Towelie Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) I have flip-flopped with these albums over the years. For the longest time, I felt like UYI2 was the stronger of the two, but I've been on a bit of an Illusions kick lately (having not really listened to them for a number of years) and I am now starting to lean more towards UYI1. Both albums have an equal quota of epics (Nov Rain/Coma for UYI1, Estranged/Locomotive for UYI2), but I think the first Illusions albums feels more like a complete piece of work with its own sound/vibe, whereas UYI2 feels a little more like a hodge-podge of tracks recorded over the years and thrown together on an album. I love the whole dirty blues, Stones-esque vibe of songs like Bad Apples, You Ain't The First, Dust N Bones and the underrated Bad Obsession. There aren't really any weak cuts on UYI1, I guess Back Off Bitch would be the one track I feel is a bit lacklustre, but even that is much better than dross like Get In The Ring, Shotgun Blues, So Fine and My World - which are the four weakest cuts to come out of the Illusions era imo. Edited November 17, 2017 by Towelie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtater Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Interesting topic. I think most people basically consider these the same album just two separate discs. I could be way off here though. Without looking I would say that the overlap of disc ownership for these is huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lio Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 When they came out, I always prefered UYI 2. I think it's the more accessible one, starting with Civil War. When I started relistening in 2013, after almost two decades of not listening, I gradually grew to love UYI 1 more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorbear Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I think I prefer UYI 1, even though Civil War and Estranged in particular are some of the best in their catalouge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Comstock Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 UYI I is easily the better album. The only song not on par with the rest is Back Off Bitch, whereas UYI II is more all over the place, having some of both their best and worst songs (Estranged, Breakdown/My World, Get In The Ring). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soon Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 For my 'all time' choice its UYI2. Love UYI1 also. Listen to them both the same amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 They sort of feel like the same album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxlRoseCDII Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 UYI II has some of my favorite songs released by GNR, but also has some of my least favorite (Shotgun Blues*, My World, So Fine) and a few others that I don’t really care for. UYI I is my preference because we got lots of songs that could’ve fit on Appetite (Right Next Door To Hell, Garden of Eden, Perfect Crime), songs that were experimental and are ones that I actually think really worked (Bad Obsession, Dead Horse, You Ain’t The First), my favorite version of my favorite son of all time (Dont Cry), arguably their best cover (LALD) and awesome longer ballads (Coma and NR). As such I feel it is the most representative of what Guns N’ Roses is as it combines a fair dose of everything and I prefer it over UYI II for that reason. UYI II had awesome ballads but didn’t do much else, as it features not a lot of real “rockers” that were reminiscent of their roots and had arguably more filler on it than UYI I. *Dont hate Shotgun Blues as much as some people but in comparison to most Guns songs it’s weak. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHelgo Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Great topic! I share the opinion that some have expressed here, and honestly this is a topic that I have thought about quite a bit recently as a result of the tour, etc. Like many, I considered UY2 to be the stronger when released and held that position for a long time. I now consider UY1 to be the better of the two albums, and honestly I am not sure it is even close. The biggest weakness (as a couple people have already stated) on UY1 is Back of Bitch. I have always considered that track to be weak - it has an ok vibe instrumentally, but lyrically I am not a fan. I've read over the years that Back off Bitch was the last song cut from the original AFD track listing, and what a genius decision that ultimately was. Appetite is a classic and every single song on it is very strong. Having Back off Bitch on there would have been a huge error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxlRoseCDII Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 minute ago, TheHelgo said: Great topic! I share the opinion that some have expressed here, and honestly this is a topic that I have thought about quite a bit recently as a result of the tour, etc. Like many, I considered UY2 to be the stronger when released and held that position for a long time. I now consider UY1 to be the better of the two albums, and honestly I am not sure it is even close. The biggest weakness (as a couple people have already stated) on UY1 is Back of Bitch. I have always considered that track to be weak - it has an ok vibe instrumentally, but lyrically I am not a fan. I've read over the years that Back off Bitch was the last song cut from the original AFD track listing, and what a genius decision that ultimately was. Appetite is a classic and every single song on it is very strong. Having Back off Bitch on there would have been a huge error. Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I’d have preferred Back off Bitch to Anything Goes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerInThisTown Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) UYI I. You can tell that album was made to "follow up" AFD in the same style for those fans, and I love it for that. Mr Brownstone is my favourite GNR song, so Bad Apples being so similar in vibe, cool lyrics and the riff interplay between Slash and Izzy really makes that song a part 2 of that for me. But the bands best musical achievements are both on UYI II, Estranged and LM. What the fuck beats a composition like Locomotive? And Axl made the perfect lyrics and vocal for it. I also have no problem with Back Off Bitch and GITR, I love both songs because they just summarize GNR for me, not giving a fuck attitude, badass bluesy riffs and great solos. Edited November 17, 2017 by StrangerInThisTown 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Every time there's one of these types of threads, poor ol' Shotgun Blues cops a hammering and I always feel compelled to defend it. I seem to love all the songs everyone hates. Shotgun Blues, Riad, Anything Goes. Clearly my brain is wired differently from the majority. How can people not love that cool bass intro for Shotgun Blues? Axl's vocals? The humour - c'mon it's a funny song! The punk-esque guitar? I like it better than Breakdown which is all mild build up with no pay off. And I don't like its Country vibe. And that cringy low pitched vocal 'let me hear ya now' Awful. Anyway for me it's Vol. 1 by a long shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerInThisTown Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) 3 minutes ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: Every time there's one of these types of threads, poor ol' Shotgun Blues cops a hammering and I always feel compelled to defend it. I seem to love all the songs everyone hates. Shotgun Blues, Riad, Anything Goes. Clearly my brain is wired differently from the majority. How can people not love that cool bass intro for Shotgun Blues? Axl's vocals? The humour - c'mon it's a funny song! The punk-esque guitar? I like it better than Breakdown which is all mild build up with no pay off. And I don't like its Country vibe. And that cringy low pitched vocal 'let me hear ya now' Awful. Anyway for me it's Vol. 1 by a long shot. Do you like Get In The Ring then? That's one of my favourites and people hammer it even more than SB Anything Goes is cool too btw. I prefer it to Think About You Edited November 17, 2017 by StrangerInThisTown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHelgo Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Just now, StrangerInThisTown said: Do you like Get In The Ring then? That's one of my favourites and people hammer it even more than SB Count me in the camp that likes GITR. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxlRoseCDII Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: How can people not love that cool bass intro for Shotgun Blues? Axl's vocals? The humour - c'mon it's a funny song! The punk-esque guitar? I like it better than Breakdown which is all mild build up with no pay off. And I don't like its Country vibe. And that cringy low pitched vocal 'let me hear ya now' Awful. Anyway for me it's Vol. 1 by a long shot. Not sure if your directing at my post but I actually do like Shotgun Blues- but in comparison to the rest of the Guns rockers it falls on its face in my opinion. The lyrics are whatever as well and it just isn’t that memorable. However, I do like the song and listen to it time to time. As for Riad...yeah we have 100% differing opinions on that song Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 25 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said: Do you like Get In The Ring then? That's one of my favourites and people hammer it even more than SB Anything Goes is cool too btw. I prefer it to Think About You I don't dislike Get In The Ring. It just doesn't move me. But I definitely don't care for Think About You. Can't believe Tom Zutaut actually fought to get that on the album. I'm sure it has its fan too, though. Nice to know I'm not the only who seems to like the unpopular Guns songs though! 23 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said: Not sure if your directing at my post but I actually do like Shotgun Blues- but in comparison to the rest of the Guns rockers it falls on its face in my opinion. The lyrics are whatever as well and it just isn’t that memorable. However, I do like the song and listen to it time to time. As for Riad...yeah we have 100% differing opinions on that song Well, I was sorta directing it at you plus everyone who hates Shotgun Blues. I feel like Shotgun Blues and Riad need a little support group or something. Shotgun Blues probably has about 10 fans but I think I might literally be the only person besides Axl who likes Riad. lol Am also convinced Riad contains the most Old Guns DNA. It's so Appetite-ish. With...funky disco guitar and synthesised horns or whatever that awesome explosion of sound is after the solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 36 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said: Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I’d have preferred Back off Bitch to Anything Goes. I would take Back Off Bitch over Anything Goes too. I don't think it's a bad song, just the weakest on a very strong album. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: I don't dislike Get In The Ring. It just doesn't move me. But I definitely don't care for Think About You. Can't believe Tom Zutaut actually fought to get that on the album. I'm sure it has its fan too, though. Nice to know I'm not the only who seems to like the unpopular Guns songs though! Well, I was sorta directing it at you plus everyone who hates Shotgun Blues. I feel like Shotgun Blues and Riad need a little support group or something. Shotgun Blues probably has about 10 fans but I think I might literally be the only person besides Axl who likes Riad. lol Am also convinced Riad contains the most Old Guns DNA. It's so Appetite-ish. With...funky disco guitar and synthesised horns or whatever that awesome explosion of sound is after the solo. I've always liked Riad. Scraped on the other hand... Edited November 17, 2017 by Towelie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Towelie said: I've always liked Riad. Scraped on the other hand... YES! One other Riad fan!!!! That's two! Things are looking up! And yes, Scraped is an abomination. Definitely gets the vomit emoji from me. But so as not to derail the Illusions thread with CD talk...another one that tends to cop a bit of a bashing is Bad Obsession which of course I love. It's a bit long (as usual with Axl, he never knew when to stop), but my god that intro...and the chorus... and the piano...and Duff's bass... Edited November 17, 2017 by MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 Just now, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: YES! One other Riad fan!!!! That's two! Things are looking up! And yes, Scraped is an abomination. Definitely gets the vomit emoji from me. But so as not to derail the Illusions thread with CD talk...another one that tends to cop a bit of a bashing is Bad Obsession which of course I love. It's a bit long (as usual with Axl, he never knew when to stop), but my god that intro...and the chorus... and at the piano...and Duff's bass... You sir, have impeccable taste. Bad Obsession is one of the most underrated songs in the GNR canon. They should bring it back to the setlist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Towelie said: You sir, have impeccable taste. Bad Obsession is one of the most underrated songs in the GNR canon. They should bring it back to the setlist. Why thank you, except I'm a lady. I would love them to bring it back, even for just one night, even with Axl's warbling grandma vocal...I'd still enjoy the band and Duff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold top 78 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 6 minutes ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: I don't dislike Get In The Ring. It just doesn't move me. But I definitely don't care for Think About You. Can't believe Tom Zutaut actually fought to get that on the album. I'm sure it has its fan too, though. Nice to know I'm not the only who seems to like the unpopular Guns songs though! Well, I was sorta directing it at you plus everyone who hates Shotgun Blues. I feel like Shotgun Blues and Riad need a little support group or something. Shotgun Blues probably has about 10 fans but I think I might literally be the only person besides Axl who likes Riad. lol Am also convinced Riad contains the most Old Guns DNA. It's so Appetite-ish. With...funky disco guitar and synthesised horns or whatever that awesome explosion of sound is after the solo. I like Shotgun Blues and GITR too and sometimes sing them to myself at work as for the albums I would probably rate UYI 1 slightly better personally. I can listen to UYI 1 all the way through where with UYI 2 I see YCBM as the last song on the album as I don’t feel the need for another version of Don’t Cry and the less said about My World the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 minute ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said: Why thank you, except I'm a lady. I would love them to bring it back, even for just one night, even with Axl's warbling grandma vocal...I'd still enjoy the band and Duff. Oh, sorry bout that! I actually think Axl could do Bad Obsession quite easily these days. It's one of the least challenging GNR songs to sing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janrichmond Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 illusion 1 is my most listened to Guns cd, i tend to skip NR but apart from that i listen all the way through. Faves= Dust n' Bones, Dead Horse, Garden of Eden...fuck it all of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold top 78 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Towelie said: Oh, sorry bout that! I actually think Axl could do Bad Obsession quite easily these days. It's one of the least challenging GNR songs to sing. I think it’s a song he could easily sing. It would be worth bloating the tour a bit more just to bring Teddy Zig Zag back for Bad Obsession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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