Nice Boys

The first time Nice Boys crossed the pond, it wasn’t alone: it arrived wrapped in the noise of a version that sounded like garage with touches of controlled chaos. Guns N’ Roses borrowed it from Rose Tattoo in 1986, when they were still just a group of youngsters eager to break things on stage. The song wasn’t new —the Australians had already recorded it in 1977—, but in the hands of Guns N’ Roses it gained a push that made it stick with the audience. It lasted exactly 3:03, just enough time for the bass to rumble, the guitar to strum with attitude, and the vocals to belt out the chorus as if there were no tomorrow. It wasn’t just any song: it was a hit that both bands ended up taking to their biggest tours, from the Use Your Illusion Tour to the Chinese Democracy World Tour.

The Guns N’ Roses version was born on the group’s first EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, a raw record made under conditions that would be unthinkable today. When they released G N’ R Lies the following year, the song was already part of the package: all four tracks from that EP made it onto the album, and Nice Boys became the second track. It wasn’t just a cover: it turned into a bridge between two eras, a song both bands used to close shows with pure energy. The mix was handled by Hanspeter Huber and Alan Niven, and the result has that mix of grit and power that defines the band in its early years.