Were the UYIs worth the wait?

[wasted]

On first listen I was perplexed. I just kept rewinding the tape to listen to RNDTH. I made a tape of Hell, PC, Eden and Shotgun to play in the car. I wasn't really into ballads but seeing the Nov Rain video on TOTP was a victory for metal in those days. It took until about 2000 to get into Estranged. I like Bad Obsession, Bad Apples, Back off Bitch and DTJ and that's what I listened to most, pretty Tied up too. Get in the Ring was one of my favorites on UYI II.

But over time the rest of the material grew on me. Getting that lyrically DDM and Licomotive are the Illusion songs, Dead Horse is a real Axl Rose song.

I think it had an AFD type record inside it and development for more open minded.

[Lio]

I only got into GNR when I first heard UYI II, so I didn't have to wait. At the time, I didn't even realize how big of a deal a double album by GNR was Imagine getting that now...

[Rovim]

Only one answer: you bet your fuckin' asses it was damn fuckin' worth the wait. Classic songs you fools I'm drunk.

November Rain

You Could Be Mine

Don't Damn Me

Right Next Door To Hell

Coma

Perfect Crime

Locomotive

Dust N' Bones

Estranged

Dead Horse

Civil War

lol

Edited December 12, 2014 by Rovim

[bacardimayne]

I obviously didn't experience the wait, but if in 2012 (4 years after CD) we had gotten a double album of comparable quality to the UYIs, I'd have been pretty happy.

[wasted]

There almost wasn't a wait because AFD didn't take off until 89? There was Lies too.

CD was 8 years delayed. As in it shouldawouldacoulda come out in 99-2000 instead of Live Era. 5-6 years after TSI. Next window was 2004 GH. 5 years later.

So is this the longest we've ever waited for a GNR cd? At least with CD you got Live Era and GH. Suppose Appetite for Democracy is the stop gap this time. 6 years on from CD...

From the labels point of view they put a GNR out every 4 or 5 years. Maybe the label see the blu ray as better business.

[star]

Don't recall a wait. GN'R were busy back in the day. AFD came out, then there was Lies, which I wasn't so keen on. The the UYI albums showed up. Then the SI. then it kinda died.

[dalsh327]

Between the release of Appetite for Destruction and The Use Your Illusions there was a 4 year gap. Lies shortened this gap somewhat, making it a 3 year wait. But that was just an EP. And there were only two new singles between 1988 and 1991, one of which was a cover song.

In the '80s and early '90s, a 4 year wait between albums was an eternity.

Consider that in 4 years ('69-73), Led Zeppelin had released 5 albums. In 5 years (1969-1974) The Rolling Stones had released six albums. GNR's contemporaries, like Metallica, had released 3 albums in the 4 years since their debut album. Queen, Axl's biggest influence, had released 6 albums in the 4 year span (1973-1977) from their debut. The Doors, a very short lived band, released six albums in the 4 years between their debut and final album.

By any real rock standard, GN'R's output was the total opposite of prolific.

In the 4 years between Appetite and the UYIs, Reagan left and was replaced by Bush; The Soviet Union was no more by the time the UYIs came out; Michael Jackson had went from black to white.

With a 4 year gap and the massive expectations thus placed upon it, were the UYIs worth the wait? Both in terms of their overall quality, and the fact that fans had to wait so long for them?

Compact disc format changed things.

Led Zeppelin's first album had pre-existing material, II was recorded on the road, IIII, IV, and Houses took more time, and Physical Graffiti was coming off a year long break, a mix of new music with stuff in the vaults. Metallica were able to work pretty quickly through the first 3 albums, then that changed when they did Justice (which filled up one compact disc, so in a way it was the first album that took advantage of CD length), and Black Album's been documented.

The Doors came in with a lot of music, Waiting For the Sun was half leftovers but they originally wanted Celebration of the Lizard on it to fill one side of the album up with.

Rolling Stones usually had leftover cuts, Sticky Fingers had Beggars Banquet songs, Exile had Sticky Fingers songs, Some Girls and Tattoo You had Black & Blue and Goats Head Soup sessions, but it goes back to the LP format being 20 minutes a side.

They probably would have chopped it up to where they would have padded it with Duff's solo album and The Spaghetti Incident?.

[CheapJon]

, fans who just gave up on waiting and moved on to other bands.

Is this something that some people actually do?

"This new band just released a great fucking record" 1-2-3 years passes by. "Shit, that band released that great record but hasn't released a legit follow-up album. I give up, I'll never give them another chance"

I don't buy that theory at all unless you're from some country that prohibits people from listening to more than one artist.

[brocky888]

It was a different world no internet no forums. Had no idea what was going on so wasn't same expectations as now. It just landed and was a great double album blew my mind. Got the blue album for my 21st birthday off friend on vinyl was expecting another AFD but liked even more at time. Happy days!!!