Question for old school fans: What did you think of the UYI albums back in 91?

[Mastodonny]

I remember strategically setting an ortho appointment on the release date so I could swing by the local record shop and pick them up. I thought they were great. Still do.

[Facekicker]

Loved them. Still do. They were the biggest band in the world and being hailed as my generations Rolling Stones.

Then it all went to shit.

[T.wa.T]

I remember to, reading magazines n seeing potential song titles, like Back off Bitch, November Rain, Just Another Sunday, Coma, Right Next door to Hell. Could only imagine the insanity if the internet was around back then.

[Guest bellastar2355]

It's fun to read this posts. It's a shame that I wasn't around at that time. Seemed like good time to be a gunner

I know!

[MB.]

I had to get used to songs like Coma, NR, Estranged. I really had too. I liked the fast tracks immidiately however. Some songs are so long and slow and those had to grow on me. But overall I loved the albums. I didn't like Steven was gone and I never liked Matt's drumming as much as Steven's. You can hear the difference very well.

People did talk about how commercial they became true. They were now played on all stations and on MTV. That wasn't the case before. The 'serious' press disliked the albums. But than again, most didn't liked AFD as well. Now it's considered a legendary album, but GNR had always difficulties to be accepted by the 'serious' press.

[tange]

man i was 11-12 when these albums came out so thats prime music listening age. I was essentially introduced to rock when Guns and Grunge were really big. i'd say my music career peaked early. Also around that time were bands like Uncle Tupelo (alt country bands) that were super talented and got big touring as Wilco years later.

I used to wear a blue bandana to school, it was pretty sad.

Edited January 23, 2013 by tange

[gnfnrs1972]

I thought they were great from the first timeI listened to them. It pisses me off that some people bitch about it being a double album full of fillers. A filler to you may be anothers favorite song asswipe. Uyi also is what made gnr a worldwide phenom.

[DizzyReedsexmachine]

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

[magisme]

Loved them then. Love them now.

[wasted]

Most people I knew said it wasnt as good as AFD and Axl had become pompous.

I remember listening up to Nov Rain then going back to RNDTH again. And Dust n Bones.

Uyi is where GNR alienated the metal fans. Then CD lost the rock fans.

But with each record they get more fans of one particular era. But you can hear afd and uyi in CD.

The next one will will lose the CD fans. You can see how Dj n Ron arent so 90s so everyone will freak but it will still be GNR.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

i was super excited. gnr was the biggest band in the world, and my fav. i went out at midnight. listened to both cd's, then quickly discarded all but a handful of the songs. i probably only listened to 8 or so, then eventually it just faded away. sold my copies. i don't know if i was able to articulate why i did or didn't like it as much as their earlier stuff at time time, 'cause i was just a kid. but looking back, i feel like the problem wasn't keys. just weak songs. axl's lyrics got more opaque and less fun. the videos become pretentious and silly. just became a different band between 91 and 93. ever since i was a kid, i bought appetite and lies numerous times. but until last year, i hadn't listened to UYI since probably 1992. can't say that i missed it much.

Edited January 24, 2013 by HisRoyalSweetness

[Guest NewGNRnOldGNR]

The OP makes an important point. Despite the complete revisionism that claims everything the band did with Slash was glorious, mixed reactions were the immediate response to UYI. It took time before people began to truly marvel in the epicness of those albums. It will happen to Chinese Democracy to a lesser extent.

Edited January 24, 2013 by NewGNRnOldGNR

[Golden_Johnson]

I would hassle the guy at local store regularly as to when the records were released, back then apart from magazines we had no idea, the internet wasn't there.

Finally one day the guy (who had a great mullet) sold me my UYI CDs and Vinyl copies, the vinyls stay sealed even now, UYI 1 was ripped slightly in a house move .

Listening to those songs for the first time was both surprising and shocking, but in a good way, it was nice to not have any expectations.

I always felt up front UYI 2 was easier to listen to, but looking back it's a hard thing to dislike either album..my 2c.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Golden_Johnson

[wasted]

Breakdown is under rated. Lmme hear you now.

[darknemus]

Only albums I've ever stood in line for at a midnight release. (Spec's records Hollywood Florida). Also the only album release I've ever known of that was played, in its entirety (bad language and all) on local broadcast radio a few days before the store release. (It was played at like 10 PM - 1 AM or so.. something like that.)

There were a lot of other people in that line besides me, and pretty much everyone there was HYPED for these albums - the record store had extra security, radio people there were doing stupid radio station giveaway promos, etc, etc)

Hell - the hype train began (for me, anyway) when a crappily mixed rough version of Bad Apples leaked like 4 or 5 months prior (I think that far back.. could be wrong on my dates.. it is 20+ years ago after all) - now at the time of course, the only place you were hearing any 'leak' was on the radio or on a bootlegged tape (or possibly CD) passed back / forth amongst friends. Zeta 94.9 (the local rock station down here at the time) played that Bad Apples leak like 10 times in 3 days and then just stopped playing it and really never mentioned it again.

That was a fun time - a lot different music industry, of course - but still a lot of fun. I actually enjoy the midnight line up process for some things - it was our form of 'social networking' before the advent of Myspace / Twitter / FB / etc etc

Oh - and as for the impact of the albums on me? I used those CDs to convert a lot of people who were listening to what counted for pop music at the time over to the.. well.. better side

-darknemus

[trqster]

Truth is that any UYI filler would make a possible rock hit if released now by Axl... We had that with "This I Love".

[Towelie]

What did everyone think of the inclusion of Knockin On Heavens Door and Live & Let Die??

[k12]

I'm particularly interested in how the albums were perceived by those who became fans around the time of AFD, ie the old school fans.

What were your initial thoughts when the album came out in 91? Did you feel it was a worthy follow up to Appetite or were you disappointed? How did you feel about the inclusion of two cover versions and the absence of Adler?

It's well documented that some purist fans didn't take too kindly to the introduction of pianos and synths to the GNR sound, was this a common opinion around that time or just a minor gripe of a select few?

Finally, has your opinion on the albums changed over the years or remained the same?

I was in love with them

Appetite was the first album I ever got

When the Illusions came out, I was in love with them

I played them continually throughout the mid- late 90s when Guns N Roses were no longer cool

I would get made fun of because I still listened to Guns N Roses in like 1995 1996

Now 20+ years, I really dont care for any of the songs on the Illusion albums, if you ask me I think they are very dated and dont stand the test of tiime, Appetite on the other hand...

[cbgnr]

I'm particularly interested in how the albums were perceived by those who became fans around the time of AFD, ie the old school fans.

What were your initial thoughts when the album came out in 91? Did you feel it was a worthy follow up to Appetite or were you disappointed? How did you feel about the inclusion of two cover versions and the absence of Adler?

It's well documented that some purist fans didn't take too kindly to the introduction of pianos and synths to the GNR sound, was this a common opinion around that time or just a minor gripe of a select few?

Finally, has your opinion on the albums changed over the years or remained the same?

I was in love with them

Appetite was the first album I ever got

When the Illusions came out, I was in love with them

I played them continually throughout the mid- late 90s when Guns N Roses were no longer cool

I would get made fun of because I still listened to Guns N Roses in like 1995 1996

Now 20+ years, I really dont care for any of the songs on the Illusion albums, if you ask me I think they are very dated and dont stand the test of tiime, Appetite on the other hand...

I'm with yah on this,some of my favorite songs from Gnr are on these albums,but some other songs that I really liked when I was younger I've lost interest in, esp off UY2. Edited January 24, 2013 by cbgnr

[T.wa.T]

The OP makes an important point. Despite the complete revisionism that claims everything the band did with Slash was glorious, mixed reactions were the immediate response to UYI. It took time before people began to truly marvel in the epicness of those albums. It will happen to Chinese Democracy to a lesser extent.

I dont think it had to do with Slashs playing, the over exposure and over production, of the band and albums is what I remember being brought into question.

[Alt Lyrics]

I was 11 years old when I first saw the Don´t Cry video. I really liked the song but at first I was a little bit alienated by the video, first I just didn´t get it (3 Axls in one room, Slash crashing with his car over a cliff, then playing a solo over his burning car...), then again I was obsessed with it, too. Then You Could be mine, a lot heavier song with Arnie in the video. I had to get the albums. But I didn´t have money, so I begged my mom to buy me the CD, cassettes were out at that time, so I got the UYI I album first. I listened to it day and night, I was really a GNR-junkie. Then came UYi II, then AFD + Lies, but I have to say, that the first cut is the deepest, so UYI I is still my favorite album.

[gnrcoma]

Says it all that I was only listening to the illusion albums today!

Brilliant lyrics and songs, loved it back then and still do today.

Civil war was the song that really done it for me.

[Apollo]

Was in heaven when they came out.

There is a lot of filler. BUT releasing two albums allowed the band to release a large variety of music - so that made up for the average songs. Still listen to songs from these two albums on a weekly basis. For about a six year stretch they were the best band in the world. Nobody even came close to touching them.

That is what these new fans on here don't understand. The ones who worship Axl's every move, that hate Slash and that constantly insult the rest of us when we post that we wish Axl put out new music. From my senior year in high school until my last year of college, GnR were the BIGGEST and BEST band in the world. They were Rock Music and everybody else sucked hind tit behind them. So when we get frustrated over the lack of music over the past 20 years it isn't because we think he owes us something or we have a sense of entitlement. It's because we lived during the era when Axl and GnR simply ruled the music world. We know the magic he is able to create. And it is frustrating as a fan that he has chose to go a different path with his career.

Imagine if Michael Jordan had played 5 years and then retired...........then reappeared but only played in minor league and city league games. He promised he was going to rejoin the NBA, came back for one year and scored 25 points a game, then went back to playing in the minors. People would say he was wasting his talent. Same thing with Axl.

Yes, it is his career and he can do whatever he wants with it. He can tour the classic songs for the nex 20 years and never release new music again. But for anybody who is a fan of his or that is a fan of music - that is a huge loss. It is a shame that Beta and Axl seem to care more about lawsuits and feuds and fighting the "man' than they do about releasing music for Axl's MILLIONS of fans to enjoy.

[wasted]

I remember I had UYI and Nevermind, but UYI was a big release but almost simultaneously the rock press were pushing the Seattle bands. Guns were now a target of ridicule from the media. Remember One in a Million. The knives were out. The peak was prob the MTV awards playing Nov Rain with Elton. In the UK Brit pop Oasis and Nirvana took over. GNR sort of lost the metal fans and gained a huge audience but they were seen as dinosaurs, a big bloated rock band.

Then there was the state of the band. Think what is going now is a train wreck? With all the negativity towards, basically Axl? So I think the band was on it's way out anyway. They needed regroup, change. to me CD is that low record they needed to make in the late 90s.

[ronartest2004]

I remember loving UYI 1 & 2 when they came out, but it was also weird because like wasted said by that time guns were going over the edge into being an over bloated aged rock band and they got it from the media, and from people who used to be fans but quickly changed to the seattle scene.

So with that, and with the album not being what AFD was the final review of that album will always be a mixed bag, much like it was with my friends and I back then.

Watching Kurt punk out Axl on the MTV awards was like watching Allen Iverson cross-over Michael Jordan, it was like "well this guy is over"

Never been the same since then.

Edited January 25, 2013 by ronartest2004