In June, Guns N’ Roses will unleash a massive 30th anniversary reissue of their 1987 classic Appetite For Destruction. The super deluxe box set — dubbed Locked N’ Loaded — is comprised of a whopping 73 tracks from that era, 49 (!) of which have never been officially released. In anticipation of this monumental reissue, the band has shared one of the unreleased songs, “Shadow of Your Love”, as a proper lead single of sorts.
As the story goes, “Shadow of Your Love” was co-written by Axl Rose while still in the pre-GNR group Hollywood Rose. It then ended up being the first song GNR ever rehearsed together for Appetite producer Mike Clink during studio sessions circa 1986.
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“It was magic from the first day,” Steven Adler, the band’s drummer at the time, said. “The first song we played in rehearsal was ‘Shadow of Your Love,’ and Axl showed up late. We were playing the song, and right in the middle of the song Axl showed up and he grabbed the microphone and was running up and down the walls screaming. I thought, ‘This is the greatest thing ever.’ We knew right then what we had.”
“Shadow of Your Love” was released a number of times over the years since then, but only as a B-side and with added fake crowd noise, which makes this 30th anniversary version so special. Not only does the song finally get the spotlight it deserves, but in this remastered and no-crowd-noise form, it truly captures the rawness and energy of those early GNR days.
Check it out below.
The 30th anniversary deluxe edition reissue officially drops June 29th. For more info, including the full tracklist, head here.
