Classic Rock Bottom

ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 30 GUNS 'N' ROSES - USE YOUR ILLUSION I (1991)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***Click the album cover to listen***


1. Right Next Door To Hell

2. Dust N' Bones

3. Live And Let Die

4. Don't Cry

5. Perfect Crime

6. You Ain't The First

7. Bad Obsession

8. Back Off Bitch

9. Double Talkin' Jive

10. November Rain

11. The Garden (feat. Alice Cooper)

12. Garden Of Eden

13. Don't Damn Me

14. Bad Apples

15. Dead Horse

16. Coma

 

What we have here is a failure to communicate.  That seems to be the case anytime the current GNR is scheduled for a show.  Wait, that comes from Use Your Illusion II.  But our subject this week is Use Your Illusion I.  Released in 1991, this was GNR's third album.  It was released along with UYI II, but not as a double CD.  They were released separately at the same time, which was a very unique and cool idea.  That way, if you could only afford one CD, you could pick.  It seems like slightly more folks picked UYI II, because it debuted at number one, while this one was number two.  If I remember correctly, I had enough money to buy both.  I don't understand why more bands don't do this now.  Some of these albums these days are just too long.  I like listening to the whole album, but I just don't typically have that kind of time anymore.  That being said, this album still had 16 tracks, and one of those was almost 9 minutes while another was over 10 minutes long.  If you add both albums together, you got 30 new tracks from GNR.  Let me tell you, this world was thirsty for GNR back then, so you have to hand it to 'em for trying to give everybody what they wanted. 

 

Now, having said all of that, how does this album stand up today?  For me, it's about a 50/50 proposition.  If it were up to me, I'd cut the track list to 8 songs:

 

1. Dust N' Bones

2. Live And Let Die

3. Don't Cry

4. Perfect Crime

5. Back Off Bitch

6. Double Talkin' Jive

7. November Rain

8. The Garden

 

To me, that album would still hold up very well.  You'd still have the same 3 singles, Don't Cry, Live And Let Die and November Rain, plus 5 pretty good album cuts.  And it would still be almost 40 minutes in length.  As far as the music goes, I like all of the singles.  My favorite would be Don't Cry, but November Rain is an epic song that, although quite long, is worth every minute.  The Wings cover of Live And Let Die was a very decent cover, not as good as the original, but not bad at all.  Then come the album cuts.  I really like Dust N' Bones, which features Izzy Stradlin on lead vocals.  Pefect Crime is sort of a psychotic song, it's kind of all over the place, with frantic vocals from Axl.  I think it works well.   Another interesting song is The Garden, which features an appearance by Alice Cooper.  I don't think the song is all that great, but there's no way I would cut a song featuring A.C. from an album.  I just don't think the other eight album cuts hold up that well.

 

Overall, this is a fair album.  It's still very easy to come by on Amazon.   I'm not gonna say this is a must buy, unless you are a completist, but if you are, you probably already have it.  What are your thoughts on this album? 

 

My Favorite Single: Don't Cry

 

Hidden Gem Award: Dust N' Bones

 

Most Likely To Skip: Several, but the winner is Coma

 

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My thought's on this album is, that I'm pretty fed up with it. At the time, in '91, it was AWESOME to have so many new G'N'R-songs, and it took the rest of the year, to really know all of these songs. At the time, UYI II rather fast became my favorite of the two albums, but I guess that I've heard those two albums way to many times back then, because I really don't want to listen to either of them, for the time being. Who knows in 10 years time?

I was at a Guns'n'Roses-concert a month or so BEFORE they released the Use Your illusion-albums, and it was a GREAT concert. They really were the biggest band in the world at that time, but nowadays the only REALLY classic album, they've made is "Appetite For Destruction", well imo, anyway. 

I jhaven't listened to this for maybe ten years? Always want to take it out an listen to it and then forget. I kind of like UYI 1 and 2 better than AFD because they weren't overplayed as a whole, compared to almost every song on AFD. Sure, there were some played a lot (Live And Let Die, Don't Cry, November Rain) but the rest really didn't get a lot of airplay. My one pick from this album will always be November Rain, love that song, and the video really has stuck with me all these years, so many scenes from that video have been embedded in my mind.   

 

 

I have never heard UYI all the way through.  I was suffereing from GNR burn out, they were just too overplayed for me, and I was in denial in 1991 about the state of my music!  I may go back and listen someday, but Im still not feeling this.  Is it just me?
Noooo...I keep wanting to pull this out and give it a spin, but you hit the burnout right on the head...even though it's been 20 years? And I keep forgetting...probably because of the burnout thing.

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