10 Greatest Love Songs In Rock
7. Sweet Child O Mine - Guns N Roses
You didn't really have to think too much about how to write a love song in the hair metal scene of the '80s. Hell, most of the stuff being pumped out by the likes of Warrant or E'Nuff Z'Nuff was so lifeless that it felt like it was put through a machine before even coming into existence. Even in a world dominated by the more pompous sides of rock, Guns N Roses turned in the hair ballad to end all others on Sweet Child O Mine.
Instead of the downtempo stuff that most people were used to, Slash's opening guitar lead kicks everything off like a ray of sunlight breaking through. Starting off as a sort of in-joke between Slash and original drummer Steven Adler, Axl Rose became more and more fixated on the tune, as he started to pen lyrics to his girlfriend at the time Erin Everly.
Whereas most of Appetite for Destruction was a lot more vicious on the surface, Sweet Child O Mine shows a different side of Axl, as he talks about both the beauty and the comfort that he finds in Erin, all while keeping the cool rock star demeanor. As if to give you two songs in one, the final few minutes are a complete detour back into the seedy side of the band, as we hear the Where Do We Go Now? bridge asking what happens once you've found the love of your life. Though the hair ballad was a tired cliche at this point, never before had a love song ever felt this dangerous.