Ok, let's have a talk about this album. These 2 albums are fantastic albums, but yet i see so many GNR fans still crying about them

I am a HUGE GNR fan, i have every album, B-Side, bootleg and unreleased concert cd to. Some GNR fans want to liv e through Appetite For Destruction and pretend GNR never made another album. Yes Appetite is one of the best rock records ever made, every song is top notch RNR, and GNR Lies was good to but it was more of a.... half way album. It was also the first time you saw them acoustic, i was only 1 when UYI came out.... but i read the hype behind it was MASSIVE. And both albums kept trading the number 1 album spot, This album showed the artsy side of the band, whether Slash hates the orchestra and wanted to do straight up rock doesn't matter. It pushed him to give his bets solos, Axl and his psychotic cock fused hillbilly way's worked on the album[But eventually ruined the band sadly]

UYI together both albums are a masterpiece, a rock band at the top of there powers, very versatile and strong. You had the great, good, bad of a band. And i just LOVE these 2 albums to no end

Btw there are a lot of great unreleased UYI track's including

Just Another Saturday/sunday

Ain't Goin Down

Jumping Jack Flash cover

Down On The Street Cover

Cornchucker

Shadow of Your Love

I am not sure many understood the direction. UYI was GNRs best release.

[Edited 7/23/11 12:27pm]

These two albums are right in my wheelhouse. I was eleven when they were released and from 1991-1994 they were HUGE. I still wonder what would have happened if Guns 'N Roses had released a new album in 1995. Some people think that the alternative movement killed the band but I think that's BS. The tours to support the albums were massive and lasted into the middle of the decade after alternative music had peaked. I think that Guns 'N Roses easily could have continued their success provided that the album was of high quality. Instead we got The Spaghetti Incident and things just kind of slowly died off.

I still remember buying the cassette. At the time I could only afford one of them so I went with the second one because it included "You Could Be Mine." That was a perfect way to launch the albums as Terminator 2 was also a massive success.

It's a little sad but they were probably the last great rock band. There's been a lot of great rock music released since then but I don't think anyone came close to the scale that Guns "N Roses had at their peak.

rialb said:

These two albums are right in my wheelhouse. I was eleven when they were released and from 1991-1994 they were HUGE. I still wonder what would have happened if Guns 'N Roses had released a new album in 1995. Some people think that the alternative movement killed the band but I think that's BS. The tours to support the albums were massive and lasted into the middle of the decade after alternative music had peaked. I think that Guns 'N Roses easily could have continued their success provided that the album was of high quality. Instead we got The Spaghetti Incident and things just kind of slowly died off.

I still remember buying the cassette. At the time I could only afford one of them so I went with the second one because it included "You Could Be Mine." That was a perfect way to launch the albums as Terminator 2 was also a massive success.

It's a little sad but they were probably the last great rock band. There's been a lot of great rock music released since then but I don't think anyone came close to the scale that Guns "N Roses had at their peak.

These albums are just great artsy rock to me, and if GNR released an album in95, or 95, or 97 lol it would have been HUGE. The ALternative movement didn't do anything to the band, as you said that tour was going on when Nirvana, pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Alice In Chains etc. Where getting big. And waiting for Chinese Democracy was a long long wait.... i thought it was a good album. But not up to the height of these 2

I did not really like any of the singles for this album at the time.

But when I actually listened to the album, I found there were a lot of great tracks, and somehow even the singles work better for me when they are in context.

Oh yeah... Use your illusion... 1991... those were special times... I was 14 and those albums came just at the right time, as I was transitioning from listening to (mostly) pop to rock (I did listen to Europe, Warlock, Twisted Sister, Ozzy and Alice Cooper though)!

During that summer I was on holiday in the states and GNR, Metallica, Van Halen, Skid Row, Alice Cooper, Scorpions and so on where just everywhere... later that summer we also got MTV back at home (back then when it still had music in it's name) and my plunge continued... I did know and like "Paradise city" before, but "You could be mine" was what truly turned me on to GNR. Terminator 2 (with Schwarzenegger being from Austria, like myself) and GNR... a perfect combination. I loved it... of course it also helped that all their previous singles were pretty much on heavy rotation. I was a bit confused though, that YCBM was on UYI II, but no UYI I was available. It took a bit to figure that one out (pre-internet).

UYI I was the first album I got... I only had money for one really, so it was a hard pick, but I fell in love with their version of "Live and let die", which was shown at the VMA, so I had to get that one. And to this day I prefer UYI I. That album pretty much was on heavy rotation for me, until I got the second one. Saw them live in '92 and '93 and was delighted to hear that Slash would be working with Michael... 2 of my favourites together... that was perfect. I first saw them live on June 21st 1992 and saw Michael for the first time on June 27th.

With a shelf live of 3 years, those albums really are amongst the most defining albums of my youth. I listen to them very rarely nowadays, when I listen to GNR I usually take out Appetite, but still they hold a special place for me (my favourites: Estranged, YCBM, Pretty tied up, Right next door to hell, Perfect crime, Double talkin' Jive, Back off bitch, Don't cry, Dead horse, So fine and Coma.... can't really listen to the singles anymore, as they have been played to death)! A shame that all went south in '93/'94. Axl ruined a great thing! But whatever... saw new Guns 4 times and if you look at it as a nostalgia thing, it's still great to see him live. I saw Slash just 2 weeks ago and it was amazing! I saw Duff McKagan's Loaded 4 weeks ago and while his solo music isn't all that great, it was still great to see him again, especially when he played "Attitude" and "It's so easy" at the end of the set. A reunion truly would be the pinnacle.

[Edited 7/23/11 16:52pm]

Did anyone else mess with the tracklists and try to combine them into one gargantuan album? I wasn't very creative so the best I could think of was to compile a tracklist starting with the shortest song ("My World") and then the next song would be the next shortest until you got to the end ("Coma"). I think I still have those homemade cassettes somewhere. I thought it worked good and really built well with the shorter/faster songs on the first half and all of the longer epic songs on the second half.

It might be interesting to load both albums into a playlist and hit shuffle.

^^Yeah! I guess the perfect UYI would be a combination of them both! But then again, we would miss some facets... there is not one really crappy song... well, except "My world"... what were they thinking?!

My world was not really GNR but Axl, he did not even tell the band about the song. Why he choose to put hat on there instead of Ain't No One or another one of there unused uyi track's is beyond me.

But combining them into one album, i have tried and i like it better that way

^^Yeah! It's an Axl song.... but one would think that pre UYI they could have talked him out of it, if they didn't want that song on the album... but then again, with 32 songs, they probably didn't care.

As for combining... it would have been a more straightforward and stronger album, without any weaknesses, but it would loose the self indulgences. So I guess it's good as it is.

rialb said:

Did anyone else mess with the tracklists and try to combine them into one gargantuan album? I wasn't very creative so the best I could think of was to compile a tracklist starting with the shortest song ("My World") and then the next song would be the next shortest until you got to the end ("Coma"). I think I still have those homemade cassettes somewhere. I thought it worked good and really built well with the shorter/faster songs on the first half and all of the longer epic songs on the second half.

It might be interesting to load both albums into a playlist and hit shuffle.

I did it, a couple of years ago. I grow tired of decent but subpar (filler) songs like Bad Obsession, Bad Apples, The Garden, You Ain't the First, Shotgun Blues or dreafdul stuff like Garden of Eden or Get in the Ring

this is what I did:

1.Civil War

Dust N' Bones

Live and Let Die

Don't Cry (original)

Perfect Crime

Breakdown

Pretty Tied Up

Double Talkin' Jive

November Rain

Locomotive (edit)

Estranged

You Could Be Mine

Dead Horse

14.Coma (edit)

yes, Yesterdays is not included. I already have it (Greatest Hits album) lol

and no, I'm not a big fan of 14 Years or Don't Damn Me...

I personally think that Use Your Illusion was the last great traditional hard-rock album (at least until Dylan's and Springsteen's 00s albums). After 1991 alternative took over. It's flawed yeah, and it tries too hard to be the Exile on Main Street of the 90s, but still an "A" album in my book

What a coincidence that my coworkers and I were JUST stating yesterday how much we missed GnR and am listening to UIY I right now. Yeah, there was Chinese Democracy, but lets face it GnR is NOT GnR w/out Slash, Izzy, or Duff. I personally love UYI just as much as Appetite. I wore both OUT in the early 90s. I remember waiting in line with my buds to buy em at midnight when they were released. Then arguing which one was better (I liked II the best at the time). I personally like when they just rock out...but gotta say LOVE November Rain (what an awesome video).

Grunge didn't kill em...Axl did.

Grunge didn't kill em...Axl did.

This

of course grunge didn't kill them. UYI was a huge album at least until 1994. As rialb said, another good album in 1995 would have made them ETERNAL. And it showed that 91-94 audiences were still ready for some hard-rock (I said HARD-rock, not hair-metal, lol) as long as it was GOOD. The problem is: it was very difficult to find good hard-rock albums during those years . UYI , Slave to the Grind (Skid Row), Lean Into It (Mr.Big) and Revenge (Kiss) are the only good hard-rock albums of that era, just as good as any classic 84-89 hard-rock album...

should I include Bon Phoni's Keep The Faith??? that was their best album in my opinion...

but hey don't blame Axl, he IS sick, after all (bipolar)

[Edited 7/23/11 14:04pm]

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

Did anyone else mess with the tracklists and try to combine them into one gargantuan album? I wasn't very creative so the best I could think of was to compile a tracklist starting with the shortest song ("My World") and then the next song would be the next shortest until you got to the end ("Coma"). I think I still have those homemade cassettes somewhere. I thought it worked good and really built well with the shorter/faster songs on the first half and all of the longer epic songs on the second half.

It might be interesting to load both albums into a playlist and hit shuffle.

I did it, a couple of years ago. I grow tired of decent but subpar (filler) songs like Bad Obsession, Bad Apples, The Garden, You Ain't the First, Shotgun Blues or dreafdul stuff like Garden of Eden or Get in the Ring

this is what I did:

1.Civil War

Dust N' Bones

Live and Let Die

Don't Cry (original)

Perfect Crime

Breakdown

Pretty Tied Up

Double Talkin' Jive

November Rain

Locomotive (edit)

Estranged

You Could Be Mine

Dead Horse

14.Coma (edit)

yes, Yesterdays is not included. I already have it (Greatest Hits album) lol

and no, I'm not a big fan of 14 Years or Don't Damn Me...

I personally think that Use Your Illusion was the last great traditional hard-rock album (at least until Dylan's and Springsteen's 00s albums). After 1991 alternative took over. It's flawed yeah, and it tries too hard to be the Exile on Main Street of the 90s, but still an "A" album in my book

"You Ain't the First" helped me get through my first "serious" breakup so I'll always dig it.

Izzy was their secret weapon, I think he was the one that was able to act as a bridge between Axl and the rest of the band. Once he left things went downhill quickly. I loved his first two solo albums but kind of lost track of him after that.

I was obsessively into GNR in primary school when i was around 10-16. I used to sport bandanas and t shirts to school emblazed with skulls and roses and one time i wore "I used to love her" t shirt which was basically a naked image of a dead woman.

I listened to all of their albums non stop. Even tho appetite eclipsed use your illusion on the grand scheme of things. They are still terrific albums packed with such great songs. The soundtrack to my childhood essentially.

scandalousalan said:

I was obsessively into GNR in primary school when i was around 10-16. I used to sport bandanas and t shirts to school emblazed with skulls and roses and one time i wore "I used to love her" t shirt which was basically a naked image of a dead woman.

I listened to all of their albums non stop. Even tho appetite eclipsed use your illusion on the grand scheme of things. They are still terrific albums packed with such great songs. The soundtrack to my childhood essentially.

I can see that point of view but I always viewed them as two different sides of the band. With some exceptions Appetite for Destruction is a very aggressive/heavy album, which is great, but on Use Your Illusion(s) we got to hear something different from them. Maybe they don't hit the mark on every track but they are much more ambitious. I know that some people didn't appreciate the longer songs but they never bothered me. The live shows arguably did become a little too slick and polished with the backup singers and horn section.

It's too bad that we never got to hear what the next album would have sounded like. I know that at the time there were rumours that Axl was "going industrial" but assuming that didn't happen I think the next album would have been fairly brief and focused. There was a bit of a void in the middle of the decade and had they released a strong album it could have been another monster. I think it would have been something to see Guns 'N Roses go head-to-head with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

rialb said:
I can see that point of view but I always viewed them as two different sides of the band. With some exceptions Appetite for Destruction is a very aggressive/heavy album, which is great, but on Use Your Illusion(s) we got to hear something different from them. Maybe they don't hit the mark on every track but they are much more ambitious. I know that some people didn't appreciate the longer songs but they never bothered me. The live shows arguably did become a little too slick and polished with the backup singers and horn section.

Yeah! UYI was the more polished, thought out version of GNR. The version where Axl slowly took over... when they stopped being a band. I like both, but still... album wise, AFD is the more cohesive work.

rialb said:

It's too bad that we never got to hear what the next album would have sounded like. I know that at the time there were rumours that Axl was "going industrial" but assuming that didn't happen I think the next album would have been fairly brief and focused.

Well, if you listen to "Oh my god", which finally was released in '99, you see that it's quite conceivable, that industrial would have been the direction.

To me UYI pushed the band in the best way's possible. Slash has said he was always mixed on having the orchestras on the album.... which is one thing i disagree with him the most about. I think everything that was done between Appetite Stephen getting kicked out, getting Matt Sorum[Who i prefer more then Stephen IMO] Axl's crazy behavior, EVERYONES drug behaviors, orchestras, phoned in studio sessions, fights. All that it made the band the best they could have been. But i could see how they would NOT want to go through it all again lol

Gunsnhalen said:

Btw there are a lot of great unreleased UYI track's including

Just Another Saturday/sunday

Ain't Goin Down

Jumping Jack Flash cover

Down On The Street Cover

Cornchucker

Shadow of Your Love

I used to like that one, it's dates from the mid '80s though.

At 13 I would have considered it a crime to trim these albums, now it's easy do. This could've been one of the greatest discs of all time(though they already have that with Appetite):

Right Next Door to Hell

Perfect Crime

Locomotive

Estranged

Breakdown

Don't Damn Me

Dust N' Bones

Don't Cry

November Rain

The Garden of Eden

Coma -though most of it sounds fairly ordinary to me now, the last two minutes are supreme.

It's a shame that once the first leg of the tour hit europe this became the era of Axl in his white lycra shorts and combat boots, the world never needed to see that.

elmer said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Btw there are a lot of great unreleased UYI track's including

Just Another Saturday/sunday

Ain't Goin Down

Jumping Jack Flash cover

Down On The Street Cover

Cornchucker

Shadow of Your Love

I used to like that one, it's dates from the mid '80s though.

At 13 I would have considered it a crime to trim these albums, now it's easy do. This could've been one of the greatest discs of all time(though they already have that with Appetite):

Right Next Door to Hell

Perfect Crime

Locomotive

Estranged

Breakdown

Don't Damn Me

Dust N' Bones

Don't Cry

November Rain

The Garden of Eden

Coma -though most of it sounds fairly ordinary to me now, the last two minutes are supreme.

It's a shame that once the first leg of the tour hit europe this became the era of Axl in his white lycra shorts and combat boots, the world never needed to see that.

ahaahahahah that look of Axl, is one that is always in my mind lol. For me UYI he had 2 defying look's, the bandana with the beard. Ad the white lycra shorts & combat boots. He was going to war every night lol

One of Axl's many 90's rants

They don't touch Appetite for Destruction. In fact, they don't even live in the same rock universe as AFD. AFD is the most pure LA gutter rock that's probably ever been put to tape. You can FEEL their hunger on that album. Most amazingly, it doesn't sound dated when you play it now. It still feels mean and angry, and it wouldn't immediately make anyone associate it with the "glam rock" of the 80s. I will fully agree with anyone who claims that as one of the greatest rock albums ever made.

One the other hand, the Use Your Illusion releases are giant stadium rock, all pomp and granduer. You can FEEL their ambitions, and most of the time they reached them. But for me, where AFD always gives me the same vibe when I put it on, these albums sometimes do feel dated and tied to the time of their release. And I definitely skip a few tracks here and there, depending on my mood. But my biggest complaint about those releases, then and now, is that it should have been a double album release, not two single albums. Paying for two albums pissed me off then and it would piss me off now.

I probably wouldn't have gotten into UYI 1&2 anyways for the same reason as Cerebus just described it. Appetite for Destruction was their best album imo.

Timmy84 said:

I probably wouldn't have gotten into UYI 1&2 anyways for the same reason as Cerebus just described it. Appetite for Destruction was their best album imo.

Did you even give it a chance?

Gunsnhalen said:

Timmy84 said:

I probably wouldn't have gotten into UYI 1&2 anyways for the same reason as Cerebus just described it. Appetite for Destruction was their best album imo.

Did you even give it a chance?

Even if I did give the full album a chance, I wouldn't think it hold up from the singles released from it though I loved "Don't Cry" and "November Rain" and all of that.

Timmy84 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Did you even give it a chance?

Even if I did give the full album a chance, I wouldn't think it hold up from the singles released from it though I loved "Don't Cry" and "November Rain" and all of that.

But as the genius listener of music as you are Timmy, i think you should give it a chance. There's so many great non singles from the album.... that make me cherish the band and love it more then Appetite

Gunsnhalen said:

Timmy84 said:

Even if I did give the full album a chance, I wouldn't think it hold up from the singles released from it though I loved "Don't Cry" and "November Rain" and all of that.

But as the genius listener of music as you are Timmy, i think you should give it a chance. There's so many great non singles from the album.... that make me cherish the band and love it more then Appetite

idk I keep looking at the set list like "wow they were too ambitious trying to be the best band and shit". I'm sure there's some tight shit in it.

Timmy84 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

But as the genius listener of music as you are Timmy, i think you should give it a chance. There's so many great non singles from the album.... that make me cherish the band and love it more then Appetite

idk I keep looking at the set list like "wow they were too ambitious trying to be the best band and shit". I'm sure there's some tight shit in it.

yes.... and shit

I'm a huge GNR fan, and whilst AFD is undoubtedly the finest hard rock album ever released, UYI is more than a worthy follow up. Tracks like Locomotive, Coma, Estranged, Nov Rain, Breakdown, Don't Cry are amongst the best songs in the Guns catalogue. I wasn't keen on the two covers even though they became live staples - they just seemed tacky and unnecessary.

I don't think they'd work as a single album - there's too many 8-min epics to fit onto one disc, and there is undoubtedly enough A-grade material to justify it being spread over two seperate albums.

[Edited 7/24/11 0:16am]