Use Your Illusion (DVD) vs. Appetite For Democracy

[Jwalker19]

UYI. No question. You're delusional if you think AFD is better. I'm sorry.

[Towelie]

I genuinely think AFD is better. Here's why:

1. Better setlist

2. All on one DVD rather than spread out over two

3. No one likes a fucking drum solo

4. The band and Axl look like they actually want to be there

5. I don't have to avert my eyes everytime a shot of Axl's bulge comes up in his cycling shorts

6. Better cinematography

7. Gilby Clarke had no chemistry with the band

8. No cheesy female backing vocalists or reggae interludes

Edited July 21, 2014 by Towelie

[Smokin' Cigarettes]

I genuinely think AFD is better. Here's why:

1. Better setlist

2. All on one DVD rather than spread out over two

3. No one likes a fucking drum solo

4. The band and Axl look like they actually want to be there

5. I don't have to avert my eyes everytime a shot of Axl's bulge comes up in his cycling shorts

6. Better cinematography

7. Gilby Clarke had no chemistry with the band

8. No cheesy female backing vocalists or reggae interludes

I'd take the bulge, vhs, Tracy & Roberta, Gilby and the drum solo over an axl that sounds like an imposter, 5 jams per concert that nobody cares about, a cheap imitation of slash, and uncle Phil on drums.

[Crash Diet]

Which concert DVD do you prefer?

is this a real question?

NEITHER

Bootlegs all the way, fuck the official live releases

I'm not saying that nu-GN'R is better than the old, but the 2012 show is miles better, IMHO.

The 1992 show is still played by some guys who wrote and play the songs on the records...

Not to mention comparing a vegas act with an actual concert in Tokyo

[EvH]

Fuck you guys, Gilby rocks.

[Terzyo]

I genuinely think AFD is better. Here's why:

1. Better setlist

2. All on one DVD rather than spread out over two

3. No one likes a fucking drum solo

4. The band and Axl look like they actually want to be there

5. I don't have to avert my eyes everytime a shot of Axl's bulge comes up in his cycling shorts

6. Better cinematography

7. Gilby Clarke had no chemistry with the band

8. No cheesy female backing vocalists or reggae interludes

, and uncle Phil on drums.

Legendary comment EVER!

[rhb]

Tokyo is representative of a time...the Illusion era. I prefer the pre-AFDestruction and AFDestrucion eras. In the Illusion era AXL's voice got a lot o problems (he could screams more than he could sing a lot of shows) and Slash intended to be the main part of the show. In the Tokyo DVD I don't like the final mixing.. the drums are to loud, very low base guitar. I think that AFDemocracy is much better. I miss a little power of Axl's voice in some of the songs, but the band is amazing. I wish they have recorded it in 2014. Judging by youtuve videos, his voice is full of rasp. In Porto Alegre (Brazil) he was amazing.

[RandallFlagg]

Tokyo because it was a GNR line up which actually had added something to you know, Guns N' Roses. This dvd doesn't mean anything in the context of the band.

[themadcaplaughs]

Both have definite pluses and minuses, but the Use Your Illusion show squeaks by just a little. Although, as others have pointed out, Matt's drum solo is insufferable. I'd easily take any of the jams on Appetite for Democracy over Matt's drum solo.

[WFA]

both are horrendous picks for an official release, but I'd rather see Slash play his solos than watch the hired hands butcher them. Plus, Matt Sorum's drum solo is more rock and roll than anything Dj does onstage during A4D

[rhb]

Rock in Rio 2 was by far the best GNR I have seen. It was life changing... And Tv Globo did a great job on the filming that night.

I mean... It's not officicial, but is the original band becoming big. Very natural, spontaneous!

[maynard]

The obvious answer is UYI. It's a crappy show from that tour but compared to AFDemo it's a flawless masterpiece. Matt's drum solo > Axl's voice on AFDemo.

[ChristmasFnatic]

Tokyo one. I hope they release it on Blu-ray. The band who made the songs vs. the almost totally cover band.

[RussTCB]

Here's the thinking behind my vote for Tokyo:

If I had to chose between only these two performances and I were trying to show someone an example of why I think Axl is the best frotnman to ever walk a stage, I'd pick something off of Tokyo ever time.

[EvH]

I've been quite adamant about my hate towards the Tokyo DVDs on this forum, but I think its flaws are too big no to be mentioned.

- First, the format itself. Forcing people to buy the full show in two parts is a fucking shame; trying to pass it as a mirroring of the two UYI albums is an obvious marketing bullshit plan. But hell, if you wanna force consumers to do it, you should have taken advantage of the new DVD format. Where's the bonus content (gimme the full Locomotive rehearsal and not only a snippet with Matt making stupid faces to the camera, please!) ? Why all those stupid cuts during the concert? Why are the DVDs simple re-burns of the laserdisc? No wait, the laserdisc is actually the best version of the Tokyo shows one could buy. The DVDs have horrendous video quality, and, first and foremost, shameful audio quality. Low-bitrate Dolby Digital, are you fucking kidding me?There's plenty of free space on the disc to grant us both an uncommpressed stereo LPCM track and a mutlichannel Dolby Digital track. But that would have required a bit of work, something that clearly hasn't been given to this release.

- Second, the filming. You know, I'm no movie director. But, visually, the Tokyo shows are boring. Travelling shots when Axl's running from one side of the stage to another, zooms on one member when there's a solo...I know there ain't hundreds of ways to film a concert, but these shows are so predictable, they became visually boring very quickly.

- Final main complaint, the audio mixing. Most of the soundboards concerts from the UYI tour that are out there have a pretty perfectible mix, to say the least, and Live Era is even worse, both in terms of mixing and about the mastering which is brickwalled as hell. The whole thing is so muffled. Matt sounds like he's hitting a tree or something, Slash sounds like he's playing in India when the rest of the band is in Tokyo. Oh no, wait, that's only if you forget Gilby, whose guitar is so buried that it becomes quite hard to listen to, except on key moments (the Wild Horses jam comes to mind, or the Don't Cry intro for instance) . To be fair though, that was not only on this DVD, most of the shows have his rythm track quite buried in the mix.

But there's also great stuff on it, with some nice performances :

- The Don't Cry performance is great.

- I personally really, really like the jam on Move To The City, even if it's quite predictable. Dizzy's "solo" gets me everytime (mark my words, I'm not complimenting Dizzy very often).

- Another guilty pleasure, Rocket Queen and the It Tastes Good, Don't It ? breakdown. I like it a lot.

- Finally, we have probably the best live backing track of Estranged performed by the original line-up. To isolate Axl's Voice on one channel would've been great to listen to this amazing rendition.

Where both of these releases are not that different is about Axl's performances. 2014 Axl is obviously weaker, but Tokyo 1992 Axl also sounds pretty bad sometimes. Weak (Nightrain), like a dying cat (Move To The City, Sweet Child) or simply out of breath (Welcome To The Jungle), he's far from perfect.

Why they haven't released Paris 1992 or Buenos Aires 1993 is way beyond me...

Edited July 21, 2014 by EvH

[parisrocks]

Vote Illusion if you enjoy watching a dude's ballsack bounce around

[maynard]

Vote Illusion if you enjoy watching a dude's ballsack bounce around

Vote Democracy if you enjoy watching a dude's belly bounce around.

[Evil Ernie]

Since AFD doesn't have Slash appearing I will take that one.

[RichardNixon]

Fuck you guys, Gilby rocks.

Pawnshop Guitars is a killer album and the follow-ups were good too. Izzy is awesome and a great songwriter, but it would have been great if Gilby had written with GN'R too. Imagine "Cure Me, Or Kill Me" with Axl on vocals--would have been a big hit in 1994.

[Johnny Drama]

Uncle Phil on drums.

[WFA]

Here's the thinking behind my vote for Tokyo:

If I had to chose between only these two performances and I were trying to show someone an example of why I think Axl is the best frotnman to ever walk a stage, I'd pick something off of Tokyo ever time.

But he's cracking Dj jokes in A4D! #LivingTheDream #Demented #AshbaSwag

Serious note: this. While not the best gig we've got a copy of (Paris 92 ) that is Axl kicking ass.

[The Glow Inc.]

AFD because Richard Fortus.

[robin2002]

Still haven't seen AFD but I'm still gonna say UYI dvds, and even then they are no where near the best performances from that tour.

[Kahz]

I prefer Appetite for Democracy simply because I'm obsessive over sound quality and Use Your Illusion sounds absolutely terrible. The mix is so flat and lifeless.

To me, it's like asking whether I'd listen to Chinese Democracy or listen to a seventh-generation casette copy of Appetite for Destruction that has been sitting out in the sun for twenty years. Appetite is better, but at some point the quality takes over.

UYI really sounds that bad. The drums make me want to die.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Kahz

[RichardNixon]

I prefer Appetite for Democracy simply because I'm obsessive over sound quality and Use Your Illusion sounds absolutely terrible. The mix is so flat and lifeless.

To me, it's like asking whether I'd listen to Chinese Democracy or listen to a seventh-generation casette copy of Appetite for Destruction that has been sitting out in the sun for twenty years. Appetite is better, but at some point the quality takes over.

UYI really sounds that bad. The drums make me want to die.

Well, the drum solo was supposed to turn your brains into "mashed rice."