in the music video for "Paradise City." The style of the main riff of "Paradise City" (involving an ascending chromatic riff) has also been used by many former Guns N' Roses members in new projects. This can be seen in Izzy Stradlin's "Bomb" and Velvet Revolver's "Do It for the Kids". According to Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns and former member of Guns N' Roses, the riff was influenced by the Black Sabbath song "Zero the Hero" from the Born Again album. Musically, the song has been described as glam metal, hard rock, and heavy metal. Legacy The song ranked number 21 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs of All Time. It ranked number 459 on Rolling Stone'''s 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Some publications, such as Ultimate Classic Rock and Spin, have identified the song as one of the band's worst. The latter designating it as the most overrated in their catalogue, writing "'Paradise City' runs out of ideas halfway through its triumphant first refrain and yet still lasts for six more minutes." In 2017, Paste ranked the song number 11 on their list of the 15 greatest Guns N' Roses songs, and in 2020, Kerrang'' ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Guns N' Roses songs. Live During live Guns N' Roses shows, "Paradise City" is usually performed last, as an encore. This has been a tradition since at least 1988, up to their latest tour. They also performed the song live at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992 (this time it was the first song of their short set). Track listings Personnel W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, synthesizer, whistle Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Duff "Rose" McKagan – bass, backing vocals Steven Adler – drums Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications Release history N-Trance version British electronic music group N-Trance recorded a version of "Paradise City" (using the song's riff) for their 1998 album, Happy Hour. It was released as the album's fourth single in 1998. In the United Kingdom, it was the group's first single to miss the top 20 since "Turn Up the Power" in 1994, peaking at number 28 in September 1998. It reached the top 40 in Australia and Sweden—the group's final single to do so in these regions—and peaked at number four