Why is YCBM one of the last songs on UYI II?

[wasted]

Can anyone explain the decision to put YCBM so late in the tracklisting when it's obviously the best opening track they could have?

Is it because it was already a single or to keep the record going right until the last few songs?

To me it should be opening side 1 of UYI I.

I know they mixed up the songs so the old blended with the new material but still YCBM has to open right? C'mon!!!

[Tadsy]

Can anyone explain the decision to put YCBM so late in the tracklisting when it's obviously the best opening track they could have?

Is it because it was already a single or to keep the record going right until the last few songs?

To me it should be opening side 1 of UYI I.

I know they mixed up the songs so the old blended with the new material but still YCBM has to open right? C'mon!!!

I dont think it really matters... Most of the songs on UY2 are awesome anyway IMO... it just finishes it off strongly. Nothing GnR did back in the day made any sense and conformed to anything.. dont question it.. just enjoy it

[tinyrobot]

I understand how that would bother back in the day when you could only get the albums on tape or cd, but now that it's not a problem anymore with iPods or whatever shit you play your music on.

[maynard]

I understand how that would bother back in the day when you could only get the albums on tape or cd, but now that it's not a problem anymore with iPods or whatever shit you play your music on.

What is this "iPod" you speak of?

[Gordon Comstock]

Axl I think it was once said they took the CD and vinyl into account when deciding the tracklisting and how everything should "flow", so I guess they felt it went the best there. Side 4 of the vinyl is Estranged, YCBM, Don't Cry, and My World doesn't even really count so you've got an 'epic'/ballad, hard rocker, ballad, and it had already been out for a while so why not bury it at the end of the Illusions set?

edit: Civil War 'follows' Coma way better than YCBM anyway. If it was a straight up rocker that should open UYI II, it should've been Locomotive. But Civil War was still the best choice.

Edited December 4, 2014 by RickRoses

[wasted]

I guess I had the tapes back in the yayo.

But even the CDs. If I throw on UYI II I want YCBM up front not skipping through.

If the record tells a story then that makes more sense.

In fine with most other track positions. I just don't get why you'd bury the most epic song on side 2.

Would you put right Next door to hell before Coma? It's an obvious opener.

Civil War is a great song but its more of closer to me.

YCBM

14 Years

Yesterday's

Civil War

Some like that works.

[J Dog]

Yeah it would have been a great opener. On par with Jungle as far as openers. And Civil War feels more like an ending or middle album cut but yet it is the opener. I can say I've actually never thought about it until now. Thanks wasted.

[AxlsMainMan]

It's a nice pick me up after Estranged.

[wasted]

It's a nice pick me up after Estranged.

but so would Shotgun Blues, but only YCBM screams opener, it just seems wasted all the way back there. If you listen to it as an album you might never get there.

Edited December 4, 2014 by wasted

[Sixes]

to me, I've always thought that Estranged was supposed to be the album's last song but YCBM, Don't Cry Alt and My World got tacked on near the end of the process

Estranged sounds like it should be the last song, like Prostitute is the perfect ending for CD...

Don't Cry 2 and My World seemed like things Axl worked on on his own and added them late...and YCBM was already released as a single months before...maybe it was only supposed to be a single but they changed their mind and added it to the album??..

that's the way i've always felt about it, true or not...it makes sense to me dammit

Edited December 4, 2014 by Sixes

[Smokin' Cigarettes]

In all honesty, they ended the record with YCBM as far as creativity for the entire band.

The fact that they ended the album with alt. Don't Cry & My World is a much more appropriate debate I think. These albums were extremely/highly anticipated at the time and to have those 2 songs 'end it' was laughable/awesome depending who you talk to. Definitely arguable either way

Edited December 4, 2014 by Smokin' Cigarettes

[Sprite]

I always liked how Estranged ends with drums and You Could Be Mine begins with drums. Maybe that was a thought behind it?

[wasted]

Axl did once make a weird comment about YCBM in relation to the movie. It was like he was saying they wanted to do something everyone could enjoy. Maybe it was something was done with the movie in mind like Oh my God. It's plausible.

I'm not sure how the vinyl listing was.

Side 1

CW

14 Years

Yesterday's

Heavens door

Side 2

Get in the Ring

Shotgun

Breakdown

Side 3

Pretty

Locomotive

So Fine

Side 4

Estranged

YCBM

DC

My World

If that's the case then I see a rocker and ballad and epic per side.

So it could be like people have heard it lets put it towards the end. Maybe it's down to time per side.

Other thing is the story of UYI. Axl sets out his stall with a theme of death on UYI I and ends with him kind of dying on Coma at the end.

Don't Cry sort of offers hope on UYI I amongst the chaos and problems.

Axl on Civil War says he doesn't need this shit anymore. 14 years enoughs enough. Yesterday's. knocking continue that fight to survive the past. Pretty tied up kind of mourns the death of the band, Breakdown is the repercussions survival. Estranged yeah the final reckoning, like Peostitute is on CD. But then Axl is free to rock out and fuck groupies again on the road. But Don't Cry still plays like a loop, like haunted. But it's over and Axl is inviting to step into this new state of mind he's going to be in on My World.

So in that kind of story YCBM kind of serves a purpose as Axl back rocking, telling it how it is.

CD is kind of the other way round. Rage and anger to isolation.

Edited December 4, 2014 by wasted

[Rovim]

No, I think you're right. That's not where it should be. Right Next Door To Hell was great as the opener for UYI l.

Civil War should have been the second song after YCBM on UYI ll.

I think YCBM should have been finished for Appetite, at least if you don't care about how it helped the Illusions.

On Appetite, it could have replaced Anything Goes, and placed after Think About You and before SCOM.

The lack of Sorum's drums (which are actually very cool on that one), and Duff's intro he came up with are the main issues. If Steven nailed it, and the Appetite production worked, I would have preferred it on Appetite.

But yeah, it's fucked that it's the next to last song on an album that demanded a rocker to open it.

[Len Cnut]

I don't think the idea was to put them in order of how good they are...although that might explain My World being on the end of the last album

[wasted]

I guess My World was to fill up the space at the end of the cd. Although it is kind of like after all that I'm over you and doing rap industrial demos for the next album. Don't Cry was the alt version and YCBM had been out before the record. So had the Don't Cry tape single. The idea of leaving YCBM off UYI II is scary. Because it's perfect, there's no redundancy, even the bass isn't mixed out by coke. It's not so much that YCBM is the best song, although it kind of is, it's just a great opener. Pretty Tied Up kind of, although opening up with song saying it's all over is kind of strange.

I guess I've never worked out if UYI II is really all the songs that didn't make the cut for UYI I or like the next development, which it isn't because YCBM is an old song. DC is the newer version or something. Heavens Door is the older cover than Die?

I see them almost like mirror images more than anything. It's like same story, different perspective.

[wasted]

No, I think you're right. That's not where it should be. Right Next Door To Hell was great as the opener for UYI l.

Civil War should have been the second song after YCBM on UYI ll.

I think YCBM should have been finished for Appetite, at least if you don't care about how it helped the Illusions.

On Appetite, it could have replaced Anything Goes, and placed after Think About You and before SCOM.

The lack of Sorum's drums (which are actually very cool on that one), and Duff's intro he came up with are the main issues. If Steven nailed it, and the Appetite production worked, I would have preferred it on Appetite.

But yeah, it's fucked that it's the next to last song on an album that demanded a rocker to open it.

I feel like I want to listen to YCBM, Back off Bitch, Bad Obsession, Nov Rain, DC, Heavens Door, Civil War as like the old songs or another side of AFD. I don't know if any other songs were old.

But then you'd be in the clear to listen to the newer songs. And get that it's over vibe coming on strong.

[Strange Broue]

I guess I had the tapes back in the yayo.

But even the CDs. If I throw on UYI II I want YCBM up front not skipping through.

If the record tells a story then that makes more sense.

In fine with most other track positions. I just don't get why you'd bury the most epic song on side 2.

Would you put right Next door to hell before Coma? It's an obvious opener.

Civil War is a great song but its more of closer to me.

YCBM

14 Years

Yesterday's

Civil War

Some like that works.

I like this idea

YCBM is the best songs on both record so it would be cool if they did this way

[tomfriend]

My World is at the end to show you that after two 70 minute albums Axl can still surprise you and leave you thinking WTF? That's obvious.

[GnRDuff1]

I read somewhere (don't recall so I can't really give a source) that they ordered the songs as one giant album. I think Slash said it. But like I said, I don't remember where I read it and don't feel like scouring the internet for whatever random interview it was in.

But if that is the case, it would explain why UYI2 didn't start with the traditional opening track style song. Uyi1 ends pretty close to where a CD maxes out and Civil War wouldn't fit after it. Covil War may have just been on deck, so to speak.

Edited December 5, 2014 by GnRDuff1

[wasted]

It's me you don't a source, I think it holds water. CW was also an "old" song so the fact that YCBM was already out isn't a valid point.

Civil opening UYI II is like if some epic opens CD II. It points to something heavier and darker.

The story, or flow of the two albums is the best explanation, and on vinyl it's not a problem really. there's 4 sides to get into.

I still think YCBM should be the opener. You've got to open big on a cd really, especially if you have such a rocker.

I threw in Perfect Crime and Pretty Tied Up and got a 10 track album of kick .

You Could Be Mine

Perfect Crime

Back Off Bitch

You Ain't the First

Bad Obsession

Pretty Tied Up

Civil War

Heavens Door

Don't Cry

November Rain

I guess the next record would be the "Death" album

Right Next Door To Hell

Dust N Bones

Live n Let Die

Double Taking Jive

The Garden

Garden of Eden

Don't Damn Me

Bad Apples

Dead Horse

Coma

Then the "Rebirth" album

Get in the Ring

Shotgun Blues

14 Years

Yesterdays

Breakdown

Locomotive

So Fine

Estranged

Don't Cry

My World

[Dallo]

YCBM was released as the first single so fans already knew how great the song was so it doesn't matter too much why it's near the end of the album.

[wasted]

Civil War was also out before the record. So was Don't Cry I think.

[Dr. Who]

Civil War and Heaven's Door were singles in 1990, a full year before the album's release.

YCBM was released in June 1991, Don't Cry in early September 1991. YCBM was a last minute choice for first 'official' UYI single, originally Don't Cry was going to be the first single. YCBM only became the first single because of the video opportunity with Arnold.

Bad Apples apparently leaked on the radio during the early Fall, I remember reading.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Dr. Who

[wasted]

There's has to be something like that going on, Don't Cry seen as the first single and YCBM as just a rocker from AFD era. It's just hard not to see YCBM as the obvious opener and classic that it is. I could see the label not seeing it as "the single" but still experiencing it coming on the radio and recording and that excitement I'm glad it wasn't DC. I had the DC tape on the bus going to those Wembley 91 shows and I was just shitting myself with excitement, but not really over DC the song. Axl was late they opened with Perfect Crime.