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Why wasn't the UYI a double album?


Vincent Vega

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We always discuss, debate and argue about how one slimmed down UYI album might've been as good as AFD, would've sold more, etc etc, that it's hard to put two albums against AFD, etc...But instead of that, what about if the UYI albums were simply one double album. Two CDs in one set: Use Your Illusion, a two CD double album. It then would've been one album--UYI--and would not only have had all the songs, but would've been the equivalent to GN'R's Exile or Physical Graffiti. It in retrospect might've been the best way to go about it--Anyone agree?

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Guest Satanisk_Slakt

They were, but LP's were still a really big thing. Think about how many films that are still sold on DVD even though Bluray exists. It's kind of the same. Plus that two of these album together guaranteed sold more than one album alone would have.

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We always discuss, debate and argue about how one slimmed down UYI album might've been as good as AFD, would've sold more, etc etc, that it's hard to put two albums against AFD, etc...But instead of that, what about if the UYI albums were simply one double album. Two CDs in one set: Use Your Illusion, a two CD double album. It then would've been one album--UYI--and would not only have had all the songs, but would've been the equivalent to GN'R's Exile or Physical Graffiti. It in retrospect might've been the best way to go about it--Anyone agree?

This probably occurred as the record company most likely thought that a double-album would be too expensive for GN'R's then-juvenile fan base to afford. Furthermore, an argument could be made that by releasing the Use Your Illusion project in two separate discs the band's record sales would be inflated, which could have been seen by Geffen as a PR tool in promoting GN'R as a commercially superior band.

Edited by IndiannaRose
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They were pushing CD length on UYI I & II at 75-76 minutes. It was the beginning of bands trying to fill up CD space. It sounds like Izzy got overwhelmed with it, and prob. should have staggered them out.

Vinyl in 1991 was .4 percent of the market. In 2010, there were as many copies of albums as there were in 1990. Most people bought UYI on tape or CD, and at that time not that many people had CD players in the car, so people dying to hear it bought it on tape, or bought both.

I think the reason why it wound up being pushed to 2 1/2 hours is because they had enough music for 2 CDs, but had a lot of room to keep creating music. That's the similarity with Physical Graffiti - Led Zep had 8 songs, but because they were lengthy, needed to spread it out over two discs, so they took some of the outtakes like "Bron Yr Aur", "Black Country Woman", "Down by The Seaside", "Boogie With Stu", "The Rover", and "Night Flight". One song left off, "Swan Song", Page recycled for The Firm.

You had Coma, Locomotive, Estranged, Breakdown, Civil War, and November Rain all over 7 minutes long, add 3 more songs and you would've had the running time of the And Justice For All album.

If GNR didn't have a monster success with AFD, they never would've backed it. They saw the demand for new GNR music was pretty rabid.

And yes, they sold them separate so fans that didn't have the money to buy both could buy one at a time. They cared more about fans' disposable income at the time, and with You Could Be Mine, Civil War, and KOHD on II, vs Don't Cry being released the day the Illusions came out, more people would naturally gravitate towards II, but Axl made a big deal out of getting November Rain right at the time, so some fans got I first b/c of that.

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Axl's talked about this many times.

"So that people could afford it. You know, they could buy one or the other or they could buy one and the friend could buy the other and they can tape it. [...] It was also competitive with other things on the market. You know, if someone else's record is $12.95 and ours is 30 bucks. . ."

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Axl's talked about this many times.

"So that people could afford it. You know, they could buy one or the other or they could buy one and the friend could buy the other and they can tape it. [...] It was also competitive with other things on the market. You know, if someone else's record is $12.95 and ours is 30 bucks. . ."

Bingo

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Does anyone know if the reason they dumped so much material at once was because of the volatility of the band? For instance, did they know it was all falling apart and think "shit, let's get it all out there so that we have a greater legacy left behind?".

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Does anyone know if the reason they dumped so much material at once was because of the volatility of the band? For instance, did they know it was all falling apart and think "shit, let's get it all out there so that we have a greater legacy left behind?".

That might've been an unconscious sort of factor...Like way in the back of their minds...But I think part of the reason was they felt they had all this killer material, why keep it on the shelf? Use it! Not only that but some of the post AFD compositions were long songs, enough to fill up probably one and a half LPs...I guess they figured they needed to throw in a bunch of old PreAFD/AFD stuff in there to pad out the record, as well just getting that material off their chests.

It's like what LZ did with Physical Graffiti. Some of the songs on there date back to 1970, most of them from 1972. They had 8 new songs, but all of those songs were long songs which fit one and a half LPs and so they figured to use some of their existing old stuff to make it a full double and even it out.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Does anyone know if the reason they dumped so much material at once was because of the volatility of the band? For instance, did they know it was all falling apart and think "shit, let's get it all out there so that we have a greater legacy left behind?".

From interviews regarding the recording of those albums it seemed the band had some "older" songs like don't cry and YCBM but the overall writing process was done seperately. Basically I think Axl said it was members saying I won't do your song if u don't do mine. So they threw them all on the table and came up w/ 2 albums kind of brilliant but overall a little bloated

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I have always wondered why these albums are not held in higher reguard. It seems like everytime I read or watch anything about the 90's they might include november rain, but they never include the albums as best of the 90's or anything. They really have become forgotten. I have read magazine after magazine and the illusion albums are never included. I mean I was alive and aware of my surrondings during the illusion era, and they were FAR more popular at that time than anything nirvana, pearl jam, alice in chains, or any of the grunge bands were doing. But when people look back at the early 90's all they talk about is those bands. Without the illusion albums in their cataloge, gnr isn't half the band they are historically. Yes Appetite is amazing, but the illusions is where gnr went epic. I just don't understand why albums that have sold a combined 14 million plus are lost historically?

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