USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II by Guns n Roses

[Ian _Invader]

Before Avenged became my favorite band and you my favorite musician, Guns N Roses was my favorite band. One song you should highlight is Locomotive! It was a standout for me solely because of the expression in the last 2 minutes. That and if you haven't checked out the MAX sessions of Slash and Myles Kennedy acoustic version of Civil War you should! Thanks Syn Hope you had a great Holiday Season!

 

[iridecently]

I am gonna try to refrain from writing a twenty page essay on these two albums, but this will undoubtedly become a huge post so, for those of you that want the TL;DR of my opinion on Use Your Illusion I & II, here ya go:

These two (or is it one?) albums have been one of my favorites for pretty much as long as I can remember. Like I said in the 'Songs that touch your soul' thread, I have this stupidly vivid memory of the Guns N' Roses cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door blasting through our living room when I was five or six years old. Eventually I 'inherited' the Use Your Illusion I & II CDs (along with a boatload of others) from my dad, threw them on my iPod and the rest is basically history.

First things first, I love how on these two albums you are able to hear each individual 'layer' of the song. For me listening to this for the first time at like 11 or 12 years old it kind of blew my mind that I could actually hear what every instrument was doing, instead of it just being a wall of sound with some vocals on top. You can just focus your hearing on one of the instruments and hear what they are doing at all times and that's just super cool in my opinion. Anyway, on to the songs:

• Right Next Door to Hell: That bassline might be the coolest way open an album, ever. At least it's one of the few that actually stuck in my brain. The other instruments just slowly coming in one by one to eventually drop into the verse is just *chef's kiss*.
• Dust N' Bones: I absolutely love the piano in this song and the combination of Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose's vocals just make for a really interesting mix.
• Live And Let Die: Might be the definition of a perfect cover. It's huge, over the top, it's clearly Guns N' Roses while also staying true to the original song.
• Perfect Crime: I quote this song more than anyone would consider healthy ('You wanna fuck with me? Don't fuck with me'). I love the riffs in this song and the lyrics are just the perfect amount of Axl Rose-crazy.
• Bad Obsession: I have just one word for you: Cowbell. Also there is so much happening in this song that you could probably listen to it a dozen times and keep discovering new little tidbits.
• Double Talkin' Jive: I love the split between the lead guitar on the right and the rhythm/bass on the left. And then suddenly the solo comes in on both ears. And to top it all off it fades into this Spanish-style solo completely unexpected.
• Bad Apples: I'm a sucker for the funky guitar in the intro which then dives into what we've come to expect from Guns N' Roses. Also gotta love the aggressive piano playing.
• Coma: The longest song they ever made, no chorus and just a wild ride from start to finish.
• Civil War: Absolute classic that starts off relatively soft and slow and just keeps building as the song goes on.
• 14 Years: Probably one of my absolute GN'R favourites. Love the prominent piano and the guitar riff is just great, also the 'back and forth' sound on the solo is super fun.
• Knocking on Heaven's Door: Just pure nostalgia to me. I can't listen to this song without hearing my dad sing along (off-key and bad timing and all).
• Get In The Ring: Just silly, stupid fun. From the chanting in the beginning to Axl's tirade. Again a song full of dumb quotes like Perfect Crime.
• Locomotive: This bass riff is just so. good. Love the scratchy vibe this entire song has and then after 6:20 it transitions into something completely different (again love the funky guitar here).
• Estranged: The lesser known sequel to November Rain and undeservedly so. This song is it for me: The drama, the wailing guitar, the insane amount of solos. Estranged is what got me into guitar and the guitar solos were the first that really blew my socks off. Bonus: The music video is absolutely nuts.
• Honorable mentions to My World, which is just so silly I don't even know what to say about it.

As expected this post turned out entirely too long, but I just really love these albums and was beyond excited when I saw they were the AOTM.

 

[Gabby Heafy]

Really these albums have been very influential in my life, this band marked a before and after... they were completely a revolution in the beautiful 90’s. I remember my older brother had their albums, he was the one who made me listen to them for the first time, I loved them!!. We always listened to this band together and debated about them. Thank you Syn for this storm of emotions and memories, listening to these albums drew me a huge smile and a little melancholy but i totally enjoyed it!

Here my favorites, i'll try to choose the best, i dont want a such a long review lol!

Live and Let Die: It’s a unique song, written by the genius of Paul McCartney. The intro is so powerful, that every time I hear it, it brings back really good memories. It’s definitely one of my fav.

Don’t Cry: It’s an incredible ballad, with that energetic guitars present in certain parts. Totally a perfect performance and wonderful choirs. Slash his playing style so satisfying and so emotional. I love the vocal effect of the end, so beautiful!

Bad Obsession: Another great piece of this album. Here Izzy also deals with percussion. Slash knows how to adapt to the executed style and gives us a fabulous solo. As a curiosity, Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks plays the harmonica of this song. Love it!!

November Rain: A true historical ballad that has reached its status because it has absolutely everything. A stadium drummer, to put everyone on their feet, a very melodic voice of Axl that melts hearts, fantastic piano and keyboards arrangements, and above all, a SLASH, as well with capital letters, that shines with a force of a thousand solar systems, especially in the final orgasmic part, which alone is already legendary. Hands down!!!

Coma: Love this song son much! So strange and unique, that is unjustly forgotten.

Civil War: A really delicious song. And those guitar arrangements that start at 1:59 and are repeated several times throughout the song can’t be more beautiful and spectacular.

Knockin on Heaven’s Door: The guitars are just amazing, and Axl goes over the vocals in a spectacular way. Even the battery has a special sensitivity. Of course, after having heard the guitars from 2:56, the doors of paradise can be opened to me. The angelic choirs in the purest Gospel style from 4:00 already completely finish such a work of art.

You Could Be Mine: It's one of the most famous pieces of the album. Very rocker and fun. The riff is very hardrocker and in general is a great composition, in which Slash returns to show off in the solo in an elegant way. Totally awesome!

Estranged: GNR's most well crafted song, the singing, the guitar solos, the piano, I just can't find one thing wrong with this song.

@Syn Gates Thank you for this AOTM!! A great choice of a powerful and amazing band!... Many of us who have heard music from the 90s, remember these awesome albums and have influenced us a lot! very good memories!! I look forward to the next album of the month! Love ya!