Four GN'R songs featured in new "Thor: Love and Thunder" movie

From https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/07/thor-love-and-thunder-every-song-featured-in-the-movie.html

‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ – Every song featured in the movie

By Troy L. Smith, Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- “Thor: Love and Thunder” wasn’t shy about showcasing how important music – more specifically, major hits of the past – would play in the film. The first trailer released a few months ago blares the sounds of Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

The Marvel Cinematic Universe loves its classic rock. Those vibes continue in “Love and Thunder,” where Guns N’ Roses is featured prominently. Anyone over the age of 35 will be able to name most of the songs featured in the film. But this is an MCU film and kids aren’t as familiar with the sweet sounds of 1980s metal.

Guns N’ Roses’ four biggest songs – the aforementioned “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “Paradise City,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “November Rain” -- are all included. Elsewhere, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson’s characters nod their heads to Mary J. Blige’s 2001 chart-topper “Family Affair,” while Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) love story with Jane Foster (Portman) is scored by the sounds of Enya and ABBA.

You can check out the full list of songs featured (in the order they’re played), below. The track that plays during the closing credits might be the moviegoers are least familiar with. It’s a metal classic – Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark.”

Enya - “Only Time”
Guns N’ Roses - “Welcome To The Jungle”
Guns N’ Roses - “Paradise City”
Ginger Johnson - “Old Spice Sea Chanty”
Michael Raphael - “Fighting”
ABBA - “Our Last Summer”
Mary J. Blige - “Family Affair”
Guns N’ Roses - “Sweet Child o’ Mine”
Ciara - “Goodies”
Taika Waititi - “Hey Ninny-Nonny”
Guns N’ Roses - “November Rain”
Dio - “Rainbow in the Dark”

Official trailer with Sweet Child O' Mine:

From a press conference with the movie crew:
--------------------------------------------------------

Thor: Love and Thunder Is a Love Letter to '80s Rock

By Caitlin Chappell
Published Jun 28, 2022

The Cast and Crew of Thor: Love and Thunder discuss the musical aesthetics of the new MCU film at a press conference attended by CBR.

2014's Guardians of the Galaxy amped things up to a ten in regards to how the Marvel Cinematic Universe uses licensed music. Since then, the MCU has continued to look for fun ways to incorporate popular music into its films. Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok uses Led Zeppelins' "Immigrant Song" in its trailers and even incorporates it into its opening battles.

Now, the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder continues this rock and roll tradition, delivering plenty of Guns 'n' Roses and more. During the Thor: Love and Thunder press conference, attended by CBR, Waititi joked that he "Wanted to spend as much money as we possibly could on some songs."

"It's always been a dream of mine. The whole aesthetic around the film... we wanted it to be this bombastic, loud, colorful palette, which kind of reflected spray-painted panel vans in the '80s and rock album covers," Waititi said, "Even the title treatment for the film, it's the kind of thing I would've drawn on my school book in class when I wasn't listening. I remember spending months and months perfecting the Metallica logo at school."

Love and Thunder doesn't just use '80s rock music; it embraces the tone and aesthetics of that time period and genre. From the title design to the Flash Gordon vibes of the film, to even some vaporwave-esque designs and shots seen throughout the movie, Thor: Love and Thunder is a love letter to '80s nostalgia and rock and roll despite its contemporary setting. Waititi brings these influences together to tell a radical and fun story that is equal parts exciting and emotional, with songs like Guns 'n' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" accompanying the cosmic Viking journey.

"Guns 'n' Roses was like one of my all-time favorite bands," Waititi said, "And to be able to use that stuff to reflect the sort of crazy adventure that we're presenting, visually, was another one of my dreams that came true."

https://www.cbr.com/thor-love-and-thunder-press-conference-music/

Interview with the director (Rolling Stone, July 5):
----------------------------------------------------------------

“I Wish ‘Ragnarok’ Wasn’t So Good’: Taika Waititi on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ ‘Star Wars’

The director discusses the challenge of following up ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ why his ‘Star Wars’ movie might never happen, his Guns N’ Roses-heavy soundtrack, and more

By Brian Hiatt

[...]

You’ve said you were aiming for a sort of 1980s adventure-movie feel in this one. Was that why you leaned so hard on Guns N’ Roses in the soundtrack?

Yeah, for sure. You can see some of the influences in Chris’ [alternate] Thor costume, with the singlet. That’s obviously an homage to Big Trouble in Little China, to [Kurt Russell’s] Jack Burton. I just wanted the whole thing to feel like an electric-guitar lead break. All the art and everything, it feels like an ’80s album cover. Even the title treatment — I wanted it all to feel like something I would draw on my school book in class, when I was perfecting the Metallica [logo].


Did you have to be in any negotiations with Guns N’ Roses?

At one point, the music supervisors were like, you might have to have a chat with Axl. But I was just getting scared. He’s one of the greatest icons for me.

[...]

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/taiki-waititi-thor-star-wars-natalie-portman-chris-hemsworth-1378020/

Another interview; Louder, July 7:
---------------------------------------

Thor Love And Thunder director Taika Waititi: "Instead of going on PornHub, I'll watch old Guns N' Roses videos"

By Philip Wilding
Contributions from Merlin Alderslade

In an exclusive interview, Thor: Love And Thunder director Taika Waititi opens up on his lifelong love of 80s rock and metal

Latest MCU blockbuster Thor: Love And Thunder hits cinemas this week, serving as the follow-up to 2017's smash hit Thor: Ragnarok and the second outing with everyone's favourite God Of Thunder for director Taika Waititi.

We were granted an audience with the man himself to discuss his lifelong love of rock and heavy metal, how it's influenced his work as a director and why he let Guns N' Roses take over the soundtrack for Love And Thunder.

There are multiple Guns N’ Roses songs on the Thor: Love And Thunder soundtrack...

"You know, I still go home late at night and instead of going on, you know, Pornhub, I'll go and watch old GN'R music videos because I just loved the band. But I think I'm still in love with the band back when there was the band, you know, that band: Paradise City music video, like that stuff when the hair was long and it had been brushed, you know?"

There are pivotal Guns N’ Roses moments in the film: you use Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome To The Jungle, the climax of November Rain...

"Yeah, November Rain, when we started, we always knew wanted that battle scene moment while that was playing. Then one of our guys was, like, 'Don’t you think we need more songs?' And I come from an independent film background, and if you get, you know, 10 seconds of a famous song you're lucky. And then it was like, 'We should have more Guns N' Roses songs! We're gonna have one Guns N' Roses song and a [character] called Axl...do you think we need like another three?!"

Who picked Dio’s Rainbow In The Dark for the end credits?

"That was actually from one of the production assistants: she was on the journey the entire time, she found Dio, she found that song and the lyrics and everything about it is very appropriate."

What music was turning your head as a teen?

"I listened to everything. But at an early age I was like very much into like, AC/DC and then Guns N' Roses. And then, you remember that mash-up with Public Enemy and Anthrax?"

Bring The Noise

"Yeah. I was already a massive fan of Public Enemy and Metallica...in the early 90s, when I was at school, basically, those are the two music genres I would listen to, just metal and rap. And so that was, sort of, like the soundtrack to my childhood."

Growing up, did you come from a musical household? Did mum and dad play anything?

"No, but I mean, like, every household has a guitar in New Zealand. And if you're Māori and from that community, you have to learn how to play songs for a party. So, you know, you need to learn how to pick up a guitar, so everyone in New Zealand knows how to play guitar, and how to play, just party songs and songs around the campfire, songs around the kitchen table, songs to sing in a garage at 3am, whenever I was fucking wasted."

Were you any good on guitar? What was your first guitar you bought when you made some money?

"I never really started earning money until I was 35, so all my guitars have been hand-me-downs and stuff. I never had, like, a Les Paul or anything like that. I had a great SG copy because of Angus from AC/DC. I was into him and that guitar."

Did anybody go to New Zealand to play? We can't imagine you got many gigs down there?

"The big one I got to see was Public Enemy on Fear Of A Black Planet, which was a massive deal for me. Also, what was cool was bands like Pavement used to come down and play the universities and stuff, and bands like Sonic Youth used to hang out with those guys a lot. I can recall a lot of indie bands coming down and hanging out in NZ.

"I used to have that [1993 Aids benefit] No Alternative compilation album, remember that? So good: Straitjacket Fits, the Soul Asylum version of Sexual Healing. It was great. I mean, I love that album. Around that time, I saw The Breeders for the first time. It was just a cool time to be around bands."

What was your first gig there?

"Probably any of these NZ versions of Woodstock, random fields and random bands, and lot of pub rock, but in terms of a real band, something that stayed with me, that was Public Enemy. I was 15, I guess."

That's a good age to go to your first gig, music feels different at that age.

"Yeah, when you get your ticket, and for nights before you're just looking at it and you can’t believe you got your ticket, and then you fuck it all up by drinking a cask of wine before the gig."

Did you have a favourite band T-shirt, something you always wore?

"I would say Jane's Addiction. Looked cool and I loved them, still love them. My Fear Of A Black Planet top that I bought at the gig, there was something pretty special about that. I wore that out. It went from black to grey, tears at the seam, that sort of thing, and you keep on wearing it. I’m wearing a Beastie Boys top right now."

Before he gets back into his armour in Love And Thunder, Thor rocks a cut-off leather jacket and the whole biker look to go into battle. Was that a heavy metal nod?

"Well, that's a nod to Jack Burton, Kurt Russell's character in Big Trouble In Little China. And the aliens he’s fighting in that battle were based on Mad Max, the original movie. And getting to use Welcome To The Jungle in that scene was just awesome, man. It was like, so cool to be able to do that. I kind of have a feeling that I've ruined a lot of songs for myself by putting them in my films.

"It's very hard for me to hear Heroes now after putting it in the end of JoJo Rabbit. It came on the radio when I was driving the other day. I was like, 'I gotta change this'. It’s changed it for me forever. Immigrant Song is the same after using it in [Thor] Ragnarok; that song just takes me back to Thor now."

When you work, do you write to music?

"I have a playlist for writing certain things. Kate Bush’s This Woman's Work was a big touchstone for me while writing this film and that was before Stranger Things. Part of it was how I felt about Jane Foster, Natalie [Portman]'s character. It kind of makes sense for that. And I’ve always thought of Thor as this kind of very maternal character and, even though he’s tough when he goes into battle, he's more of this mother character to me. There was a lot of Abba on the original playlist that I had as well when I was writing him. There's one Abba song in there now. I wanted more because I thought that would be cool...but I guess Guns N' Roses is still cool."

https://www.loudersound.com/features/taika-waititi-interview

"You know, I still go home late at night and instead of going on, you know, Pornhub, I'll go and watch old GN'R music videos because I just loved the band. But I think I'm still in love with the band back when there was the band, you know, that band: Paradise City music video, like that stuff when the hair was long and it had been brushed, you know?"

Same here, still in love with that band and still hoping that that band can reunite one day to make new music.

has anyone watched the movie?

do they use the actual GN'R songs or these "orchestral" versions as they did in the trailer?

I follow a cinema/comic youtube channel and they said that they didn't like the movie, that the humour and the jokes just don't work and they also said that they got tired of "so many GNR songs" on it

ludurigan wrote:has anyone watched the movie?

do they use the actual GN'R songs or these "orchestral" versions as they did in the trailer?

I follow a cinema/comic youtube channel and they said that they didn't like the movie, that the humour and the jokes just don't work and they also said that they got tired of "so many GNR songs" on it

I haven't. I haven't watched any Marvel movie - not a fan of the genre.

Blackstar wrote:

ludurigan wrote:has anyone watched the movie?

do they use the actual GN'R songs or these "orchestral" versions as they did in the trailer?

I follow a cinema/comic youtube channel and they said that they didn't like the movie, that the humour and the jokes just don't work and they also said that they got tired of "so many GNR songs" on it

I haven't. I haven't watched any Marvel movie - not a fan of the genre.

same here! I actually tried to watch a few of them but they didn't do anything for me

Same here

Another interview with Taika Waititi (NME):
----------------------------------------------------
[...]

Hey Taika, is Thor: Love and Thunder the most metal Marvel movie yet?

“Err yeah, I tried! I wanted it to feel equal parts Iron Maiden album artwork, mixed with movie posters like Conan and Beastmaster – and all the Frank Frazetta fantasy art from the ’70s and ’80s. The whole thing was supposed to feel like a spray-painted fantasy scene on a panel van in Venice Beach.”

How’d you manage to fit four Guns N’ Roses songs in?

“We actually wanted five [songs] but that might have been overkill. It was a real triumph, having one of my favourite bands from when I was a kid, the band that really informed the soundtrack to my life. Still at 46, usually at about 3am when I’m in bed, I’ll watch GNR music videos. I don’t go on one of those porn sites, I go and watch Axl Rose in the ‘Paradise City’ music video!”

Did you have to phone Axl Rose up and ask for permission?

“It was put to me – and it was one of the moments in my life where I was like ‘I’m not gonna do that.’ I’ve met a lot of my heroes and then realised they weren’t my heroes. Axl Rose was definitely someone I thought, ‘I’m gonna fuck this up, I’m not gonna talk to him.’”

Could Love and Thunder do for GNR what Stranger Things did for Kate Bush?

“You mean how they ruined Kate Bush? I love that show, but as someone who feels a real ownership of Kate Bush music… I’m really annoyed! I’ve become one of those old arseholes who’s like: ‘These kids never listened to Kate Bush, they’ve heard one song on a TV show! They don’t know Kate Bush! I know Kate Bush!’”

[...]

https://www.nme.com/features/film-interviews/taika-waititi-interview-thor-kate-bush-stranger-things-3264183

By coincidence, I saw one trailer in a cinema and it featured the guitar intro (studio version) of SCOM...

Edit: here it is