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The "difficult second album" is one of the perennial rock & roll clichés, but few second albums ever were as difficult as Use Your Illusion. Not really conceived as a double album but impossible to separate as individual works, Use Your Illusion is a shining example of a suddenly successful band getting it all wrong and letting its ambitions run wild. Taking nearly three years to complete, the recording of the album was clearly difficult, and tensions between Slash, Izzy Stradlin, and Axl Rose are evident from the start. The two guitarists, particularly Stradlin, are trying to keep the group closer to its hard rock roots, but Rose has pretensions of being Queen and Elton John, which is particularly odd for a notoriously homophobic Midwestern boy. Conceivably, the two aspirations could have been divided between the two records, but instead they are just thrown into the blender -- it's just a coincidence that Use Your Illusion I is a harder-rocking record than II. Stradlin has a stronger presence on I, contributing three of the best songs -- "Dust n' Bones," "You Ain't the First," and "Double Talkin' Jive" -- which help keep the album in Stonesy Aerosmith territory. On the whole, the album is stronger than II, even though there's a fair amount of filler, including a dippy psychedelic collaboration with Alice Cooper and a song that takes its title from the Osmonds' biggest hit. But it also has two ambitious set pieces, "November Rain" and "Coma," which find Rose fulfilling his ambitions, as well as the ferocious, metallic "Perfect Crime" and the original version of the power ballad "Don't Cry." Still, it can be a chore to find the highlights on the record amid the overblown production and endless amounts of filler.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Timo Caltia, ComposerLyricist - Timo Caltio, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Matt Sorum, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Darren Reed, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Paul Mccartney, ComposerLyricist - Linda Mccartney, ComposerLyricist - Jim Mitchell, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist
℗ 1991 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Saul Hudson, ComposerLyricist - Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Jim Mitchell, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Jeffrey Isbell, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - West Arkeen, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Paul Huge, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Saul Hudson, ComposerLyricist - Charlie Bisharat, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Cameron Stone, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Mark Robertson, Unknown, Other - Andrew Duckles, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Daphne Chen, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Wilson, Programmer - David Low, Cello, Orchestra Contractor, AssociatedPerformer - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Jim Mitchell, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tammy Hatwan, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Alma Fernandez, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Alyssa Park, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Maia Jasper, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Songa Lee, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Roger Wilkie, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Jackie Brand, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Eun-Mee Ahn, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Armen Anassian, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Radu Pieptea, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Sharon Jackson, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Dan DiPrima, Unknown, Other - Amy Tatum, Flute, AssociatedPerformer - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Jeffrey Isbell, ComposerLyricist - Reta Shaw, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Neli Nikolaeva, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Otlman, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Cheryl Norman-Brick, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Susan Rishik, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Frank Harte, Contrabass Recorder, AssociatedPerformer - Luke Maurer, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Tim Loo, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Andrew Kinney, Unknown, Other - Charlie Tyler, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Vaughn, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Eugenia Choi, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Cheryl Kim, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Akiko Tarumoto, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Stefan Smith, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Corinne Sobolewski, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Diana Wade, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Ahn, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Eric Shetzen, Contrabass Recorder, AssociatedPerformer - Gina Luciani, Flute, AssociatedPerformer - Yu-Tong Sharp, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Benn Ullery, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Stuart Bailey, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Alex Karukas, Unknown, Other - Nick Fevola, Unknown, Other
℗ 2022 GN'R Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Alice Cooper, Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - Del James, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - West Arkeen, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - David Lank, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Saul Hudson, ComposerLyricist - Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist - Jeffrey Isbell, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Duff McKagan, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - Izzy Stradlin, ComposerLyricist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Bill Price, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Slash, ComposerLyricist - Mike Clink, Producer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Guns N' Roses, Producer, MainArtist - W. Axl Rose, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1991 Geffen Records
Album review
The "difficult second album" is one of the perennial rock & roll clichés, but few second albums ever were as difficult as Use Your Illusion. Not really conceived as a double album but impossible to separate as individual works, Use Your Illusion is a shining example of a suddenly successful band getting it all wrong and letting its ambitions run wild. Taking nearly three years to complete, the recording of the album was clearly difficult, and tensions between Slash, Izzy Stradlin, and Axl Rose are evident from the start. The two guitarists, particularly Stradlin, are trying to keep the group closer to its hard rock roots, but Rose has pretensions of being Queen and Elton John, which is particularly odd for a notoriously homophobic Midwestern boy. Conceivably, the two aspirations could have been divided between the two records, but instead they are just thrown into the blender -- it's just a coincidence that Use Your Illusion I is a harder-rocking record than II. Stradlin has a stronger presence on I, contributing three of the best songs -- "Dust n' Bones," "You Ain't the First," and "Double Talkin' Jive" -- which help keep the album in Stonesy Aerosmith territory. On the whole, the album is stronger than II, even though there's a fair amount of filler, including a dippy psychedelic collaboration with Alice Cooper and a song that takes its title from the Osmonds' biggest hit. But it also has two ambitious set pieces, "November Rain" and "Coma," which find Rose fulfilling his ambitions, as well as the ferocious, metallic "Perfect Crime" and the original version of the power ballad "Don't Cry." Still, it can be a chore to find the highlights on the record amid the overblown production and endless amounts of filler.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:15:50
- Main artists: Guns N' Roses
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Guns N Roses P&D
- Genre: Metal Hard Rock
© 2022 UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 2022 GN'R Records
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