auad

Slash's "homecoming" gig on July 24 at the Victoria Hall in the British town of Stoke-On-Trent, where he was raised until he was five, was filmed for a DVD and Blu-ray release, "Made In Stoke - 24/7/11", due on November 15 via Eagle Vision.

Slash's setlist was as follows:

01. Been There Lately

02. Nightrain

03. Ghost

04. Mean Bone

05. Back From Cali

06. Rocket Queen

07. Civil War

08. Nothing to Say

09. Promise

10. Starlight

11. Doctor Alibi (with Todd Kerns on vocals)

12. Speed Parade

13. Watch This

14. Beggars & Hangers-On

15. Patience

16. Guitar Solo / Godfather Theme

17. Sweet Child O' Mine

18. Slither

Encore:

19. By The Sword

20. Mr. Brownstone

21. Paradise City

you don't like it?

Not really.

Contraband is alright but other than that VR doesn't do anything for me. And i'm a huge Weiland fan!

man, give it one more chance. listen again.

From: OneThirtyBPM

Written by John Ulmer

“Now when you hear this on the record, I put a lot of symphony to it… I’ll be lucky if I can remember the words.”

This warning from Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, preceded the first-ever live performance in 1991 of “November Rain,” a track that became a chart-topping single later that same year. (You know this song: it broke both production budgets and MTV viewing ratings for its time, and even today, in the Bieber era, it has 50 million views on YouTube alone.)

Rose’s words back then said a lot. When he declares that he, specifically, had added a symphony to the studio version of the track, and that he would be lucky to remember the words, it isn’t incidental; by this point in time, the band, for all practical purposes – at least in Rose’s eyes – belonged to him. The rest of the group was too drugged-up and complacent to realize what was happening until it was too late, musically and legally. And that distanced, fragmented nature is part of what makes the Illusion records so great: everyone’s functioning on their own level, in their own world, some of them barely hanging on. The result isn’t remotely cohesive, but it’s never boring.

Of course, it’s no wonder why the group members were doing their own thing: In 1986, on the cusp of their historic debut album, the band all lived together in a squalid townhouse. By the turn of that decade, they were featured on every magazine cover, their lives under a microscope. As bassist Duff McKagan later remarked, they went from existing as a family to suddenly having their own mansions, their own limos and their own lives.

But it was Rose, in particular – perhaps due to his overtly rebel image, or maybe just because he was the singer – who was most immediately established within the music industry, flying the world by private jet (even when the rest of the group flew together) and adorning the cover of Rolling Stone.

The yes-men were already surrounding him, whether it was wannabe writer Del James (whose short novella was a supposed inspiration for “November Rain”) or the greedy record label executives (probably the same responsible for allowing Chinese Democracy to gestate for nearly two decades). So that little seed of excess that could be heard in bloom on Appetite for Destruction (the synth keyboards on “Paradise City,” for example, which Rose added unbeknownst to his bandmembers) soon blossomed into completely overblown theatrics – inspired in part (ironically enough for an alleged homophobe) by Elton John and Queen.

Conceived wholly as a double album but released as two separate volumes, the Illusions’ first chapter is its angriest. The record begins with the blistering “Right Next Door to Hell,” the lyrics written by Rose in response to his then-neighbor’s accusations of assault.

It’s that intrinsically personal ranting that makes Use Your Illusion so memorable. Yet Rose also has a penchant for writing in ambiguities – he obviously has specific targets in mind for some songs, but as on tracks such as “November Rain,” the general themes can be applied to anyone: unrequited love, bitterness, envy, hate, despair, loneliness, addiction. (And, conversely, that’s precisely why “Get in the Ring,” from this album’s sequel, turns into such an awful track: built upon a promising, boozy blues-riff by Slash, the song leads into an embarrassing bridge where Axl, shrouding his lead guitarist’s solo, begins rambling off a list of names: magazines, pop culture figures. Listen to this in 2011 and none of it matters; most of the people/publications named aren’t even relevant anymore. For the most part, however, UYI I is thankfully spared these embarrassing moments.)

Other bandmembers manage to take the spotlight at times. “Dust N’ Bones” features the underrated Izzy Stradlin on vocals, but the song itself is ultimately one of the less memorable here. (For what it’s worth, his solo albums have been generally solid.) Stradlin takes over vocal duties again (with Axl in tow) for “You Ain’t the First,” a tongue-in-cheek (maybe?) ballad that sounds like something cowboys would sing around a campfire. A fun track, but not really substantial enough to stand ground against some of the other material.

“Don’t Cry” achieved notoriety not just because it’s a great ballad, but because of the death of Shannon Hoon, the singer of Blind Melon. Rose and he were close friends; Hoon was invited to record backing vocals for multiple tracks on the Illusion albums, and Rose, in return, helped him achieve more mainstream recognition. The song is one of the band’s best, if you can appreciate their ballads. (It’s also worth noting that it was during the music video shoot for “Don’t Cry” that Stradlin, who bailed prior to Guns’ Use Your Illusion World Tour, first abandoned the rest of his band, declining to appear on set and instead sending along a brisk note informing Rose that he was unwilling to further cooperate unless certain terms were met. They weren’t, and so he is absent from the video.)

Then, of course, there is “November Rain.” The music video was the most expensive of all time; it hit the top of the charts and stayed there for ages, and – over the years – almost became symbolic of the band’s peak and subsequent demise. It represented the furthest removal from their Appetite for Destruction style, and is often the punchline to jokes about the group (or, more specifically, Axl – perhaps because he linked the music video so inherently to his personal life, even going so far as to cast then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour as the bride-to-be).

But the song is simply great. For all its excess, it’s bold and beautiful and has a couple absolutely killer guitar solos. It’s been favorably compared over the years to epic rock ballads like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Layla,” and can comfortably share the same space with them on best-of lists. And Slash has pretty much built his entire brand around his iconic image from this video; it wasn’t long after this that he basically refused to ever remove his top hat.

Despite a couple softer ballads, Use Your Illusion I is, as has been mentioned, the harder, angrier and more vitriolic of the two Illusions. You have dirty, uncomfortably catchy tracks like “Back off Bitch”: originally recorded for Appetite, re-recorded here, and backed by the band’s most Stonesy riff, there’s nevertheless something both nastier and more abrasive about it than any of the spiteful or misogynistic lyrics on Appetite (but maybe that’s just because the polished production qualities clash against what should instinctively sound rawer and grittier). You also have tracks like “Don’t Damn Me,” which once again reflect the paranoid mindset of a singer who previously railed that the world was out ta get him.

And that’s Use Your Illusion in a nutshell: frustratingly brilliant. Flawed. Sprawling. Grandiose. Self-indulgent. Indecisive. Songs veer between near-perfection and utter disaster. There is not a single album in existence that perhaps sums up the perils of rock n’ roll decadence as these two volumes – you can practically hear the band rising and falling, exploding and imploding, coming dangerously close to a parody of the rock n’ roll cliché without ever fully embracing it. And with the traditional music industry dead and music stars as fleeting as the headlines they’re courted by, there will probably never be another album like it, because very few artists will be afforded the opportunity to achieve such excess.

(The review should close there. But one thing must be noted: the album’s final track, “Coma,” is also one of the band’s most underrated cuts – ever. It is both the signature sound of the Illusion records – sprawling, over-produced, overlong, bombastic – and the signature sound of its authors, Rose and Slash. Rose’s lyrics – wordy, ambivalent, vague, and borderline nonsensical in their phrasing at times – are at their most pained and introspective, and the verses after the last guitar solo are some of the most powerful he’s written. And Slash’s solos are two of his most creative and emotive. The song is a monster, perhaps not as well-regarded as it should be simply because of its long running time.)

http://onethirtybpm.com/reviews/second-look-guns-n-roses-use-your-illusion-i/

libertad is a killer fuckin rock n roll album.

opinion

yes, one of a lot of different opinions in this forum. for me is a very cool record..."she builds quick machine", "she mine", "messages", and a lot of cool songs.

you don't like it?

sheet conclusion. not relevant at all.

libertad is a killer fuckin rock n roll album.

the "ok nervermind" thing turn into classic and unforgetable thing.

rock am ring 2006 show wasn't good.

You gotta be kiddin', right?

no man. is my opinion. i have the dvd from the show.

performance not so good, for sure. the brazilia show that i watched live was so much better (just fore example).

even as far as pro shots of the new band go, Inland Invasion was way better.

yeah, great show for sure, i agree.

rock am ring 2006 show wasn't good.

You gotta be kiddin', right?

no man. is my opinion. i have the dvd from the show.

performance not so good, for sure. the brazilia show that i watched live was so much better (just for example).

rock am ring 2006 show wasn't good.

I too prefer Robin's version of Patience (not only the solo, his whole guitar work for the rhythm) and November Rain. And, of course, his SCOM solo, which was way more interesting to me.

i don't no for sure that it dates back to 1994 however in an interview in 1994 axl said he was working on a new song and he was going to include brain may so im guessing he meant catcher but didn't may also work on atlas shrugged?

I think you misunderstood. Axl *wanted* to have Brian May back then, but that didn't happen. Later, in 1999, Robin left to get back with NIN and Axl invited May to replace Robin's leads in some songs - as he said himself, because he was "emotionally attached" with Finck's work and he had to get someone as good as May to not feel bad about replacing those leads.

Brian May himself said he recorded with Axl back in 1999 or 2000. Also, Catcher corrected credits on the alternative Chinese cover (and on the official guitar tab book) says pretty clear that the song was written by Axl, Paul Tobias, Stinson (who only came in in 1998), Robin and Dizzy.

forget robin,, ugly and bizarre person.

the place for him is in the NIN.

Robin to leave was one of the best things in the last ten years, for GNR.

I get it, you're trolling this thread for the sake of it.

Anyways, why the hell does people say things like "the place for him is in the NIN"? He's one of the most emotional guitar players when playing bluesy solos, which just don't happen at all on Nine Inch Nails. Even his guitar tone is a bit far from what Trent Reznor used in the records. And don't even get me started as how much of talent he has when writing ORIGINAL leads in comparison to DJ Ashba...

I'm sure Robin is always getting this shit because of the way he looked back in 2001/02. This prejudice about his visual is always used to bash him, as if his sound doesn't even matter.

i'm not trolling anything. don't need.

is just my opinion.

Robin to leave was one of the best things in the last ten years, for GNR.

Speak for yourself.

i am speaking for myself, for sure.

Robin to leave was one of the best things in the last ten years, for GNR.

i listen the record of tommy,, "one man mutiny'...entirely, and now. good cd, note 6 for sure. but the cover is better than the music.

the amazing and unbelievable thing...

estranged.

I think they for example mixed NIN with more classic rock influences, classic GNR. that's why to me it's new. It's not just a copy of NIN obviously. only really Better sounds like NIN to me, only a little bit.

i'm a fan of both bands, but in my opinion, NIN sounds better to me, specially in mix industrial sound with classic rock, listen "the hand that feeds", for example.

AFD is the classic, CD is the masterpiece.

in my opinion...AFD is the definitive GNR masterpiece, CD is the evolution and upgrade.

I feel like AFD is too derivative to be a masterpiece. the lyrics are a bit immature, not much originality going on. it's still a classic which might be better than being a masterpiece lol

even if you breakdown CD to classic rock meets nu metal. that hasn't been done before. you can argue it wasn't done well but I think it was. so I rate over AFD.

obviously GNR will always be remembered for those early songs, but CD might like the Exile on the Main Street type album. not well received but in end gained status.

I think comparing these two is not possible in any way.

Different band - different times.

same band, different members?

"that hasn't been done before".

i don't think so.

NIN made all that Axl wanted to, and much better.

AFD is the classic, CD is the masterpiece.

in my opinion...AFD is the definitive GNR masterpiece, CD is the evolution and upgrade.

forget robin,, ugly and bizarre person.

the place for him is in the NIN.

You guys must be doing some heavy drugs or have problems with your ears !

God that guy sucked so bad it was painful !!

I agree. Robin is so fuckin bizarre and sounded strange live.

not a fan of him.

As with the Black album, Tower Records opened at midnight for fans who wanted to have it first, and Slash was behind Tower's two way mirror, watching everyone march in and buy it.

Both albums sold about 1.5 million copies the first day, and domestically the albums would sell over seven million copies, but the Use Your Illusion albums didn't have the incredible second life Appetite had, which continued to sell about 200,000 copies a year years after its release.

Axl famously told MTV he wanted to bury Appetite with their follow up, remarks he now claims were taken out of context, but with Appetite being such an enormous hit, the Illusion albums, no matter how good, would ever out do it or out sell it. As a result, Illusion was overproduced and overpolished, missing the raw sound and energy of Appetite.

The consensus among a lot of fans today is if you cut down the bloat, Illusion would have made a good solid album. There's definitely songs that are pompous and overblown (the cover art is especially pretentious), but there's good material in there too, and again, the good stuff would have made one good album.

GNR released two albums at once, partly because the band wasn't sure if there'd ever be another album, and sure enough, there wasn't. 

The "GNR" of today is one of the longest running jokes in the music business, really the Axl solo band masquerading as GNR, a wobbly monument to Axl's ego, and a smoke and mirrors routine that grows less and less convincing with every gig.

A GNR reunion is very unlikely, and even if the original members got back together, the magic that made the band special is long gone. The band's legacy will always be Appetite, which captured the band at the peak of its power, and a sad reminder of what could have, should have, would have been.

http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/58136-gnrs-use-your-illusion-is-turning-20

fortus is in the band because he looks very much like izzy.

sign of the times, for sure.

one thing is certain. his mustache is ridiculous.

I'd take Silkworms at this point, or even a slightly remixed CD song, I'm just glad the band is still doing something.

glad of what?

not even an offical photo?

at that counts to gnr is money.

music don't really matters.

I don't care if they ever release a group photo. Who cares. Pictures or posters are for junior high female fans.

Money? Hate to burst your bubble, but ALL bands care about the money. All bands.

All this crying......why are u here then? Go support a band that you enjoy.

i don't want to fight with anyone here. i have the right to expose my opinions.

so, if you don't respect it, fuck you. simple as that.

"Fuck you".......that is your response when somebody responds to something you say? Nice.

Sometimes in life, people have different opinions than you do. Adults are able to talk and debate those differences. Or, I suppose, if somebody disagrees with you you can just tell them to Fuck off. Either way. Whatever works for you.

I am just exposing my opinion. Sorry if that makes u upset.

it is the point. anyone here have the right to express the different opinions. adult? who? you? i'm not sure.

see your words..."Pictures or posters are for junior high female fans". so adult!

see ya.

Yes, I'm an adult...hence I don't care about having an Axl Rose poster on my bedroom wall. So I guess I agree with you. But that's not what you meant...oh, I'm so confused now.

Ok. Let's start over. You care about having pictures and posters of the band. I don't. A picture of Axl and other grown men together....means nothing to me. To you its obviously important.

I have a teenage child and he has posters on his wall. I don't. Maybe you do.

You expose your opinion. I exposed a different opinion. Your response is "Fuck you." Again, this is just another way that u and I are different. I welcome debate and opposing opinions. Your response is "Fuck you." Whatever works best for you, my man.

You keep up the positive attitude my friend. And I will keep my fingers crossed that soon u get the picture of Axl and the band that you crave.

ok man, let's rock. my apologies if i offended u.

I'd take Silkworms at this point, or even a slightly remixed CD song, I'm just glad the band is still doing something.

glad of what?

not even an offical photo?

at that counts to gnr is money.

music don't really matters.

I don't care if they ever release a group photo. Who cares. Pictures or posters are for junior high female fans.

Money? Hate to burst your bubble, but ALL bands care about the money. All bands.

All this crying......why are u here then? Go support a band that you enjoy.

i don't want to fight with anyone here. i have the right to expose my opinions.

so, if you don't respect it, fuck you. simple as that.

"Fuck you".......that is your response when somebody responds to something you say? Nice.

Sometimes in life, people have different opinions than you do. Adults are able to talk and debate those differences. Or, I suppose, if somebody disagrees with you you can just tell them to Fuck off. Either way. Whatever works for you.

I am just exposing my opinion. Sorry if that makes u upset.

it is the point. anyone here have the right to express the different opinions. adult? who? you? i'm not sure.

see your words..."Pictures or posters are for junior high female fans". so adult!

see ya.