10 Rock Songs You Didn't Know Were Covers
3. Nice Boys - Guns N Roses
Rose Tattoo has been one of the few unsung bands in the golden age of rock and roll. Coming from Australia like the rock and rollers AC/DC, their trademark sleazy hard rock sound really fit in with the rest of the hard rock scene going on at the time. Though they never managed to notch up that many hits, they did serve a pivotal role in the inception of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time.
Having one fan in Axl Rose, the original iteration of Guns N Roses had Nice Boys as a staple in their live set before they began work on their album Appetite for Destruction. As opposed to the original's down and dirty flow, GNR blow this song up with massive amounts of energy, almost as if it's being hammered out by a punk band. This wasn't punk though...it was the start of something much different.
Compared to the more artificial sounding songs that were coming from the LA rock scene at the time, this was the breath of fresh air that made the mean streets of Los Angeles actually feel...well...mean again. Appearing just on a live EP included with GNR Lies, Nice Boys is the sound of Guns N Roses starting to get into their classic groove. A hell of a start, but there's something better coming later.