"Nightrain" by Guns N' Roses

Song#:  3975

Date:  07/29/1989

Debut:  97

Peak:    93

Weeks:  5

Genre:  Hard Rock, Glam Metal

Pop Bits:  The band earned their fourth consecutive Pop Top 10 with "Patience," the first single from their stop-gap album G N' R Lies. The song would get to #4 and go gold. That result helped the LP reach #2. It would eventually sell over 5 million copies. Thanks to the success of "Patience," a follow up single was in order, but it seems the label didn't think there was a viable on G N' R Lies so they looked back to the band's debut album Appetite for Destruction. By this point in time, that LP had just fallen out of the Top 40 and had sold over seven million copies. Basically, its time in the sunshine was over and since so many folks owned the album, issuing another single from it was a definite risk. The label took the chance with this track from Appetite. It did not pay off. It got to #26 Rock while being just a blip at the bottom of the Pop chart. The release didn't help either album and that wrapped up the 80s for Guns N' Roses.

ReduxReview:  This single was really unnecessary. Yeah, there was nothing that could be pushed out from G N' R Lies, but that was okay. Just wrap it all up and then leave fans anxiously awaiting something new from the band. This ode to the inexpensive high APV fortified wine Night Train that the band used to consume made for a good album track, but it definitely wasn't single material. Pop stations weren't going to pick this up as it was a little rough and it didn't have the memorable hooks that propelled their other hits. The band would rally back with the great artistic statements of Use Your Illusion I and II, but then things imploded after that.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  While plotting their next move, Guns N' Roses would stay active recording two songs that would be featured on a couple movie soundtracks. The first was a cover of Bob Dylan's 1973 track "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (#12 Pop/#5 AC), which first appeared on the soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Dylan would co-star in the film and compose the soundtrack). The G N' R version would be included on the soundtrack to the Tom Cruise vehicle Days of Thunder. While it would not be officially released as a single, the track would make it to #18 on the Rock chart. Then the band would provide the original song "You Could Be Mine" for the soundtrack to the 1991 action flick Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Released as a single, it would get to #29 Pop/#3 Rock and go gold. It would also be considered the first single from one of the group's two new albums. G N' R threw caution to the wind and decided to capitalize on their popularity and creativity by simultaneously releasing two albums of material on the same day. Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were released in mid-September of '91. They would debut at the #1 and #2 spot on the Album chart with II taking the top spot thanks to it including "You Could Be Mine." It was the first time an artist had two new albums debut in the top two positions on the chart in the same week. The albums would spawn five singles with the epic "November Rain" doing the best getting to #3 Pop and going gold. Each album would sell over seven million copies. For their next effort, the band released a covers album titled "The Spaghetti Incident?" It was not well received and would only reach #4 and go platinum. After that, things kind of went off the rails for the band and it didn't help that grunge was in full swing. A new album was always "in the works," but there would be side projects, lineup changes, and other issues that contributed to the delay. Finally in 2008, Chinese Democracy would be released under the Guns N' Roses name. However, by that point the only true original member remaining was Axl Rose. The album would garner some good reviews and would reach #3 and go platinum. While a follow up has yet to materialize, in 2016 original members Slash and Duff McKagen would rejoin the band. In 2011, the band would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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