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Album Club Selection #11: Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1

in Confess your infidelities

Selected by @Mario Brega

1991.

20 comments

20 Comments

MagicRatAFC

Mar 25, 2022

I've never been a GnR fan, they came along just as my heavy rock period was ending.

This album is a decent listen, if I was on a long drive with, say, Planet Rock on the radio and any of these tracks came on I'd be appreciative enough.

Maybe I need to revisit my heavy rock roots more......but these days I just don't get enough music listening time, better time management needed on my part!

Jerseyfornia

Mar 27, 2022

Replying to

I think they came along at the end of everyone's heavy rock period. I think what appealed to me about them, aside from the music, was that they brought the dirty back to a genre that had become very mainstream and middle-of-the-road in the late 80s, when every hard rock band was recording Diane Warren songs and all sounded the same. It's hard to differentiate between late 80s Aerosmith, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi.

Alternative and grunge were stealing the show, but Guns N Roses were true to the bone hard rockers.

Jerseyfornia

Mar 19, 2022

Use Your Illusion I & II are not the last Guns N Roses albums, but they might as well be, as far as I'm concerned. Neither of the two records released after matter to me at all or live up to expectations.

G-N-R was one of the first bands I got into when I came off the road - Appetite For Destruction was everywhere. You could not escape it - and it was damned good. I made the wrong prediction then that they would dominate hard rock for decades to come - but what was popular in music was changing rapidly and the band had a lot of internal issues.

If this album and its twin are to be considered the band's swan song, they could not have gone out of style on a higher note. I think, for most causal listeners, this record has their biggest and most recognizable songs - aside from Sweet Child of Mine and Patience.

Don't Cry, November Rain and Live and Let Die - all fantastic and couched between lesser known, but equally good tracks. Perfect production, excellent playing and the last time Axl Rose really sang the way he was meant to.

Walkerinthesun

Mar 11, 2022

Loved Appetite for a while but nowadays it does nothing for me so the omens weren’t good. Managed to get to get to track 8 before I knocked it on the head. 🙁

whispered secret

Mar 10, 2022

Not really for me this one. It's not bad, just not to my taste.

I am also beginning to realise that my taste in music is nowhere near as extensive as most of yours and is, maybe, a bit limited.

Jerseyfornia

Mar 10, 2022

Replying to

It's not limited if you like what you like.

Louisa

Mar 10, 2022

I have been listening to GNR, Illusion I, II, plus Appetite... Not the entire albums, except for Illusion I, which I did listen to in its entirety twice today. As I mentioned, I'm not a fan of hard rock and metal, but I LOVE all the ballads and quite interestingly don't reject their misogynistic and otherwise offensive shit. I like the kick-ass attitude...

What struck me today is that both Illusion albums represented an end of an era, the 80s long-haired hard rockers were passing into history or needed to reinvent like Bon Jovi, for example.

It all happened within weeks, I think. Pearl Jam's Ten and Nevermind were both released at practically the same time, and the grunge explosion started.

They definitely went in style with these two fine albums.

Slash... I wish I could shampoo his hair....

Early North Jersey

Mar 08, 2022

I also love Double Talkin' Jive and Dead Horse ....But overall Its UYI 2 thats coming with me to the Desert Island ....Civil War ....Breakdown....Estranged ....Yesterdays....Pretty Tied Up .....I was so pissed Axel had a nervous breakdown ....or whatever the hell happened