Been a while since those two monsters were released. Any fans of those albums here?
I would love to get into a more detailed analysis, even tracks etc. but only if others are interested.
I normally don't go for the argument of "this double album would have made on dynamite single album". (If it's a double, than that is what it is). But in this instance I do see how editing could have done wonders.
And yet, maybe it was supposed to be over the top.

have at it....i got those two back in the day. they have held up well, imo....

bought them the day thet came out, some good songs but seriously overproduced the start of axl rose's insane perfectionism that destroyed the band.

On occasion I'll hear an annoying, whiny buzz and slap my neck thinking, "Damn mosquito is in the room!!" As the buzz continues, I'll grab a newspaper and try to locate the mosquito so I can smash it. And I can't...find...the mosquito. That annoying whining sound continues. I can't stand it. And...I...can't...find the mosquito—

—and then finally I'll look to the radio and realize there's no mosquito: it's Axl Rose's voice coming over the radio! Ugh! It's Axl's voice. Nooooo!

Having said that, I like the song COMA, but mainly for Slash's atmospheric guitar playing. (Which is why it's such a joke to me that Axl thinks he's Guns N Roses.)

AFD is a desert island disc for me, but I'm not sure I could fill even one side of vinyl from all of I & II. A huge bloated disappointment.

I have not played either of them in years, but all I can think of off the top of my head is Bad Obsession and Right Next Door To Hell -- and maybe You Could Be Mine.

.....both up there with water-boarding ......



ROCKMAN

i'm another that bought them on day 1. there are so many kick ass songs on these 2, i still love it!

i still get all the izzy solo albums - he's had about 10 of them.

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Rockman
.....both up there with water-boarding ......

Well your in the right country then eh? Take a big gulp rockie. These albums rocked. Best song on either one:



I tried to see it your way



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-19 06:24 by sweetcharmedlife.

Civil War and a few others kicks ass. The best songs would have made one really good CD.

Use Your Illusion was the beginning of the end. Once Axl fired Izzy, GnR was toast. Then we waited. And waited. And after 15 years got ... the randid, overblown t-rd known as Chinese Democracy.

In six and a half years of living with my wife and blasting music in the same domicile, Chinese Democracy is the only album that ever compelled her to flash the lights of the mancave and beg me to "turn that sh-t off!"

These were great when they came out...haven't had a listen to them in a really long time.

Excellent, if you consider that they are probably each a double album's worth of vinyl. Just a massive amount of material, most of which was quite good, so you could have probably boiled these two 'double' albums down into ONE double album.

Too bad...they did hold a lot of promise.

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ab
Civil War and a few others kicks ass. The best songs would have made one really good CD.

Use Your Illusion was the beginning of the end. Once Axl fired Izzy, GnR was toast. Then we waited. And waited. And after 15 years got ... the randid, overblown t-rd known as Chinese Democracy.

In six and a half years of living with my wife and blasting music in the same domicile, Chinese Democracy is the only album that ever compelled her to flash the lights of the mancave and beg me to "turn that sh-t off!"

nice made up story. izzy was not fired. he no longer loved the life of a rockstar and the constant touring and left. he has been back out with GNR recently on a few dates

Yeah they were overblown.
I got to say besides the length and unnecessary songs it is the production that bugs me.
There is this sense of not allowing the listener anything; no subtlety. Understatement is usually enough IMO. In too many choruses they use this dubbed deep voice that has to come in and go "Do you dig, man?" Another is to end too many songs with this drawn out "yee-eeah" solo=ed by Axl.
And in sessions I can see songs go on and on, but several here would have been better as a 3-4 minute song. The main offender is "Breakdown". A strong track, except it digresses into some rambling discourse. "Coma" is another one. The hospital sequenxe.. well it is pure Axl Rose stuff.
Izzy's stuff is the best, but even there, they needed editing. "Double Talkin Jive" and "Pretty Tied Up" are kind of the same song.
(I am looking at the song list now):
Side 1
"Right Next Door To Hell" - good opener, "Dust n Bones" one of the best, liked the cover of "Live and Let Die" a lot, "Perfect Crime" is real good. "Double Talkin Jive" - I am sucker for that kind of tune, same with "You Ain't the First" - this is where Izzy was gold for the band. "Bad Obsession" is a decent album track, although they pushed it a good bit in concert. "Back off Bitch" should have been dropped. "Don't Cry" - I loathe that song, and we got it twice, LOL
Side 2
"November Rain" is so over the top, as is the video, but is great. The two "Garden" songs; I sort of like the one with Alice Cooper, although it probably should be dropped. "Garden of Eden" is strong. "Dont Damn Me" is one of the best of the whole album. I think of "Dead Horse" and "Bad Apples" together; I guess "Horse" is better than "Apples". keep one of them. "Coma" is cool.
Side 3
"Civil War", the only track with Steve Adler ( I do think Matt Sorum is a way better drummer btw), and a great track; "14 Years" and is excellent Izzy; except that piano is terrible. This Axl making sure everyone knows he is also a boy in the band, just playin the piano back there, but he plays without subtlety and it is mixed too loud. memories of Leavell. That piano ruins the song for me.
"Yesterdays" makes up for it though. rare hear to GnR like this.
"Knockin on heavens door" is okay. But the next two are a low point. For starters
"Get in the Ring" sounds like it is "Knockin" continued; in tempo and key. Anyway "Ring" is so laughably weak. Especially since Guccione Jr. took Axl up on the challenge and dared him into a ring with him, LOL. "Shotgun Blues" is a real lousy song too. "Breakdown" I like a lot, for the first 3 minutes; but then it fizzles, yet goes on and on; and we keep getting that stupid voice "Let me hear you now" etc.
"Tied Up" is good, as is "Locomotive" - I like listening to the drum pattern on that one. (I think they did that one with Jeff Beck once.).
"Estranged" is another absolute highlight; as is the single "You could be mine" even though it has nothing at all to do with a Terminator. We get another "Dont Cry". "..alternate lyrics.." hahaha...". "So Fine", well it's okay. I like Duff paying tribute to the man and all, but it probably should have been cut. That last song is such an abomination, that I don't even know how to approach it. I recall in the press Axl was speaking highly of rap, and of the White Boy Funk, like Faith No More e.g. I think this is some misguided step in that direction; rolled up with a stab at trying to look like the tortured artiste alone at home with a multi track.

Let' say we cut the worst stuff out like "Don't Cry" both times, "Back Off Bitch", "Shotgun Blues", "Get in the Ring", "My World", "So Fine", "Bad Apples", "The Garden", and cut "Coma" and "Breakdown" in half, we are still stuck with a huge double album. But I think it would have gone down as a very strong double album. They kind of missed their chance.

The soundtrack to my youth,i love both of them

Guns and Roses dones nothing for me anymore, but two albums in rougher rock that still can be mentioned is Metallicas 'St Anger' and 'Death Magnetic'..

2 1 2 0

Overrated, overblown, over.

Perhaps the most overrated band in history. Bombastic, childish, silly.

"Izzy was not fired"
Axl wanted him to be put on a salary like a roadie. He chose to walk out... like the classy dude he is.

Overall the fact that every song was individually credited showed how much Izzy was the songwritting force, Slash being a sort of M.Taylor II : putting nice embellishments on strong songs but not being able to create memorable tunes by himself.

I think songwriting is talent you're born with. You can't learn it like you can to play lead guitar.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-19 16:29 by dcba.

I loved 'em when they came out, but I haven't listened to them in years.
The Use Tour Illusion Tour was great


Come On, IMO "St Anger" is Metallica's weakest studio effort ever (with "Reload")...

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

2 great rock albums, also I saw G'NR with one of their last 10 shows on the Use Your Illusion world tour. They were an absolute killer great band to that time.

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sweetcharmedlife

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Rockman
.....both up there with water-boarding ......

Well your in the right country then eh? Take a big gulp rockie.

Naughty naughty... Laughing my arse off...

Never liked Axl as a singer or frontman, so I was never a fan. I do like Izzy.

Came Unglued, a b-side. Great track, a bit like Whole Lotta Rosie.

by Izzy "Strandly"







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-19 21:46 by TooTough.

To date one of the best set of albums ever released. But, they where released when I just went to university, so they are the backdrop of the best times of my life. Still, Perfect Crime, Double Talking Jive, Garden of Eden, 14 Years, Yesterdays, Breakdown, Pretty Tied Up and Estranged remain blue prints of hard rock and roll. Slash really was the best guitarist in the world at that time, and still is quite unsurpassed since those albums, not even by himself.

And Axl proved to be one of the best lyricists ever. Listen to Locomitive and Coma -two dessert island songs for me. Just utterly fantastic.

Mathijs

I became a Guns N' Roses fan around 2002 after seeing the Sweet Child O Mine video on MTV2. I bought Appetite and fell in love with it. I then bought the Use Your Illusion records and felt immediate dissapointment. There are some fine tracks on the pair of them, but it pales in comparison to the debut.

Rather have Toys In The Attic and Rocks.

Big mistake on their part. Shows the beginning of them thinking they were bigger than they were. Just not enough good material. Should have made one album

Why do you look at me when you hate me
Why should I look at you when you
make me hate you too
I sense a smell of retribution in the air
I don't even understand why the @#$%&
you even care
And I don't need your jealousy yeah
Why drag me down in your misery
And when you stare don't you think I feel it
But I'm gonna deal it back to you in spades
When I'm havin' fun ya know I can't conceal it
'Cause I know you'd never cut it in my game
Oh no
And when you're talkin' about a vasectomy
Yeah
I'll be writin' down your obituary
History


You got your bitches with
the silicone injections
Crystal meth and yeast infections
Bleached blond hair, collagen lip projections
Who are you to criticize my intentions
Got your subtle manipulative devices
Just like you I got my vices
I got a thought that would be nice
I'd like to crush your head tight in my vice
Pain!!


And that goes for all you punks in the press
That want to start shit by printin' lies
Instead of the things we said
That means you
Andy Secher at Hit Parader
Circus Magazine
Mick Wall at Kerrang
Bob Guccione Jr. at Spin,
What you pissed off cuz your dad gets more
pussy than you?
@#$%& you
Suck my @#$%&' dick


You be rippin' off the @#$%&' kids
While they be payin' their hard earned
money to read about the bands
They want to know about
Printin' lies startin' controversy
You wanta antagonize me
Antagonize me @#$%&
Get in the ring @#$%&
And I'll kick your bitchy little ass
Punk


I don't like you, I just hate you
I gonna kick your ass, oh yeah! oh yeah!


You may not like our integrity yeah
We built a world out of anarchy oh yeah!


And in this corner weighin in at 850 pounds,
Guns N' Roses


Get in the ring
Yeah!


Yeah this song is dedicated to All the Guns n' @#$%&' Roses fans
Who stuck with us through all the
@#$%& shit
And to all those opposed...
Hmm...well

delusional,juvenile...entirely forgettable.

as I recall, most of the better "album tracks" rather than singles were on I. II had more epics that fell flat (though "Civil War" and "Locomotive" are great).

I agree with your analysis, Palace, of no subtlety. As Stonesy, even funky, as the band could be at its best, these are records made by and for heavy metal kids. Tastelessness is the name of their game. The theatrics and unlistenable skits etc. are also much like hip hop records, where in 60 minutes only a few distinct songs may emerge.

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MKjan
delusional,juvenile...entirely forgettable.

...and calling oneself "Izzy Stradlin", as in Easy Stradling. Hah, hah, huh-huh, Beevis...