The UYIs sold 500,000 copies in two hours

[Vincent Vega]

The Night Guns 'n' Roses' 'Illusions' Became Real

By PETER WATROUS

Published: September 18, 1991

Monday was a good night to be a teen-age heavy-metal fan in New York City.

At midnight 1,500 people, most of them young, white and male, were lined up outside Tower Records in Greenwich Village. That was the bewitching hour when the two long-awaited new albums by Guns 'n' Roses, "Use Your Illusions I" and "Use Your Illusions II," went on sale across the country.

But those who showed up at the downtown Tower and three other record stores in Manhattan witnessed a second special event. In what might be described as a mild publicity coup, Epic Records cashed in on the presale hoopla that Geffen Records had created for Guns 'n' Roses by sending Ozzy Osbourne, its own heavy-metal heavyweight, to the two HMV and two Tower stores to promote his new album, "Don't Blame Me."

"We're here to see Ozzy and shake his hand and buy the Guns 'n' Roses albums," said 19-year-old Russ Porcino of Staten Island. "You're getting two things for one."

Anyone imagining that the demand was a product of a publicity agent's hyperactive mind, however, had only to stand in the line outside the downtown Tower store. For John Gainfort, 27, of Manhattan, who was there with a friend, Mike Torres, Guns 'n' Roses "is the greatest."

"Just about everybody I know is waiting to get the record," he said. "It may be a bit hyped, in that the band took so long to release the record, but it's worth the wait."

Inside the store, fans attacked boxes of the albums, grabbing both volumes. As soon as a photographer or television camera came close, buyers would jump up and shout, holding the albums up in the air, creating perfect photo opportunities and showing their tribal colors.

By 2 A.M., 621 copies of the "Use Your Illusions" compact disk and 224 cassettes had been sold in the downtown Tower store. (The store had no LP's available.) "I didn't think Guns 'n' Roses would do so well," said Mathew Koenig, a regional manager for Tower. "It's the Village, and the Village isn't Guns 'n' Roses territory."

Mr. Osbourne, publicity coup or not, didn't break 100, CD's and tapes combined, at the store. The "Use Your Illusions" CD's sold 500,000 copies nationwide in the first two hours it was on sale, said a Geffen spokesman. Because these sales are coming from the core Guns 'n' Roses audience, it is hard to predict the albums' eventual total sales. But most industry figures interviewed said the CD's have a chance to hit the level of sales achieved by blockbuster albums like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." And importantly, they, along with a slew of other big records soon to be released, should help the industry recover from its current recession.

"It's just amazing; it's just incredible," said Ed Rosenblatt, president of Geffen. "We're sitting on top of the world.

The Camelot chain, based in Canton, Ohio, which had ordered a quarter of a million copies, sold 10,000 copies in the early hours Tuesday at the seven stores it opened at midnight. A spokesman for the chain predicted it would sell 100,000 copies of "Use Your Illusions" in the first week.

Dick Odette, vice president for purchasing for the Minneapolis-based Musicland chain, said: "We opened around 70 stores on Monday night. We had ordered a little shy of a half-million copies, and this is the biggest single release we've ever had. The demand is real. It feels real good." Too Wild for K Mart

Two of the largest sales outlets for rock records, K Mart and Wal-Mart, refused to carry the Guns 'n' Roses albums. Both chains are known for not selling any records that might be considered controversial or offensive. Guns 'n' Roses, in turn, parodies the language of warning stickers placed on records by the Recording Industry Association of America. The "Use Your Illusions" albums carry stickers that say, "This album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable," followed by an expletive.

Eddie Gilreath, the head of sales at Geffen, was quoted in Billboard this week as saying the company could have shipped a million more copies had the two chains decided to sell the album.

"I think the demand is so high for the record that kids walking into a K Mart looking for the record will just go somewhere else," Mr. Rosenblatt said. "At some point it will hurt, in that parents looking for a birthday or Christmas present may not buy it. But the stores have a great deal more to lose than we do as a record company. It's the image of the band that gets them, and they're frightened."

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/18/arts/the-night-guns-n-roses-illusions-became-real.html?src=pm

[bran]

The Night Guns 'n' Roses' 'Illusions' Became Real

By PETER WATROUS

Published: September 18, 1991

Monday was a good night to be a teen-age heavy-metal fan in New York City.

At midnight 1,500 people, most of them young, white and male, were lined up outside Tower Records in Greenwich Village. That was the bewitching hour when the two long-awaited new albums by Guns 'n' Roses, "Use Your Illusions I" and "Use Your Illusions II," went on sale across the country.

But those who showed up at the downtown Tower and three other record stores in Manhattan witnessed a second special event. In what might be described as a mild publicity coup, Epic Records cashed in on the presale hoopla that Geffen Records had created for Guns 'n' Roses by sending Ozzy Osbourne, its own heavy-metal heavyweight, to the two HMV and two Tower stores to promote his new album, "Don't Blame Me."

"We're here to see Ozzy and shake his hand and buy the Guns 'n' Roses albums," said 19-year-old Russ Porcino of Staten Island. "You're getting two things for one."

Anyone imagining that the demand was a product of a publicity agent's hyperactive mind, however, had only to stand in the line outside the downtown Tower store. For John Gainfort, 27, of Manhattan, who was there with a friend, Mike Torres, Guns 'n' Roses "is the greatest."

"Just about everybody I know is waiting to get the record," he said. "It may be a bit hyped, in that the band took so long to release the record, but it's worth the wait."

Inside the store, fans attacked boxes of the albums, grabbing both volumes. As soon as a photographer or television camera came close, buyers would jump up and shout, holding the albums up in the air, creating perfect photo opportunities and showing their tribal colors.

By 2 A.M., 621 copies of the "Use Your Illusions" compact disk and 224 cassettes had been sold in the downtown Tower store. (The store had no LP's available.) "I didn't think Guns 'n' Roses would do so well," said Mathew Koenig, a regional manager for Tower. "It's the Village, and the Village isn't Guns 'n' Roses territory."

Mr. Osbourne, publicity coup or not, didn't break 100, CD's and tapes combined, at the store. The "Use Your Illusions" CD's sold 500,000 copies nationwide in the first two hours it was on sale, said a Geffen spokesman. Because these sales are coming from the core Guns 'n' Roses audience, it is hard to predict the albums' eventual total sales. But most industry figures interviewed said the CD's have a chance to hit the level of sales achieved by blockbuster albums like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." And importantly, they, along with a slew of other big records soon to be released, should help the industry recover from its current recession.

"It's just amazing; it's just incredible," said Ed Rosenblatt, president of Geffen. "We're sitting on top of the world.

The Camelot chain, based in Canton, Ohio, which had ordered a quarter of a million copies, sold 10,000 copies in the early hours Tuesday at the seven stores it opened at midnight. A spokesman for the chain predicted it would sell 100,000 copies of "Use Your Illusions" in the first week.

Dick Odette, vice president for purchasing for the Minneapolis-based Musicland chain, said: "We opened around 70 stores on Monday night. We had ordered a little shy of a half-million copies, and this is the biggest single release we've ever had. The demand is real. It feels real good." Too Wild for K Mart

Two of the largest sales outlets for rock records, K Mart and Wal-Mart, refused to carry the Guns 'n' Roses albums. Both chains are known for not selling any records that might be considered controversial or offensive. Guns 'n' Roses, in turn, parodies the language of warning stickers placed on records by the Recording Industry Association of America. The "Use Your Illusions" albums carry stickers that say, "This album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable," followed by an expletive.

Eddie Gilreath, the head of sales at Geffen, was quoted in Billboard this week as saying the company could have shipped a million more copies had the two chains decided to sell the album.

"I think the demand is so high for the record that kids walking into a K Mart looking for the record will just go somewhere else," Mr. Rosenblatt said. "At some point it will hurt, in that parents looking for a birthday or Christmas present may not buy it. But the stores have a great deal more to lose than we do as a record company. It's the image of the band that gets them, and they're frightened."

http://www.nytimes.c...eal.html?src=pm

so cool i love watching old videos of people waiting for the albums to be released the atmosphere was electric

[DizzyReedsexmachine]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QCLOaTiGKM

rock1

UYIs are my favourite albums of all time

[bran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QCLOaTiGKM

rock1

UYIs are my favourite albums of all time

so badass love the days where you could go into a music store for a highly anticipated release, use your illusion 1 and 2 are my fave gnr albums of all time its hard to choose between which one i like more sometimes

[Chewbacca]

No wonder, they're great albums, probably the best from the old lineup.

[Nosaj Thing]

I love the Illusions. Both records are marvelous. That was Guns N' Roses, goddamn.

[dalsh327]

The writer got Ozzy's album wrong, "Don't Blame Me" is the biography, "No More Tears" came out the same day. The next time two classic albums came out the same day was prob. Soundgarden's "Superunknown" and NIN's "The Downward Spiral".

Someone should dig up the news footage of Tower Records in LA the night it was released. Someone has to have it!!