The UYIs: GN'R's Exile on Main St

[Vincent Vega]

IMO, The UYI albums are GN'R's Exile on Main St: Both sprawling, vicious hard rock releases from rock bands who were the most popular bands in the world at the times of each album's release. Both the UYI albums and Exile aren't the massive sellers of each band's discography--Appetite is GN'R's monster seller and Some Girls is The Stones biggest selling album ever. Both the UYIs and Exile are/were misunderstood: Exile was trashed by the press and critics when it came out; The love, praise and admiration for it only came about 10-15 years after it was released. The UYIs are underrated due to their coming out at the same time as Grunge burst on the scene, despite selling massively.

Both albums were the result of factions and separation slowly forming in both GN'R and the Stones respectively. With the UYIs, each member wanted his own part of the album. With Exile, Mick Jagger wanted control of the band and there were two factions in the Stones at the time: The faction that did drugs, and the faction that didn't. The recording for the UYIs and Exile was crazy and misty, with members drifting in and out of the sessions. Bill Wyman, the Stones' bassist, only plays on 8 of the 18 songs due to his desire to not be around the drug using faction of the band. Izzy Stradlin showed up only for the recording for the basic tracks and failed to record anything further or take part in mixing sessions due to not wanting to be around the drug using faction of the band, and as such his actual playing on the albums is bare minimum despite having written most of the songs, and on some songs, he doesn't even play at all.

Both The UYIs and Exile both marked the beginning of the "takeover" of both bands by the lead singer due to the other members being on drugs: Mick Jagger asserted control of the Stones beginning with the Exile sessions as Keith descended further and further into Heroin dependency; Axl asserted control over Guns increasingly throughout the recording of the UYIs as Slash and Duff fell deeper and deeper into their alcohol, heroin and cocaine addictions. After the primary recording was finished, Axl added numerous overdubs to the UYIs, much to Slash's dismay. After the primary recording on Exile was finished, Mick added numerous overdubs and contributors to Exile without consulting Keith, which pissed Keith off. Both have since expressed disappointment with how the albums turned out; Axl dislikes the mix of the UYI albums nowadays, and Mick Jagger has been outspoken in his desire to totally remix Exile so as to the album more polished in sound.

Both albums offered new directions in the bands' sounds, straying away from their traditional Rock N' Roll territory, with the UYIs moving into the piano ballad, country, progressive rock, thrash metal, psychedelic rock and industrial genres; With Exile moving into the country, gospel, proto-punk, soul, R&B and other genres. Both marked the beginning of both bands' exploration into further genres: GN'R/Axl would move on to industrial, techno, and other genres; Mick would lead the Stones through the 70s and 80s into Funk, Punk, Disco, New Wave, Electro-Pop and Dance music. Both singers' insistence on the band's sound changing with the times would prove to strain the relationships in the bands. Axl and Slash's relationship was strained, and in the end, it shattered in 1996 with further disagreements over the band's future. Mick and Keith's friendship would continue to become strained throughout the 70s and 80s, with their friendship finally severing in 1986. The Stones broke up only due to Mick and Keith not being able to be as successful on their own.

Both the UYIs and Exile were supported by world tours legendary in their levels of decadence, controversy, and debauchery. Both had shows of late starts, all sorts of wild orgies and parties, and were considered massive musical events in their respective years. The Use Your Illusion Tour being one of the most controversial and unpredictable tours of all time, and the Exile tour being one of the most controversial legendary. Neither band has ever eclipsed the massive event that those tours were.

The massive lineups of the UYIs and Exile:

Exile:

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, harmonica, guitar on "Tumbling Dice" and "Stop Breaking Down", percussion

Keith Richards - guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Happy", electric piano on "I Just Want to See His Face", bass guitar on "Casino Boogie", "Happy" and "Soul Survivor"

Mick Taylor - guitars, slide guitar, bass guitar on "Tumbling Dice", "Torn and Frayed", "I Just Want to See His Face" and "Shine a Light"

Charlie Watts - drums

Bill Wyman - bass guitar

Nicky Hopkins - piano

Bobby Keys - saxophone, percussion on "Happy"

Jim Price - trumpet, trombone, organ on "Torn and Frayed"

Ian Stewart - piano on "Shake Your Hips", "Sweet Virginia" and "Stop Breaking Down"

Jimmy Miller - drums on "Happy" and "Shine a Light", percussion on "Sweet Black Angel", "Loving Cup", "I Just Want to See His Face" and "All Down the Line"

Bill Plummer - upright bass on "Rip This Joint", "Turd on the Run", "I Just Want to See His Face" and "All Down the Line"

Billy Preston - piano and organ on "Shine a Light"

Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar on "Torn and Frayed"

Richard Washington - marimba on "Sweet Black Angel"

Clydie King, Vanetta Fields - backing vocals on "Tumbling Dice", "I Just Want to See His Face", "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light"

Joe Green - backing vocals on "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light"

Jerry Kirkland - backing vocals on "I Just Want to See His Face" and "Shine a Light"

Mac Rebennack, Shirley Goodman, Tami Lynn - backing vocals on "Let It Loose"

Kathi McDonald - backing vocals on "All Down the Line"

Engineers – Glyn and Andy Johns, Joe Zaganno, Jeremy Gee

Cover photography/concept – Robert Frank

Layout design - John Van Hamersveld, Norman Seeff

UYI I

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, choir and synthesizer programming on "November Rain", backing vocals on "Dust N' Bones" and "The Garden", acoustic guitar on "Dead Horse", keyboards on "Live and Let Die" and "Garden of Eden", sound effects on "Perfect Crime" and "Garden of Eden"

Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First", lead guitar on "Back off Bitch", lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones", "Double Talkin' Jive" and "You Ain't The First", percussion on "Bad Obsession"

Slash – lead guitar, acoustic and slide guitar on "The Garden", dobro on "You Ain't The First", backing vocals on "Right Next Door to Hell", "Dust N' Bones", "Bad Obsession", "Back off Bitch" and "Garden of Eden", talkbox on "Dust N' Bones", six-string bass on "Right Next Door to Hell"

Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive"

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano on "Live and Let Die" and "Bad Obsession", tambourine on "Live and Let Die", clavinet on "Bad Apples", backing vocals on "November Rain", "Garden of Eden" and "Bad Apples"

Matt Sorum – drums, percussion on "Dust N' Bones", "Double Talkin' Jive", "The Garden" and "Coma", backing vocals on "November Rain" and "Bad Apples", choir on "November Rain"

Shannon Hoon – backing vocals on "Live And Let Die", "November Rain" and "The Garden"; back-up vocals on "Don't Cry" and "You Ain't The First"

Johann Langlie – programming on "Live And Let Die", "November Rain" and "Garden Of Eden"; sound effects on "Coma"

Michael Monroe – harmonica and saxophone on "Bad Obsession"

Reba Shaw – backing vocals on "November Rain"

Stuart Bailey – backing vocals on "November Rain"

Jon Thautwein – horn on "Live And Let Die"

Matthew McKagan – horn on "Live And Let Die"

Rachel West – horn on "Live And Let Die"

Robert Clark – horn on "Live And Let Die"

Tim Doyle – tambourine on "You Ain't The First"

Alice Cooper – lead vocals on "The Garden"

West Arkeen – acoustic guitar on "The Garden"

Bruce Foster – sound effects on "Coma"

Mike Clink production, engineering, nutcracker on "Dead Horse"

Jim Mitchell – additional engineering

Bill Price – mixing

George Marino – mastering

Kevin Reagan – art direction, graphic design

Mark Kostabi – album artwork

Robert John – photography

Allen Abrahamson, Buzz Burrowes & Chris Puram – engineering assistance

Craig Portelis – engineering assistance

Ed Goodreau – engineering assistance

Jason Roberts – engineering assistance

John Aguto – engineering assistance

L. Stu Young – engineering assistance

Leon Ganado – engineering assistance

Mike Douglass – engineering assistance

Talley Sherwood – engineering assistance

UYI II

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, whistling on "Civil War", backing vocals on "14 Years", rhythm guitar on "Shotgun Blues", synthesizer and drum machine on "My World"

Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "14 Years", acoustic guitar on "Breakdown", sitar on "Pretty Tied Up", additional lead guitar on "Estranged"

Slash – lead guitar, acoustic guitar on "Civil War", banjo on "Breakdown"

Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "So Fine", percussion on "Locomotive"

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, organ on "14 Years" and "Yesterdays"

Matt Sorum – drums, backing vocals on "So Fine"

Steven Adler – drums on "Civil War"

Johann Langlie – drums, keyboard and sound effects on "My World"

The Waters – backing vocals on "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"

Howard Teman – piano on "So Fine"

Shannon Hoon – backing vocals on "Don't Cry"

Mike Clink – production, engineering

Jim Mitchell – additional engineering

Bill Price – mixing

George Marino – mastering

Kevin Reagan – art direction, graphic design

Mark Kostabi – artwork

Robert John – photography

Allen Abrahamson, Buzz Burrowes & Chris Puram – engineering assistance

Craig Portelis – engineering assistance

Ed Goodreau – engineering assistance

Jason Roberts – engineering assistance

John Aguto – engineering assistance

L. Stu Young – engineering assistance

Leon Ganado – engineering assistance

Mike Douglass – engineering assistance

Talley Sherwood – engineering assistance

Edited June 28, 2012 by Indigo Miser

[OkCalculator]

Not reading that wall of text.

Off the thread title, I'll just say... no...?

[Vincent Vega]

And the large touring lineups of the UYI tour and Exile tour:

Guns N' Roses

Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, whistle, whistling, acoustic guitar, tambourine

Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, lead vocals (1991; 1993 - five shows)

Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals, talkbox

Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals, drum

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, percussion, organ, tambourine

Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals, drum

Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, drum (1991–1993)

Additional musicians

Teddy Andreadis – keyboards, backing vocals, harmonica, tambourine (1992–1993)

Roberta Freeman – backing vocals, tambourine (1992–1993)

Traci Amos – backing vocals, tambourine (1992–1993)

Diane Jones – backing vocals (1992 (nine shows))

Cece Worrall – horns (1992–1993)

Anne King – horns (1992–1993)

Lisa Maxwell – horns (1992–1993)

Exile Tour:

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, harmonica

Keith Richards - guitars, backing vocals

Mick Taylor - guitars

Bill Wyman - bass guitar

Charlie Watts - drums

Additional musicians

Nicky Xenakis - drums

Bobby Keys - saxophones

Jim Price - trumpet, trombone

Nicky Hopkins- Keyboards

Billy Preston - keyboards, vocals

Steve Madaio - trumpet, flugelhorn

Trevor Lawrence - saxophone

Manuel Kellough - percussion (some dates)

Marshall Chess - Tambourine on Street Fighting Man (some dates)

[dalsh327]

Exile's pretty tame in comparison to the Illusions, but the similarities with that, Physical Graffiti, and UYI 1 and 2 were having a mix of older material with new.

Exile's been explained in books and documentaries, but most of the songs were worked on in England and Los Angeles. They said they recorded maybe 6 songs in 6 months at Keith's mansion.

Jagger took control at the end not just because Keith was out of it, but the producer and engineer were as well. "Stones in Exile" left out the part where Gram Parsons came to stay, and that's in "Grievous Angel". Jagger had to kick Parsons out with a "don't you have to do some shows with your band?" but was also a trust fund kid.

UYI was also released right after Metallica's Black Album, but the summer of 91 was also the Lollapalooza tour. Change was in the air, even though it had been for 5-6 years. College radio went mainstream.

I don't think Exile was all that much different from Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, or Sticky Fingers, it was accused more of sloppy producing at the time. Then they came out with "Goat's Head Soup", which had "Angie" and "Heartbreaker" the year after, which was the start of the Stones' foray into the tropics (some of it recorded in Jamaica), and would be a part of their sound for the rest of the 70s and into the 80s.

What put the Stones on hold was Mick doing more solo stuff, Charlie Watts' having addiction problems, Keith Richards getting his act together in '78 and back to being in the front (in 76 Knebworth, Ronnie Wood took lead for a lot of it). Skynyrd smoked them live.

The whole process of UYI was a little bit similar, they all brought ideas for songs in and ways to play it.

It took longer for the Stones to fall apart and Jagger tried in the early 80s to take complete control of the band, but Keith was fighting back, in words and in music. He wound up getting the critics on his side when they did their solo projects, and Jagger became a joke. And for Jagger to stick just to Japan with Satriani for his solo shows speaks volumes.

But Mick and Keith were able to move on from Exile pretty fast, and some of the Goats Head outtakes wound up on later albums...

[MEXzilla]

UYI dominates lol but I guess u make a valid point