#9 Guns 'N' Roses: Use Your Illusion
The double album...the epic journey of musicianship that often presents the best and the worst of a band, spanned across multiple LP's. The double album is interestingly enough, a double edged sword. It may be praised forever, in time it may be refereed to as a band's magnum opus. Ultimately, what it really is the lighting of a fuse for well placed explosives that will destroy the band's creativity and longevity. Don't believe me? The Beatles release the "The Beatles", two years later, they're done. Well, they did release "Abbey Road" after the "White Album", but they also released "Let It Be," so that's a wash. How about Pink Floyd? "The Wall" is an amazing double album, but it proved to be the last well crafted creative gasp of the Floyd. Not enough evidence? I will raise the stakes...After "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness" the Smashing Pumpkins released "Adore" and that "Machina" crap. Led Zeppelin created "Physical Graffiti," then wasted the next five years in a drug and alcohol induced stupor. Then of course, there is today's record.
Guns 'n Roses were a hard rock powerhouse when they released "Appetite for Destruction" in 1987. In order to beat that amazing debut, Axl and the boys (mainly Axl) decided to create an epic double album that would end up released as two individual albums on the same day, September 17, 1991. "Use Your Illusion I and II" show you everything about Guns 'n Roses, the good, the bad, and the bloated. Today's blog will focus on the first half of the double effort "Use Your Illusion I," which on vinyl is, by itself, a double album.
Side One begins in grand Guns fashion with a hard rocker, "Right Next Door to Hell." The frantic pace allows the listener to rekindle their love of the Appetite album, a distant four years in the past. Next up is "Dust N' Bones" another rocker that features Izzy Stradlin on lead vocals, a rare moment that shows Axl is willing to share, or so it seems. Next up, the band throws in a cover, "Live and Let Die" which takes the McCartney and Wings classic and really fires it up a few notches. Slash's guitar being used for the xylophone parts is just amazing. "Don't Cry" became a huge smash single from the album, thanks to its great guitar playing, low to high vocals and of course a great music video. This was the first Slash guitar solo I ever learned, and I often find myself unconsciously playing it. Listen for Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon on the backing vocals, he adds to the big sounding finish. "Perfect Crime" is a fast pace almost ridiculous song that well...probably makes up either the 'bad' or 'bloated' part of the album.
Side Two starts with "You Ain't the First," an acoustic number that reminds us of "Patience" and some of the tracks on the "Lies" EP. Axl, Izzy and Shannon Hoon take the lead vocals on the song which strangely is written in 3/4 time, so if you ever wanted to waltz to a G'N'R song, here's your chance. "Bad Obsession" kicks off with a little cowbell and introduces instruments one at a time; harmonica, Izzy's guitar then finally Slash's Les Paul/Marshall slide guitar growling into the song. Its a solid tune that is purely anchored by Slash's slide work and a very blues boogie piano. "Back Off Bitch" is Axl at his 'Axlest.' If that's not a word, I apologize, and it should be. If you can overlook Axl's bitching, Slash has some great guitar to offer in an otherwise forgettable song. Stradlin comes in at song #9 with "Double Talkin' Jive." Its exactly what you'd expect from Izzy, hard rocking, lots of guitars and at the end you feel just kind of "eh."
Side Three starts with the second longest song on the album at almost nine minutes, "November Rain." Its one of two songs on the album that gives song writing credit to just Axl. Including piano, strings, and an epic somewhat chorus-less song structure, this is definitely more of the bloat included on this album. But who cares, its still a great Guns song, and features one of the best Slash guitar solo's you'll hear this side of Appetite. Solo one is the standard Clapton "Woman Tone," no treble and a creamy smooth sound. The final two minutes of the song get back to the hard rockin' and are probably two of the most satisfying minutes of the album. Slash wails, Axl wails, and the crowd goes wild! The next two tracks find us apparently lost in some sort of green labyrinth. "The Garden" is an interesting track that really doesn't resemble anything else on the record. It features acoustic guitar, clean electric guitar, slide guitar, and fuzzed out electric guitar. I have no idea how many tracks it took to make this song, but I'm sure it was plenty. The song also has Alice Cooper doing vocals on the very heavy choruses. Our next stop is in "The Garden of Eden" another ridiculous song, similar in style to "Perfect Crime" but not quite as forgettable. If you've ever seen the music video for this thing, you see how the song totally fits. "Don't Damn Me" is a good rocking tune that has Axl spitting fire throughout. At times, the words per minute of the vocals are probably faster than most people type.
Side Four has finally arrived and there's only three tracks to go... first up on this side is "Bad Apples," a song that includes four members of the band in song writing credits. The song is pretty solid rock through the verses but really seals its solid status when you get to the chorus. The walking guitar and vocals really play well together to leave the listener quite satisfied. "Dead Horse" is another good song that kind of gets lost in the album at song 15. At this point you're just waiting for the end. Then, there is song number 16, "Coma," the final entry and in my opinion, the best thing that Guns 'N Roses ever did. Mighty words I know, but the song backs them up. The song starts with Duff and a heart beat and it builds with feedback and drums. When the main riff kicks in it feels like you're being slapped upside the head. The lyrics of the song are quite interesting. It can be viewed in many ways, but is most likely a song about isolation, something the band probably knew a lot about while making this collection of songs. With references to suicide, drug abuse, and overdose, it takes us to a pretty dark place in the bands history. Slash and Axl are the standouts on this ten minute track, with Axl going from shrieking highs to subtle lows on the vocals and Slash playing rapid fire solos and laid back dreamy sequences on the guitar. After a few shocks from the defibrillator, and a visit from some angry ex girlfriends the song reaches its final two minutes. Much like "November Rain" this part of the song is the pay off. If there was ever a perfect two minutes of music ever written this is pretty close to it. Axl breaks his own record for words per minute and flies through a rant that will leave you wondering what the license plate of that truck was that ran you over.
In the end, Use Your Illusion I and II probably could be shorter. Part I does include some great music, but its so scatter-shot its hard to call it any kind of concept album, instead its just a great collection of individual songs. There are many lists presented where people take the 30 songs on the Illusions and reduce them down to their favorite 12-14. I've tried to cut out songs and create my ultimate single Illusion album, but I always feel like I'm leaving something out, and that is truly the hallmark of a great album.
The lesson for today: if your bad is about to fall apart anyway, might as well make a double album and go out in huge overblown style.
Strongest Song: Coma
Weakest Song: Perfect Crime
Song You Know: Don't Cry, November Rain
Why You Might Hate It: You like your albums short, and to the point.
Buy
It? If you listen to both Illusions I and II on vinyl, that's 8 sides. Get the CD or MP3s, its just easier.
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