version of "Welcome To The Jungle", to Slash's ringing intro to "Sweet Child O' Mine", these performances capture a band at the peak of its powers.

Only the mawkish, faux Elton John ballad "November Rain", and the infantile musical tantrum "Used To Love Her" ("but I had to kill her") forcefully betray the excesses of the age in which they were created.

Still, there's an undeniably elegiac air about this collection that constantly reminds you these recordings belong to the past. Here's hoping GN'R 2.0 can extend its reputation into the future.

RATING: 3 (out of 5)

SIMILARITIES: L.A. Guns, Hanoi Rocks, Buckcherry
BEST TRACK(S): "It's Alright", "Paradise City", "Sweet Child O' Mine"
WORST TRACK(S): "Used To Love Her" - It was a childish rant then, and it sounds even more petulant now.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Won't do a thing to convert the uninitiated, but a godsend for long-starved GN'R fans.

Track Listing Disc 1

1. Nightrain
2. Mr. Brownstone
3. It's So Easy
4. Welcome To The Jungle
5. Dust N' Bones
6. My Michelle
7. You're Crazy
8. Used To Love Her
9. Patience
10. It's Alright
11. November Rain
(Total time: 60:00)

Disc 2

1. Out Ta Get Me
2. Pretty Tied Up
3. Yesterdays
4. Move To The City
5. You Could Be Mine
6. Rocket Queen
7. Sweet Child O' Mine
8. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
9. Don't Cry
10. Estranged
11. Paradise City
(Total time: 73:13)