Product Description

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 centre 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 I found Axl Rose rantingon songs about being sued by a neighbor ("Right Next Door to Hell"), dysfunctional relationships ("Back Off Bitch"), and a drug overdose ("Coma"). Amid all the spewed bile, G N' Rscored three Top 40 hits with a Wings cover ("Live and Let Die"), a piano-driven, Elton John-flavoured epic ("November Rain"), and a hard-edged ballad ("Don't Cry"). Celebrity cameos include a then unknown Shannon Hoon, Hanoi Rocks' Mike Monroe, and Alice Cooper, who makes a particularly sinister contribution to "The Garden".

Track Listing

1. Right Next Door To Hell
2. Dust N' Bones
3. Live And Let Die
4. Don't Cry (Original)
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
12. Garden Of Eden
13. Don't Damn Me
14. Bad Apples
15. Dead Horse
16. Coma

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3017 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Part one of Guns N' Roses' ambitious second album is arguably the better of the two. It certainly rocks harder, though this seems to be more coincidence than anything else; which songs went on which CD looks to have been a random selection. Use Your Illusion I stays closer to the band's bluesy hard-rock roots, with guitarist Izzy Stradlin contributing some of the best songs, including "Dust N' Bones" and "You Ain't the First". "November Rain" (clocking in at over nine minutes) became an instant classic, and there are a fair number of straight-ahead rockers, such as "Perfect Crime", "Don't Damn Me", and "Garden of Eden". Taking the best from this album and Use Your Illusion II would have made a killer single CD, but there's enough good stuff here to make it worthwhile. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

You can take this review as a review of both Use Your Illusion 1 AND 2. They're as good as each other...
... and thus, inseperable.

I have a hell of a history with these Use Your Illusion albums, indeed with Guns N' Roses in general. "Appetite for Destruction" was the first `metal' album I ever heard, and it changed my life immediately. I actually first heard it while on stage in a school play. It's a strange story, and probably more interesting if I leave it at that. I actually heard it at a time when I didn't think there was any music I liked. As soon as I heard it, I knew that it was what I had been looking for.

Moving onto the Use Your Illusion albums, well I don't think there is any record I have heard more times than these. I've owned them on vinyl, tape and CD. There was one two week holiday when I went to Scotland with my parents, and they were the only tapes I listened to, and I listened to them back-to-back, one after the other for that entire holiday. And they still resonate deeply in my soul, every time I put them on. There's always something I haven't noticed before, despite the fact I've heard every sound on those records hundreds of times.

I can't believe that there are people who think that "Appetite for Destruction" is one of the greatest rock albums ever, yet criticise "Use Your Illusion". How can it be? Sure, Appetite is an unrelenting hammer attack of classy rock riffs and angry wailing but UYI is so much more than that. It's all that and more. Tracks like "Right Next Door to Hell", "Perfect Crime", and "You Could Be Mine" provide the Appetite thrills, but then for good measure you've got pretty much every other rock n' roll base covered - boozy blues on "Dust and Bones", tender ballads like "Don't Cry", rough jokey songs like "You Ain't the First", slide blues -"Bad Obsession", psychedelic epics - "Coma", big ballads -"November Rain" and "Estranged", funk rock - "Bad Apples"... and every one is a winner - except maybe the rap travesty "MyWorld".

Axl stretches his vocal range to the limit - utilising at least five different voices, sometimes within one song, Slash plays incredibly intense and tuneful solos throughout, the rhythm playing is endlessly inventive, Duff's bass playing solid, Matt on drums outshines ex-drummer Steven Adler in every way (seriously - listen to Appetite: Adler can't even play the hi-hat), then you've got Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon providing beautiful back-up vocals, Alice Cooper getting sinister, along with piano, horns, programming... the scope of ambition is second to none.

As a young lad I was captivated by all the artwork and logos, the extensive liner notes, the lyrics, the guest appearances. It was so ambitious, that really, perhaps it was heavy metal's last big statement. Sure you still have `metal' today, and loads of offshoots of it, but the kind of metal that Guns N' Roses peddled died a death. I've heard of bands trying to recreate the genre in recent years, but nothing has stood up to the work that GN'R did here.

No doubt these records hold a special place in my heart because they were the soundtrack to my early-mid teenage years, but that I can still go back to them and not only be reminded of old times, but enjoy them like they are still new is something that I don't ever expect to get from any other album.

I haven't bought into the anticipation of the next Guns record, and I don't care if it never comes out. However, the scope and sheer genius of the Use Your Illusion albums occasionally makes me think: Axl might just have it in him - to come back with a masterpiece, after all; he's had long enough.

Stop talking about quality of the DVD!!
Who mind if you can't check backstages or stuff. The important thing here is that the band does a good performance, no interruption and you get a good sound, quite poor on bottom and top, but clear. Why 3 stars??? Because japanesse people don't know how to enjoy rock and roll, and I get really mad when I see them dancing over their "chairs" as I dance when I listen to Snow Patrol. Come on!!! it's Guns, you have to cry, jump and scream. That's the dessapointing part of this DVD. Don't buy if you expect to have a live Guns N' Roses experience. I have 2 been in two concerts of GNR, 1992 and 2007 and this DVD is desapointing. The best GNR dvd is one called Santiago, sometimes the sound fails but it is very rich on bass and high, lots of tunes and great, great crowd, they even throw bottles to axl... hahahaha. Cheers

WHAT A PILE OF POOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Axl Rose is the biggest joke of all time, all that whining and screeching and stuff. Jesus he needs to calm down a bit, sounds like he is goona explode at any moment, toss-pot.