Guns N’ Roses - Don’t Cry (Alternate lyrics)

These are a lot quicker to make when I’ve been playing the song for 20 years. It’s nice to be able to jump right in without having to spend any time learning each part. I went with the alternate lyrics on this song because I think they are better than the originals, but I think the impact of the last line of the third verse seems slightly lost with my interpretation.

One of the biggest challenges I’m finding in these songs is having to overdub each new part one at a time. Combine that with the slight latency in my audio interface and the result is fairly sloppy rhythm. The first instrument might be spot-on in time, but the next one is a little bit off, then the next one is a little bit worse, and so on. The end result is that each beat is a little bit wider than it should be.

Also, my hatred for software plugins and amp simulators is growing larger each day. Too many options translates directly to wasted time. I’d much rather throw a couple mics on my Marshall and press record than to have seemingly infinite and redundant options built-in to my computer. There’s something to be said for actually getting your hands on a knob, turning it, and hearing the sound change.

Anyway, musically speaking, I guess this came out as good as could be expected for 4 hours of effort. Frankly, I’d be content to just play that guitar solo endlessly for the rest of my life. I think it’s my favorite solo of all time. Perfectly crafted.

Originally recorded: March 29, 2011