Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1
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Free Music Notes for Use Your Illusion 1
Free Music Review: Great but not as great as Appetite
Hit: 5 Stars
After four years in exile G'n'R's follow up was a long time coming. The Best songs on Both Use Your Illusion Discs would rival Appetite for Destruction as a masterpiece. This album is good and has some great songs but there are a few shockers which belong on B-Sides (ie.You Aint The First, Bad Apples).
1. Right Next Door To Hell 9/10 - Great Opening track - Heavy, Short, Sharp and To the Point. Written by Axl Rose about his intrusive next door neighbour whom had a bottle broken over her head by Axl after she interrupted him one too many times.
2. Dust n Bones 6.5/10 - A Bluesy Type of Song with Izzy on the vocals and Axl on the Piano. Not a Bad song but definitely not one of GnR's greatest.
3. Live & Let Die 8/10 - You've all heard it before. Not a bad song. Better than Dust and Bones but again not a great song.
4. Dont Cry 8.5/10 - A lot of gunners fans really dig this song. It is a bit soft and mellow for my liking but is still a good song. Check out the film clip its a cracker.
5. Perfect Crime 9.5/10 - Not much wrong with this song. Heavy, Short and Sharp and to the point with Controversial Lyrics. Would have liked to see this song directly follow The opening track. One of my favourites on this album
6. You Aint the First 0/10 - The worst gunners song of all time. Something that u would hear played at a barn dance. What were they thinking.
7. Bad Obsession 7/10 - Not a bad song. Seems to be a favourite among some gunners fans but definitely not one of the classics. A bit of a bluesy song featuring harmonica and slide guitar solo's.
8. Back off Bitch 7.5/10 - A good rock n roll song. Not Bad but again not a classic
9. Double Talking Jive 9/10 - Great Song! Again short and sharp and to the point and controversial lyrically. The song fades out with Slash playing a classical guitar solo.
10. November RAin 9.5/10 - A MAsterpiece! Great Song although it does drag on a bit. Great Ending. Slash is unbelievable. Still gives me goose bumps even after nearly 15 years of hearing this song. Great Film Clip
11. The Garden 9/10 - Im a big fan of this song. Powerful guitar riffs and solo's by Slash with Alice Cooper guest vocalling.
12. Garden of Eden 9.5/10 - Love this Song. Short, Sharp and to the point. Axl sings at Chipmunk speed and is probably the fastest Gunners song of all time.
13. Dont Damn Me 9.5/10 - Another Great Song. Pretty underrated by most gunners fans but I like its sound.
14. Bad Apples 5/10 - Pretty Average. Belongs on a B Side. Very Bluesy
15. Dead Horse 6/10 - Not a big fan of this song. Pretty boring but most gunners fans dig it and it was played regularly at GnR Gigs.
16. Coma 7.5/10 - 10 minute epic. Duffs opening Bass Riff is excellent. ALmost more of a story than a song. Pretty good none the less.
Probably deserves 4.5/5. not their best but still a fantastic Album.
Free Music Review: The Illusion Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
For the common rock fan, the term "Guns n' Roses" is synonymous with "Appettite for Destruction."
Rarely are the follow-up double albums, Use Your Illusion I & II even mentioned today among the casual fan.
But, the diehard G'n'R fan such as myself know better. In the G'n'R fan forums of today, which together boast tens of thousands of daily visitors, the general consensus is that the Illusion albums deserve in their own right to be named one of hard rock's finest achievements.
Critic reviews of the albums were poor due to both albums having a good amount of "filler" which I, even as the most hardcore of fans, find true. The Use Your Illusion's or UYI's for short, are not albums that I can find myself listening straight through like Appettite. In fact, I don't think I've ever even heard some of the songs more than once.
But for those songs that have left a lasting impression, I will touch on them briefly.
Use Your Illusion I is the harder rocker of the two Illusion's. Songs include:
"Dust N' Bones" which is a fine example of a laid-back rocker that features a catchy end chorus long with a solid guitar solo.
"Live N Let Die" - a single off the album and cover of the Paul McCartney classic. Although the studio version is nowhere near as good as seeing this song performed live, it'll still leave you with a desire to see the Bond flick.
"Don't Cry" - Izzy's power ballad which features a very powerful message, a tear-dropping solo from Slash, and an absolutely memorable ending with both the majestic vocals and riffs.
"Double Talkin' Jive" - an Izzy rocker that although only 2-3 minutes in length, makes you want more. A song that's expanded to 14-15 minutes in length live, DTJ is an absolute unknown as far as great g'n'r rockers go. The ending to the song features a Spanish guitar tune that is reminiscent of the Eagles' 'Hotel California.'
"November Rain" - greatest ballad of all-time, no competition. No one who thinks November Rain is not a great song has heard it enough times to respect it for what it is - a masterpiece. Axl's ode to undying love is a build-up of majestic proportions. Everything about the song is perfect from its beginning piano piece to the slow vocal buildup to the guitar solos to the classic outro.
"Coma" - my personal favorite G'n'R tune at the moment. If you haven't already listened to this song 3-5 times on full volume - please do so, I promise you that you won't be disappointed. The last 3 and 1/2 minutes of this song are simply rock n' roll at its purest. Axl's vocals in belting out what its like to live life like its a coma is truly unique even among G'n'R's catalogue.
Free Music Review: Part one of Guns N` Roses Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
Use your Illusion I, the harder, rougher and tougher of the two albums are an absolutely dream for a Hard Rock fanatic. It contains some of the biggest songs in the 90`s, namely "Don`t Cry" and "November Rain", which made Guns N`Roses into something out of this world. Those songs are so absolutely incredible that its hard to explain just what makes them so, but there shouldnt be necessary with words. The songs explains it so perfectly.
As I touched in the review for Illusion II, the quality, production and general songcrafting for both albums are extraordinary. Even today, 14 years after, not much can compare to the sound and the music found on these two albums. They are near perfection within Hard Rock, and they stand as two of the biggest highlights of the whole 90`s. Even today they are as fantastic as they were back in Fall 91. They even sound better today, compared to the "Rock" we are served now.
Illusion I is perhaps a little weaker overall than II, not necessary worse, but different, a little less memorable perhaps. Unlike II however, the songs that really stand out here are the best the band ever made. Earlier mentioned, "Don`t Cry" and "November Rain" are the best ballads any rock band have made. The stunning epic "Coma" should be unlike anything you have ever heard, the furious "Garden of Eden" roars like thunder, the fun version of McCartney`s "Live and Let Die" is delightful, and the opening slammer "Right next door to hell" is as tough as they come.
However, the album suffers a bit more of fillers than II. Really good fillers, thats for sure, but less interesting than the ones found on II. "Perfect Crime", "You Aint The First", "The Garden" and others are less memorable than most songs found on II, but it doesnt make them bad in any way. They are in fact pretty good, and they help make the album more varied. Axl is more of an Epic Writer, clearly evident in Coma and November Rain, while Stradlin prefers the more classic rock songs, possibly influenced by Aerosmith. This makes the songs on Illusion I differ quite a lot, and the result is a bit uneven. The album is on the whole not as enjoyable to listen to from start to end as Illusion II, but its as close as it can get.
A wise man once said "You need to feel pain to enjoy pleasure", and while its not as drastic, this holds true. Without the lesser songs, the good songs would easily become tiresome, so instead of pushing the score down, it stays perfectly safe on 5 stars. One of the best albums of the 90`s, Use Your Illusion I is only surpassed by Use Your Illusion II as THE Hard Rock Album of the 90`s.
Free Music Review: So Close to Perfection . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is a soaring, epic masterpiece . . . but would be 6 stars, and possibly better than Appetite, with just a few songs added from its companion, and filler deleted . . .
Filler:
- My World (fun novelty though)
- Shotgun Blues. Just awful, the worst G N'R song ever recorded - the production, playing, lyrics, and attitude all went horribly wrong. Not even a bad riff, but played too fast, with a messy and pointless vibe in the guitars - and probably Axl's worst lyrics and vocal performance, all in the same song.
- Get in the Ring. The riff is fun, and the end has a fun kick when Duff joins in on vocals, with a superb counter-solo by Slash . . . but again, just terrible vocals, and lyrics . . . yeah, possibly even worse than Shotgun Blues.
- Don't Cry. I like this song a lot - not really filler, but obviously there's another version on UYI with better lyrics.
That's in. No more filler. So delete these four, and add:
- Coma
- Dead Horse
- Double-Talkin' Jive
That all still fits time-wise, adding a couple minutes to 78 or so.
So we now have a 13-song album of:
Civil War
14 Years
Yesterdays
Dead Horse
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Breakdown
Pretty Tied Up
So Fine
Double-Talkin' Jive
Locomotive
Coma (yep, back to back)
You Could Be Mine
Estranged
In fact, the sequence of the last 4 tracks is PHENOMENAL, if I do say so myself . . . epic is an understatement . . . adding up to possibly the most mesmerizing hard rock album finale in history. Intense and talked about for ages. The first 9 tracks stand as a powerful collection with twists and turns, and those 9 alone would be a 5 star hard rock album - remember how Zeppelin released an 8-10 song album year after year? Well, it would kick ass in that spirit.
This album here is the equal of Appetite . . . arguably better, though that's maybe not true . . . at least, in the same stratosphere of hard rock genius.
Throw everything else on UYI, and that album is STILL a 5 star smorgasbord of amazing, chaotic rock n' roll, kinda like Exile on Main Street by the Stones - and still containing elite G N'R tracks like November Rain, Dust N' Bones, Don't Cry (yeah, put it on twice in different places!), The Garden, Live and Let Die, and Don't Damn Me.
Free Music Review: Greatest Rock band's Greatest Work
Hit: 5 Stars
To call this album the band' greatest work is not a true statement. Every album Guns N' Roses released is their greatest work. Not one song from one record is an underachievement, (with the possible exception of "One in a Million" on GNR Lies, great song, unhealthy lyrics). This album, and here I must agree with some of Amazon's other reviewers, is not simply part of a two album set, it stands out in its own right. From the juggernaught opening "Right Next Door To Hell," to the perinoia inducing finish "Coma," UYI1 is a fire bomb of rock n' roll unmatched in anything that has come before it or after. "Back of Bitch," a classic break up song and a personal favorit, has some of the best guitar rifts and dark humored lyrics I've ever heard, and what makes it stand apart from the violent women hateing work of artists like Emenem is: 1) It's not rap, and 2) It has a sudulty to it. Instead of screaming about how he's going to tie the bitch up and slit her throat, really tossing it all out there, W. Axl Rose does more of a hinting at the violence he wants to impose on whomever he's singing about. It's more effective that way.
Classic MTV ballard "Novemeber Rain" is touching, but also has real bite, since it came not from some song-writer for hire, but straight from Axl's heart. And the creative vibe between Axl and Izzy Stradlin is strongest on the album's second MTV ballard "Don't Cry."
Of course Slash is one of the most powerful lead rock guitarists of his time, and all those who have heard him know what I'm talking about, so no need for details. I'll let his work speak for itself.
Drummer Steven Adler was very good, but drummer Matt Sorum is a personal idol of mine, so when he joined up it just helped to elevate the band even further. The smooth crack of his snar, his gut busting rolls over the tom toms, and his crash work rival that of Neil Peart (Rush).
Duff McKagan, one of the most versitil musicians in music history, (I don't think there's an instrument made that he can't wail on), meshes with Sorum so well it is like they were made for each other, (a fact that is even more evident in their new band Velvet Revolver).
I am not a Beatles fan, or really a Paul McCartney fan in general, but the Gunner's do an excellent cover of his "Live and Let Die."
This is a powerhouse album, one no true rocker should be without.