In the August 2011 issue of Guitar World the magazine lists their “100 Greatest Rock Guitar Songs” and Zacky Vengeance had this to say about #4. Guns ‘N Roses – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.
“I was pretty young when Appetite for Destruction came out, but I remember watching Guns N’ Roses videos around that time and seeing Axl in his white leather jacket and Slash with his top hat and bottle of Jack Daniel’s, and just being mesmerized. It seemed way more edgy and badass than bands like Poison!
“The intro riff on ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ is flawless. It really grabbed me, and when I started playing guitar, I sat down and learned it, just like everyone else did. Later on, when Matt [Avenged
Sevenfold singer M. Shadows] and I were writing our first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, Guns N’ Roses were a huge influence. Our sound was more hardcore and extremely underground, but we loved Guns, because while we wanted to be fast and heavy and as extreme as possible, we also wanted to have epic guitar parts similar to ‘November Rain’ and ‘Estranged’ and ‘Sweet Child.’”“For some reason, I can instantly recall how to play a Metallica or Iron Maiden riff, but I can never go back and just start playing ‘Sweet Child’; I have to sit down and work it out a little bit. It’s a
fairly simple thing, but it takes a certain mind to come up with something like that.I’ve never heard anything else quite like it.”
Thanks Erik for sending this in.
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My favorite band talking about my other favorite band. Makes me happy.
Comment by Nikole June 23, 2011 @ 4:58 pmYeah, that is pretty awesome. :D And “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is a brilliant song.
Comment by JaCaria June 23, 2011 @ 8:20 pmOne of my favorite Gn’R songs, and Zacky talking about it has made my night.
Comment by Nikole June 23, 2011 @ 10:12 pmi was just reading this earlier today in a convience store and was wondering if you would put it up lol
Comment by steven kraatz June 23, 2011 @ 8:53 pmI totally agree with Zacky. While I’m not the biggest GNR fan, still the main riff in Sweet Child is perfect and it sticks to your head like no other. It’s also very brilliantly put together and it’s not easy to play by ear from the hip right away. It’s hard to even whistle along to that riff :D
Comment by JIK June 24, 2011 @ 10:42 amMind = Blown
Comment by Kupsacker June 25, 2011 @ 9:55 pm