Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic, electric & coral guitars); Axl Rose (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums, sound effects); Slash (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo); Duff McKagan (bass, percussion, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Howard Teman (piano); Johann Langlie (keyboards, drums, sound effects); Steven Adler (drums); Shannon Hoon, The Waters (background vocals).
Recorded at A & M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56 and Image Recording, Hollywood, California; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario.
Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, coral sitar); Axl Rose (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums, sound effects); Slash (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo); Duff McKagan (bass, percussion, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Howard Teman (piano); Johann Langlie (keyboards, drums, sound effects); Steven Adler (drums); Shannon Hoon, The Waters (background vocals).
Recorded at A & M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56 and Image Recording, Hollywood, California; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Four years after becoming an uninvited guest at the party that is the music industry with its seminal debut, APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, Guns N' Roses detonated a creative blast by releasing USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II. Thanks to a reckless approach toward life and music, G N' R was constantly at the center of controversy and the result was that much of it was chronicled on this two-volume project. By this time, original drummer Steven Adler had been dismissed due to alleged drug dependency problems and was replaced by the Cult's Matt Sorum. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed was also added as a member.
ILLUSION II lacks the hits of the first volume and also doesn't overflow with as much bile, aside from a couple of exceptions. Axl Rose howls at the editors of Spin, Kerrang, and Hit Parader magazines on the rollicking "Get in the Ring," and addresses the inherent pitfalls of fame on Izzy Stradlin's scathing "Pretty Tied Up (The Perils of Rock N' Roll Decadence)". Elsewhere, G'N'R tackles an old Dylan nugget ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door"), includes tracks cut for charity and soundtracks ("Civil War," "You Could Be Mine"), and an underrated masterpiece about heartbreak that manages to emote both indignation and sorrow without sounding pathetic ("Estranged").
Four years after becoming an uninvited guest at the party that is the music industry with its seminal debut, APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, Guns N' Roses released USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II. Thanks to a reckless approach toward life and music, G N' R was constantly at the center of controversy and the result was that much of it was chronicled on this two-volume project. By this time, original drummer Steven Adler had been dismissed due to alleged drug dependency problems and was replaced by the Cult's Matt Sorum. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed was also added as a member.
ILLUSION II lacks the hits of the first volume and also doesn't overflow with as much bile, aside from a couple of exceptions. Axl Rose howls at the editors of Spin, Kerrang, and Hit Parader magazines on the rollicking "Get in the Ring," and addresses the inherent pitfalls of fame on Izzy Stradlin's scathing "Pretty Tied Up (The Perils of Rock N' Roll Decadence)". Elsewhere, G N' R tackles an old Dylan nugget ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door'), includes tracks cut for charity and soundtracks ("Civil War," "You Could Be Mine"), and an underrated masterpiece about heartbreak that manages to emote both indignation and sorrow without sounding pathetic ("Estranged").
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.56) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...the band rewards the loyal legions with fourteen songs, which range from ballad to battle, pretty to vulgar, worldly..."
Rolling Stone - 4 Stars - Excellent - "..the band rewards the loyal legions with fourteen songs, which range from ballad to battle, pretty to vulgar, worldly..."
Spin (12/91) - Ranked #19 in Spin's list of the 20 Best Albums Of 1991.
Q (1/92) - One of Q Magazine's 50 best albums of 1991.
Melody Maker (12/91) - Ranked #10 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991
Melody Maker (12/91) - Ranked #10 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991 - "...rocks like a mutha!"
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.53) - "[A]t turns balladic, bluesy, experimental and peppered with genius."
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Reviews
– Customer review on 31/03/2007
This side of Use Your Illusion shows the bluesy influence of Dizzy Reed, and also shows a desperately lonely side of the band. 'Estranged' is a brilliantly emotional song, with great guitar effects, and I'm also rather fond of 'Don't Cry' with the alternative lyrics - just goes to show that you can have a song both ways and it's stilll awesome. 'Civil War' and 'You Could be Mine' let us know that desite GN'R's new sound, they still have it in them to create some good hard rock.
Friends never subjected me to this piece of the Gunners as much, probably a good thing, never a fan of their Knocking On Heaven's Door, as I pointed out to them many times. There should have only been one Use Your Illusion album, and that would ahve been plenty, even if they made it a little big longer, no real need for this one at all.
i love this album by guns 'n' roses! my favourites on here are some of the better known ones like yesterdays, knockin' on hevens door, don't cry and some of the unreleased ones like pretty tied up and estranged. this is a great album by the band and i recommend it to fans that don't own it.
this album is pretty damn good with songs such as civil war, yesterdays, knockin' on heavens door, you could be mine and don't cry, this makes for a pretty good rock album. guns 'n' roses are known and loved for their raw rock sound and this album won't let the fans down.
I love this album, despite some of the not so great songs. The songs that are good are really very good. Really well written lyrically and some catchy pieces of music in there as well. Performed well, as with most of Guns n Roses work. A very talented band, this album is truely worth a listen if you can sift through the rubbage and hear the brilliance of some of their great songs.
Once again a double album has been created by taking enough good tracks for one album and adding plenty of filler. Having said that, most of the filler is on Use your illusion 1, although there is some garbage here too.
This has more artistic merit than part 1 and contains some truly great songs. From Axl's pen we have Breakdown and Estranged. Two epics similar in style to November rain. While Izzy continues to showcase his gift for songwriting with Pretty tied up. The opening track, Civil war shows the direction Axl was heading with his music and is similar to the songs he is performing now.
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– Customer review on 31/03/2007
– Customer review on 28/10/2006
