Guns N' Roses: The True Story Behind the Use Your Illusion Albums
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Prior to the release of Guns N' Roses epic double album Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 bassist Duff McKagan had the famous last words about opening for the Rolling Stones in 1989 saying we got these gigs supporting the Rolling Stones
we're massive stones fans so that's great for us
we get down there and the Stones each have their own limo
They have their own trailer each of them
they have their own lawyer
You know Mick has one Keith has one Charlie has one
And I remember turning around to Izzy and saying man we'll never be like that
Of course six months later that was us
While his timeline was a little off he pretty much summed up what the future held for Guns N' Roses
Fast forward almost two years later on September 17th 1991 and Guns N' Roses achieved something few bands have done
They were the biggest band in the world
And at that moment Donald Trump was in a limousine with five models heading for
Tower Records in Manhattan on his way to buy his own copies of Use Your Illusion 1 & 2
The new albums that were in a music industry's first being released simultaneously
Stores in every major city were opening at midnight in order to sell them and Guns N' Roses
guitarist Slash was burned out by the creation of those records and was about to take a holiday to Africa interrupted his journey to the airport to stop off at a Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard and watch the records go on sale from behind a two-way mirror in the back of the shop
Ironically the very same mirror from which store detectives had arrested Slash for stealing
cassettes 10 years earlier
In its first week of release Use Your Illusion 2 had sold 770,000 copies and was number one on the US Billboard charts
While Use Your Illusion 1 had sold another 685,000 copies taking the number two spot
Alan Niven who was the band's manager from 1987 to 1991 looked back at that time and said yeah we had overnight success it took us three years
The momentum you try and create then creates its own momentum and your labor turns into loss control
The months before the album came out Niven would be gone as the band's manager replaced with Doug Goldstein who had managed the band until his firing in 2002
And Guns N' Roses were never the nice boys of rock and roll
It was part of their appeal and image and Tom Zutaut who was the young A&R man who'd signed the band to Geffen Records was fighting not to have them dropped before they'd even released their first album
Tom Zutaut had to almost beg Alan Niven to take them on as they drifted toward self sabotage and Niven had agreed in part because the situation was so messed up I couldn't make it any
worse and Niven's managerial strategy was based on one that Peter Mensch and Cliff Bernstein had used with Metallica
Another uncompromising hard sell of a band underground at first and then maybe gold with an album number two if they got really really lucky and maybe platinum after that
Nevin would recall nobody knew it would explode as it did
Anybody who says they did is certifiable
Now it would be a year before their debut album Appetite for Destruction would break big and it was due in large part to the grueling tours and the success of the music video for Welcome
to the Jungle which MTV initially refused to play and the smash single Sweet Child of Mine which broke big while the band opened for Aerosmith in the summer of 1988
and even before Appetite broke big the band had already been thinking about their next major studio record
once Appetite broke big the thing that happens to big bands happened to the Gunners with Duff saying we all bought our houses we all had our friends and our friends would be saying you're the glue that holds the band together and we're all getting that and you don't know what to think it's never happened to you before
the record finally broke in the States a year after everywhere else and all of a sudden when
we come back to LA everyone in the clubs they're all dressed like us
Imagine coming back and you're a cultural phenomenon
People are dressing like you
Your music is being played on the radio all the time
You walk into a grocery store and you're on the cover of Rolling Stone
People see that magazine cover and they see you and they're freaking out
This is in the grocery store I've always gone to
Now the band had grand visions for their follow-up album to Appetite but in the meantime
they released G in Our Lives in 1988 to help buy the band some time as they were dealing with newfound fame and various addictions
And their manager at the time Alan Niven would say one of the things I'm proud of is that at least none of the band members died on my watch
That took a lot of effort
The bottom line is you have to help them fight the battle but only they can win the war
And Slash would go cold turkey in my home one time
I c
Here's a cool look at their deadly and dangerous Use Your Illusion Tour czcams.com/video/0F_s79rZ5wA/video.html
I have this TDK cassette tape that is some sort of demo cassette with some unreleased Guns N Roses music on it. I bought it in the mid 90’s at a Flea Market. Some of the unreleased songs names are called: Just another Sunday, and Bring it Back Home. There’s also earlier recordings of some of their material from Use Your Illusion. Message me if you like
Most underwhelming record I ever bought. Totally failed to live up to the hype.
I remember when Axl was screaming with anger about his childhood trauma on stage. His anger towards his mother was the most real thing I’ve ever heard from a musician ever. It totally made sense bc of dealing with my own family system trauma as a child. Childhood is always at the core of addiction and all issues.
You're not alone.
Same with James Hetfield of Metallica. Except he hides it a lot better but the fallout is constant trips to rehab for alcohol addiction.
@@Me-qp8vz narcissism goes hand and hand with controlling perfectionist rock star
Nothing that P.O.S. has ever done or said has been real.
I’m sure everyone in your life feels the same way about you😂
I remember this so well as I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Use Your Illusion records 4 days before the official release date, in Scotland of all places! I was such a huge fan, and was counting down the days to release like it was Christmas. Then a few days before release I happened to be in a general store in my hometown, not even looking for records, and saw some advertising for it. I took a closer look and then saw that it was on the shelves! I thought it was a trick at first, but I just grabbed them and went to pay for it. I felt sure they’d realise the mistake and refuse the sale but they didn’t. I listened to both albums probably 20 times back to back before it was released to the world. And it was so significant to me as it was the first time I’d seen news stories of people lining up to buy records. It genuinely felt like a real privilege to get an early listen, and now every time I see the album artwork it still takes me back to that moment where my heart was in my mouth as I reached out to pick them off the shelves!!
Gavin Jaymes that is an awesome story!!!! Thanks for sharing
lol in Scotland theyre like release date nah just put em on the shelves
Now everything gets leaked online.
This is absolute fiction...
shit like happens often actually. i have bought several albums before they were "released"
GNR lined up perfectly with my entire teenage years, it was a magical time to experience one of the greatest bands of all time.
J J I was 16 when Appetite came out and 20 when the Use Your Illusion albums came out. I had My Mom laughing about a year ago, I said kids today DON"T have any Good Hard/Heavy Rock to listen to TODAY.
I asked her why she was laughing snd she said That's what ALL Generations say. BUT i listened to HER Generation's Music and I like It The Stones,The Eagles,CCR,Lynyrd Skynyrd snd Heart.
G-n-R FaN 4 EVER,
Neal Linville
for my thirteenth Birthday, my sister and brother and law took me too see Guns first show on the Illusion tour
I feel the same way about Bjork
@@neallinville1708 haha, that's what I say today about nowadays music. 70s and 80s had the best music.
@@dominikaksiazek7177 Oh I like 60's,70's and Early 80's Rock too . Mom Listened and listens to our Rock as We do her . I Don't Know Maybe This decade might Come Out with something I like.
Remember the Eagles Tour "When Hell freezes Over there is just One of a few group i wished hadn't Broken up , along with HEART, Heart just needs to get back to their mid to late 70'[s sound . Nope it's The 2000 and up new stuff I can't Get Into,unless i missed Something Besides SIXX A.M. I liked That.
"Estranged" is a revelation.
I went to see them in '92 when they were on that tour, one of my greatest memories was being in the crowd surrounded by thousands of people all singing along with that song
The 1st song to get me into gnr. Mind blowing
Went to see them in London 2017, and they played Estranged and Coma. Unreal.
@axl rose Sat too. Golden Circle
Amen brother, that's been my go to in the car for the last while...
I'll never forget the smell of those cassette inlays when theses two albums were released.
My inlays smelled like Hash joints within a month lol.
@Ambivalent just your mom's
Same. Smelt just like hot balls and burnt hair. Such a good band.
i did the same growing up. I bought a used copy of Metallica's Kill Em All as a kid and the inlay smelled like musty cologne
wow, i forgot all about that smell... the "new car" smell of the inlays of tapes. love your comment, it's bringing back so many memories! 😎🎶
Coma is highly underrated. Epic.
Amen.
I never liked it tbh
Most of the songs on those two albums were underrated. They pushed the self indulgent "artistic" songs like Don't Cry and November Rain and ignored the more punk and bluesy songs completely. Considering that grunge and alternative were already breaking those two albums could have been even bigger if the tracks on them had been given a more balanced marketing effort.
My all time favorite GnR tune!
Coma is my favorite GNR tune. Illusion 1 is better than II but both are tremendous albums.
“That’ll never be us.”
I read Slash’s autobiography when I was a teenager and if I recall correctly there’s a part in it where Slash details when he got back from their first tour after appetite came out. When he left he was pretty much broke, when he came back and checked his bank balance there was multiple millions of dollars in there. I mean can you imagine?!
I’m reading that book right now I’m just up the the point where they did headbangers ball on mtv and are about to leave on the tour you mention.
Hell of a read. I've read it 3 times. What a crazy ride
I forgot about Duff’s point in his life where he was literally bloated up on wine. You look at him now and you just don’t think of how bad his alcoholism used to be
Apparently at one point his doctor told him "You're one beer away from your pancreas exploding". I think that was his wake up call when he decided to get sober
@@thefog7067 he had pancreatitis and the biggest shock is he got clean without any program or medication. He said his doctor definitely thought he was gonna die and the only reason he got past the shakes was because of an old bike he found
@@zachhenon I’ve been there many times unfortunately. no bike either lol
Try this. Take a one gallon jug of milk (4 litter), pour the content out, now, fill it with vodka. Now, in a 12-16 hour period, toss it ALL down in your gullet! That was Duff’s life…..And you wonder why his pancreas almost exploded!…It grew to the size of a football!
i got both these albums for xmas 1991, i was in grade 7--thanks mom
planeshift I was also in the 7th grade in 1991
I was born in 1991
NO THANKS MOM!
Damn, man. I was in Grade 7 as well. 43 years old now. Sighhhh. Time flies alright.
Cheers
Shit... I was in the 7th grade as well. What a time, we really had an awesome musical era... Ozzy, Metallica and Guns. I liked the alternative stuff that broke then as well, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Chains. The list could literally go on and on. Didnt know that someday it would all end. We had the last GREAT time.
91 Grade 4, from my Mom.
The other thing i have to say is that when the You Could Be Mine video came out in tandem with Terminator 2 that was huge. if you are old enough to remember, you remember. If you do not holy crap it was an event. People would stop what they were doing to watch that video. That song was like Welcome to the Jungle Redux. No one had the context of the Illusion records yet so this track was a valentine to GnR fans wanting to know what the band was doing next. And the song was awesome. The movie was awesome, too and very much part of the marketing campaign for this film was the song.
It was kind of curious when the Illusion came out and You Could be Mine was buried in the middle of the second side of the second record of the double album. It was kind of like if in 1967 the promo track for a film was Savoy Truffle by the Beatles. It didn't make any sense.
You Could Be Mine was the lead single from this double record. It should have had a more prominent spot on one of the two released records.
Anders Eriksson I have demos of them singing some of those songs live n concerts in the 80s
Anders Eriksson yep before they were released . Some of them sound vastly different . November rain had no big guitar parts
i was in chapel with one headphone in listenig to the uk premier on the radio. half the school questioned me after
The video was great (Decibel Overload)😆. Also nice Savoy Truffle reference,don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do that
It was sooooo huge when that video dropped. I was dying to hear the new material once I saw that video. Terminator 2 was one of the best movies I ever saw in the theatre as well. That was a great summer.
Remember those hard plastic prisons that you had to hacksaw to get the CDs and cassettes out ?
Wire cutters baby! Lol!
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
Bahahaha
Only the stolen ones
Just pay for it.
When these albums came out, I worked at the mall as a delivery boy for the florist. Before I picked up my orders for the day, I took a detour to Camelot and grabbed a copy of both cassettes before heading to work. I listened to both tapes endlessly for a month while making my deliveries
Camelot! The memories...
I got to the record store in Maui at 9:30 that morning when they opened at 10 AM. Bought the cassettes and CD. Listened to both albums back and forth for about a month straight too. To this day I LOVE Coma and Estranged.
14 years and Dust and Bones are two of the best on em..
@@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns and I didn't realize Pretty tied up was an Izzy song either..damn..their next album would have sucked anyway..w/out Izzy.
@@realm23x73 their next album did suck
@@ThorCarlton Ha,., yeah, guess your right.
That footage makes me miss being a teenager buying CD's at the local shop. Music just meant more because of that I think. I mean, had to get in my car, rally up my buddies, drive for 20 minutes, go into a store, shop, purchase what we found, then it was 20 minutes back. Today it's just click a link. It's bittersweet
The convenience is here, but the soul and the feeling is gone
No offence but I think that’s age. Yes it was fun visiting music stores but music is still music
That is mad what slash said they only had effectively one group jamming session to bring the songs together. Just shows the strength of their musicianship and songwriting
Reminds me of Duran Duran story when they were writing n recording view to a kill they all hated each other and had mediators in the studio and yet still came up with a banging song.
What many people don't realise these day's is how big gnr was during that era.....there are no words to describe how popular they were.....during that particular time they were without a single doubt the most popular band in the world
@KINGDOM MT Unfortunately though, Nirvana's time would end in 1994 following Cobain's suicide.
@@RB01.10 Nirvana wasn't as great as they were hyped.
I only saw them live once, but it was probably the best possible time to see them. The summer 1991 tour before the albums came out, and Izzy was still in the band. It was crazy to see a 2 1/2 hour concert of mostly material you've never heard. Bands don't do that anymore.
They should play both albums live in their entirety for a concert special. I’d go. The albums are a collective masterpiece and were groundbreaking.
Except for My World 😂😂 if they played UYI 1 and 2 front to back except for Don’t Cry and My World, it would literally end perfectly with You Could Be Mine
I remember when these albums came out in '91. It was a huge damn deal. The local mall in Moline Il had about 3 or 4 record stores and I remember seeing lines out the doors and down the commons. I was pretty sweped up in the hype as well. I was 11 at the time and Terminator 2 was my obsession that summer. I kept glued to MTV just to watch the You Could be Mine video over and over again. It made me a GNR fan. So I'd have to say Use Your Illusion II was my favorite of the two albums, but when i finally got them a year later I bought both of them. You can have your favorite, but you really need both. Even to this day I recently bought the Illusion albums on Vinyl, and bought both of them at the same time.
Also, Wal-Mart and K-Mart refused to stock the albums due to the albums containing explicit lyrics, as well as the band refusing to release censored versions of the albums.
Though several years later in 1998, the band did agree to release the compilation album "Use Your Illusion" for those stores that had the most popular songs that didn't contain explicit lyrics.
Yes, It was big back then
I miss the days of music stores an9d midnight music sales. Oh how we loved music then.
YES WE FUCKIN DID
When music was worth laying on cement all day and evening to buy and listen to.
@@brianbarcus5853 THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Those were the days of our lives, great music, happy simpler times
& no corona fucking everything up like live gigs . . I pray those days will return. We need live music now more than ever
around 2001 everything started to get real shitty. Movies, music, style everything
After the New York twins... (-__-)
@@SalDOWN yep, i'll agree with that
People in the last generation though the same about the 60s/70s/80s/you name it
youre just stuck in the past and want to relive your youth
Doctor Detroit say what
Double Talkin’ Jive is still one of my favorite tracks from those records.
It’s a great song!
It's 10x better live
Did you know the color schemes of the two album covers represented the music on each one? UYI 1 being more of a fiery rock album (red and yellow cover) and UYI 2 being more cool and somewhat relaxed (blue and purple) of the two.
Makes sense. UYI 1 has back off bitch and UYI 2 has yesterday
Yes actually I have even back then red and yellow right next door to hell blue and purple estranged my major depressive anthem
Yeah, but I'd say there are few exceptions such as You Could Be Mine on UYI II and November Rain and Don't Cry on UYI I. Although you could say November Rain has bits of both so it would fit on both albums.
In the garden
@@H.E.M. well done gentlemen
I still remember the day these albums were released. Had a real shitty day at work and went to the Virgin Megastore (remember them) after finishing and buying them both. I soon cheered up lol.
I still and always will blame Axl as the #1 reason for their implosion.
Slagging off Metallica onstage, inciting riots, refusing to go on stage, ridiculously late starts, etc. Guy became a total diva and made it all too difficult.
Yeah, and having everyone BUT Axl constantly on heroin…I’m sure that didn’t cause any problems….
He was a victim of his own hype.
I couldn't agree more. I loved GNR and then Use Your Illusions came out. It wasn't even close to the hard ass band that I once knew. But then along came Nirvana and I moved on. Love Slash but fuck Axl. He's an asshole and ruined my fav band!
Metallica started it
Use Your Illusion I & II is an American Rock classic! These two albums are a recorded history of one of the most amazing bands in the history of the universe. Just one hell of a recording. Magic
If you take your personal favorites from both albums, it makes for an epic custom album
Never thought about doing that. Gonna try that now.
Id rather keep the 30 songs
@@nachocheez9690 nah there's some filler
@@chiarosuburekeni9325 filler that is still good. So no, I'd rather keep the 30 songs
That's the only way I can look at these albums. Axl should have done less Coke, his ego is pretty cringe at times.
I listen this masterpiece of music for the last 30 years.
It's a part of my life
Best albums ever released 🤘
Ron Riegler I completely agree!
I agree. I've been listening to these two albums since their release.
We Are The Real Children of the Grave thus born in late 70s and early 80s is where we accumulated the best taste for music I truly believe from our parents I cannot imagine growing up today and having the lust and the urge for rock music and having musically uninclined parents where would I turn? I turn in my local rock radio music station here in Buffalo and what do they play Cage the Elephant? Twenty One Pilots? What the fuck is this? How is this rock music what is this? Old Country Roads please take me home I am not supposed to be in this world this day. This world is so fucked anyway seasons greetings to you all and Happy Holidays to all you Politically correct snowballs. And something I always end my post with may we never forget those lost 911 2001 the most tragic day in American history rest in peace to all those we lost may we never forget.
Jackknife, spoken like a true dinosaur.
Great taste ron, great taste 👌
I love how every song on both albums is like some sort of journey rather than just a song
I cant choose a favorite, they both have a tone to them. Those albums truly changed my outlook on music and made me want to ultimately be a guitar player. Every poser will applaud "Welcome to the jungle" but not know that Izzy sang "14 years"...
Use Your Illusion 1 is my favorite GnR album. It never gets old. Sounds just as awesome today as the day it was released.
This was the first CD I ever owned. My cousin brought it to me on a visit where I grew up, in Guatemala! I was into rap music at the time and 3 months later, my entire bedroom was covered in GNR posters. My parents were sick of me running around the house like Axl in a large stage concert.
Love the classic footage of Megadeth with GNR.
Don't Damn Me is the greatest track of their entire collection IMO.
I can't disagree...
Um no
Unfortunately they never played it live. Not once😡
Fantastic guitar solo. Probably my favourite of Slash’s solos
Lol
2... locomotive, estranged, and breakdown
My favorites too. Rock on fellas ✊
'Breakdown' is amazing.
@@RolandDeschain1 thats another great song there mate.
So many awesome songs. 👍
Nice to see some love for Breakdown. One of their most underrated songs imho.
Those are my top 3 picks as well. Nice to see breakdown getting some love. I never hear people talk about it.
Cool Ranch Dressing.
Cool and stressing 😉🤣
I know this chick, she lives down on Melrose........
Yes!
Pretty Tied Up
I'm serious!
Estranged is their best song from those albums imo, love that song.
Coma would like to have a word with you...
@@mellecompte4163 You do know what imo means don't you?
I Love Estranged. Incredible song.
yeah that one and so fine are pure gold
sometimes i feel like Estranged was written for me
without steven and Izzy, the feel and groove that made the band was gone.
izzy was on those records
@@nadiarozon497 Yea gilby just toured...
I always thought they sounded so much better with Matt Sorum!
@@NormenGoltz Matt's an awesome drummer but gnr sound different with Steven...
Nadia Rozon The OP is not mentioning the records specifically.
Megadeth and Guns N’ Roses are my favorite things, love that interview
These are albums of EPIC proportions, so so ambitious and daring. Absolutely genius songwriting. Nirvana's Nevermind, which I like, is like a children's album compared to these two mammoths
Very well said
Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink.
@@jeffbenzos6344 Indeed. These 2 bloated, over-the top, subpar POS records both sucked an incredible amount of ass. Rose is lucky anybody from that band will even speak to him these days, let alone share a stage with him given how he acted from the first years of the band up until probably 10 years ago.
My stink-ass opinion lol.
well, sometimes, most of the time actually, less is more.
@@timkasansky2528 i get what you mean but these albums are pretty straightforward rock records without any prog-rock pretentiousness
Hard to pick just one album... Coma is far and away my favorite song
That guitar tone....
I love coma.
I love coma too! Very very underrated song!
Both our my favorite bad ass albums ever made
Although nothing could top "Appetite," Use Your Illusion brought a whole new dimension to the Gunners. The video trilogy of "Don't Cry," "November Rain," and "Estranged" are awesome. "Civil War," "Locomotive," "Bad Obsession," "You Could Be Mine," I could go on and on. I'd have to say "Estranged" is my favourite track of all of them. The epicness of the song, Slash's killer riffs, the introspective lyrics, I love it all.
Axl was a perfectionist to say the least. Took years putting November Rain together for this when the others wanted to record it back on Appetite. Chinese Democracy, after the band broke up, took Axl 14 years to make and a TON of musicians coming and going. Supposedly, other members in the band were mad Axl never released more. He spoke about a part two, but the others on the end album said there was enough complete music for at least 4 albums. To this day I still pray he puts it out sometime.
There are not many bands out there could release as much music as they did in just 4 years, Axl may have been a perfectionist, but this is a shit tonne of material for one of the most dysfunctional bands ever to plug in.
I'm happy November Rain and Don't Cry didn't make it into Appetite, those songs would be so out of place in that album.
@@karlimo4034 oh yeah. Things seem to work out perfectly sometimes by accident. Appetite was PERFECT at that time. I remember feeling like it was the savior of Rock in the midst of the rest of the rock world at the time. Bands like Poison and Slaughter, etc. GnR was exactly what was needed at the right time. November Rain was great on Use Your Illusion. Don't Cry too though I liked it far less. Still good.
I can't really say which is my favorite; I bought them together as like a sophomore in high school and always kind of considered it one album
@Jennifer Maple Forgive me...I bought them together around the time I was a sophomore in high school, possibly a freshman. I don't recall.
Use Your Illusion I is a better album for me. Not a single bad song on that album, whereas II has a couple stinkers
@@chriskoschik391 Looking back it's the opposite for me with Dust N' Bones and Bad Apples being my "clunkers" on 1 but I liking every song on 2.
@@LostInOhio75 awww man I love Dust N Bones! I start out every road trip with that song lol. I guess it's all opinion! Locomotive and Get in the Ring are the skippers on II for me!
@@chriskoschik391 How can you skip Get in the Ring? That back to back with Shotgun Blues gets the blood going.
I always thought it was hilarious Axl would wear no shirt and a baseball catchers chestplate. Like wtf is that style lol.
While wearing mumble pants 😂
That style is referred to as, trailer-park on meth
Jason Papai omg that’s awesome. I can totally see that.
I remember that it looked nuts then and still does now lol
Lmao right. Maybe he liked baseball as a kid or what you're saying wtf is. Knowing Axl that was probably what he was going for a wtf look and caos
Both Use Your Illusions are indeed awesome albums! Sure to satisfy anyone’s appetite for destruction! The classic debut album is always a masterpiece!
Wow. Tom Zutaut signs motley crue And GnR. What a miracle. Thank you Tom
The pearls of rock n roll decadence 😋
«Perils».
cool ranch dressing
Shes pretty tied up and you can ride her
I like pearls better
Great album set, bought my set at a midnight release party.
"Dead Horse" is a Criminally Underrated GN'R Song.
Says how a lotta pple feel
But as millions Did, I bought both albums and they were amazing.
Izzy was the heart and soul of the band 100% Without discounting the other members valuable contribution, the band has never been the same since. And Izzy's solo records are killer. A damn shame they don't get the respect they deserve in the broader rock world.
They are both amazing - great video about a very unique time in music history!
Use Your Illusion 1 is my favorite out of the two. I will never forget when I bought the album back in 94. I was a young kid back then who just started listening to music a year or two prior. My older cousin was into Metal, Punk and all things Hard Rock and he played Appetite for Destruction for me. I absolutely loved the album so I immediately had to hear their next big follow up to that record. When I purchased Illusions 1 I will never forget how that album opens with Duffs really sick bass line and Matt Sorums Drumming behind it. Right Next Door to Hell is a sick track! That song is not only perfect as an opener but it lets you know that you are in for a real ride. Don’t get me wrong, I love Illusions 2 but it doesn’t speak to me the same way as The First Use Your Illusion.
The MTV footage of Megadeth interviewing GnR is gold.
I still think izzy's songs may be the best of the bunch. Double talking jive come on its epic.
I actually met axl right before the album's release in the same area where they were shooting the movie congo he welcomed me to the jungle and we played fun drinking games. He gave me everything i wanted he even remembered my name years later. So cool knowing the guy personally. None of the rest of the comment section matters conpared to my story. Firearms and flowers gang 🙌
There are quite a few epic songs on both albums!🔥
Love both albums, but illusion 2 is my favorite.
Agreed. I bought 2 first.
Yea
What an abomination compared to their first album. Truly awful
yeah, no contest really.
Nah 1 is 1.
Dead Horse, Double Talkin' Jive, Yesterdays, 14 Years, Civil War, Coma, Get in the Ring, Bad Obsession......Who could possibly pick just one out of those 30?
"The fires burnin' and it's out of control. It's not a problem you can stop, it's rock and roll. Suck on that!"
UYI 2 for sure
Civil War and Estranged...
You take songs from each one and you would have the perfect all time album
This dude should do a video of the best twelve songs to make one album or best 15
Burned too bright and crashed.
Icarus
Better to burn out than fade away
“But it is written, if the evil spirit armed the tiger with claws, Brahma provided wings for the dove”
Thus makes the super guru...........
D'you hear that?
Love both. Every song on both albums. True fan of the music.
I was around 12 when these albums dropped. Such a big soundtrack in my life
You srsly love My World?
4:01 😄 Niven was proud at least no band member died on his watch. Most of us would have bet against it at the time, but 30 years later they're all still alive. Astounding when you think of how many famous musicians have died since then.
When the Use Your Illusion albums came out, I was so broke, I could only afford to buy one ( I think it was UYI 2). The albums were out and they were huge, but I also had heard of the problems with the band and Adler was already gone. I remember thinking that they should be the happiest guys on the planet, but everything was in turmoil.
It's what happened so so many, ego, greed, n addictions destroyed it all.
2. The second half has Pretty tied up, locomotive, Estranged, and You could be mine. Of course it also starts with Civl war and 14 years. Part one has some greta ones as well. Coma possibly being the best song they ever did.
Trulysarcastic44 well said
ask Def Leppard! Before every Def Lep concert the last song u hear over the PA is Coma
Great documentary on a great band.
I know we all have our favorite tracks, but Symphony of Destruction and Sweating Bullets will always have a soft spot in my heart.
What?😂😂
Coma is a masterpiece. Dead horse, bad apples, estranged, breakdown, garden of Eden, so fine, locomotive, pretty tied up.
Awesome albums.
Awesome time to be a teenager back then.
Rock went off like a frog in a sock!
Takes me back to a day when people bought music, respected it and valued it. Queuing up outside record stores for that music that you couldn’t live without. Those were the days. Imagine if it was released today? People would rent it (stream) and be on to the next thing in no time. There is no value on music anymore. The internet made sure of that. At least we have the memories to look back on. Great days.
We just gonna act like the Spaghetti Incident didn’t happen?
Dang, that is right.
yes . that didn't happen ( imagine somebody saying this while doing a jedi wave)
I wish it didnt
What? You don't like 80s metal bands covering Charles Manson?
Bought that trainwreck of a CD... was so disappointed
I could never choose between the two albums. I saw G and R for the last time in Columbia S.C. ! We were riding around very late and came up to a Red light with about 5 limousines. Me and my friend were in a convertible Camaro. The window rolled down from one of the limousines and it was Slash and Duff. They started talking to us and it was one of the coolest things ever. I have never been a starstruck person , but at the time Use your Illusion 1and 2 was literally the soundtrack to my life. Metallic actually opened for them at the concert and Faith No More was there too. As if that wasn't a strange coincidence we parked next to friends from this little town I grew up in near Savannah......security was even cool because we lit up some smoke and we were asked one time to just keep it down a little by one guard. Mettalica opened with " Creeping Death". My friend bought like 6 shirts and put them under his chair. To his misfortune they dissapearef during that concert. I still have mine. Oh and we tricked our girlfriend to go without them because we actually convinced them my friend had one two tickets from a local radio contest! Crazy times. During " Mr. Brownstone" they had a huge balloon of the monster from the original cover of Appetite for Destruction. The only way it could have been better is I wanted to hear Coma live one time, it's one of my favorites even over Civil War. Oh yeah, skipped school to go out of town and buy both these CD, s the day they came out.
I remember summer 88, hearing Sweet Child o' Mine blasting at the Gravitron ride in the midway of the NYS Fair. That song was HUGE.
UYI 2 is one of my favourite all time records Love gunners. Xx
Same here!
Breakdown is my favorite song by Guns
im 45 yrs old now but ever since i was 14 estranged has been my fav song, not just from gnr but all music. i always felt this song was an accumulation of the best performance from each band member. however ive always started it from 3:45 cuz i love the 2nd half of the 9 minute song much more than the first half but to get the whole epic vision u gotta listen to the whole thing. also produced one of the best videos ever imo
I miss those midnight release nights they were good memories.I remember waiting at the virgin store by Times Square and there would be tons of people waiting to get whatever band was releasing an album that time
I remember my sisters going to Karma records before midnight and waiting in line for the store to open at 12am to get a copy...I can't imagine people doing that today.
Wait a minute... At 3:35 was that Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson interviewing Guns N Roses???? Damn!😂😂😂👍👍👍
It was huge when Illusion came out for me and my friends. I bought I and my best friend bought II and listened to them non stop for a long time.
These are my favorite albums... I also see it as one album. GNR forever
I strongly believe that the songwriting in the Illusion albums were the best in rock history. They could have easily pumped out 4 albums instead of the 2. Imho, it took all of their juice. It sapped their remaining strength. It was wayyy too ambitious a project. The following album was The Spaghetti Incident and it was just a bunch of covers anyways. Their creative energy was spent and the band def needed a break. They were the biggest band in the world.
That's so true! Use your illusion albums are colossal masterpieces. The band burned themselves out to create some of the greatest rock and roll records of all time. I think it was worth it
Best in rock history 🤣🤣🤣
I loved these albums when they came out, but It wasn't until I hit my 20's that I realized how good the lyrics are.
Is it just me, or at 2:48, were they being interviewed by mustaine and ellefson from megadeth?
That was killer, really enjoyed hearing some of those details I never knew. I can't express how much guns was a part of my life back then in high school it was an amazing time in music that imho we haven't seen anything close since. I just read that GNR's recent tour wrapped up and it was something like the 3rd largest grossing tour of all time so I guess they made a few bucks on this one.
The more of these I watch, the more I understand why bands break up.
GnR was the perfect train wreck. I was lucky to see them three times in their prime. They opened for the Stones. My buddy and left three songs into the Stones set. GnR had taken us to a high level and the Stones music just seemed like a buzz kill. I saw again for the Use your Illusion tour and with Metallica a couple years later.
if i had to pick one, it would be Use Your Illusion 2 - my fav songs were always "breakdown" and "estranged"
Phil Robichaud love those two!
Those 2 songs stood the test of time for me. I'm 45 now and those are still my "Go to songs" when I'm feeling down... also, those two songs at the time made me realize that Axl and the boys had serious song writing talent.
@@tomdeters735 i know right, i'm the same for sure
I was working at the infamous "Record Wear House" when the illusion album's came out!!! I really miss those midnight openings... Some day...
I loved Appetite but never got into the later albums. Still remember seeing them open for Iron Maiden in ‘88. Blew me away.
I'd probably lean more towards Illusions I as a favorite cause it sounds more straightforward rock, BUT II has some of my favorite GN'R tracks like Estranged (one of my favorite songs from any artist) So Fine and You Could Be Mine.
So fine is highly underrated
"Locomotive," and, Izzy on "14 Years."
Wow, over 20 years my favorite one single song off those two albums has probably changed more than the seasons in that time. But probably the most consistent one being “GET IN THE RING”, and that’s because it’s one of those rare songs, at the moment I can’t even think of anything like it, but that it has always sounded to me like the one song, that a band would play that was showing everybody that doubted their lifestyle choices and their choice to be a musician instead of a common working John, that hey, they don’t care what everyone said to them growing up and all the time, cause their happy doing music for their life’s work.
It’s like you could put the words in that song in another language, even a make believe nonsense language that didn’t exist and I bet still, the listener would get that idea of what was being sang about in that song. But then of coarse, in Guns’ traditional fashion, they took it multiple steps further and while not only saying they don’t care about the haters and doubters, they picked out specific individuals who did them wrong and gave them a lashing too. I thought it was Genius. So those magazine guys went on radio and TV to try and defend themselves in an actual fight and they just looked stupid, the damage was already done, their was nothing they could do, cause their was now already a song that would last forever pointing out they were scum bags. I think that’s also one of those very special songs that you only play live on very special occasions, even less than once every hundred shows.
I’ve Loved this band since I was 8, seen them 3 times and VR once. I even spent a little coin, to take a girl with me from Utah to Palm Springs for the re-union show at the Festival. And even though their was one more day/night of the Coachella, after the two nights of Guns, I listed the tickets online afternoon before the show that night for the buyer to pick up the next morning and in 60 minutes, I got 119 responses for when I advertised them for double. But then I saw the attraction and got three n’ a half times worth for each one. Two college nerds drove through the night from San Luis Obismo, cause I guess the last night was some new rapper or DJ, I never heard of and all their friends went without them.
I got tickets tonight to see them Tuesday in SLC. MUCH CHEAPER, This time I’ll spend more in merchandise and bottles of booze electrical taped to our legs.
Nah, probably just two cause we’re sharing, cause when I saw SKID ROW and actually got to meet the band and take pictures, by the time they got on stage an hour later, I drank a whole bottle of
Yukon Jack and had to have my friend help hold me up cause I couldn’t stand on my own. Ya see, their was multiple openers for them and a couple were very good and the one that just started I was really diggin’ and he asked me to get him a cup of coffee and since he was old and I have respect, I had him hold my liquor while I went to the front gate and they said I couldn’t come back in with it and then I noticed a line of 30 people going into this little building and they all did a two day radio scavenger hunt to get to meet the band, so I found the radio guy and told him that I had played guitar and loved this band since I was eleven and if these people got to meet them, he had to let me, I didn’t beg, I didn’t try to intimidate or look tough, I just said he had to let me.
And he actually took a minute to think about it. So inside, everyone went to the right to walk in a line around the t-shirts and other merch. and I looked to the left and the five dudes were just standing there waiting, so I mosy ed on to the left and had their attention for like three hole minutes. It was unbelievable.
Thank God for Booze and that I wasn’t hammered at that point yet, hey guys and puke all over them, Lol, that would have sucked. So SLC. This should be a Hoot !!!
Radio said Manson is playing in town that night too, I wonder if he’s opening. Hmmm
Anyways, I think/Hope this little tour is for the purpose of them getting ready to drop the longest awaited album ever. Hmmm !!!
Both amazing records ... I remember how excited I was as a sophomore in high school
Music died on me in 1996. But through the following years the heartbeat ticks again on a few just enough to keep it breathing.
As the man said (keep up the good work).
What Izzy and a healthy Steven Adler brought to GNR is what made them a great rock n roll band. Izzy brought a Stones/Keith Richards thing to the band. Adler's drumming style was great b/c the guy could swing. Once they were replaced GNR became pretty much a lunkhead hair band.
Happy 30th Anniversary Use your Illusion 1 & 2!!!
At the time, I could only get one album. I wanted the one that had the song "Don't Cry". I bought the wrong one because I didn't know that BOTH albums had the same song with alternate lyrics. So not only did I not get the version of the song I wanted but I bought the album that did NOT have "November Rain".