Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 - 30 Years Later

[downzy]

September 17th (tomorrow for those still in North America) marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Use Your Illusion 1 & 2.

Figured it appropriate to start the discussion now since 30 years ago there were kids across North America lining up to buy their first copies at midnight.

Curious how people perceive the albums 30 years on. 

Did you buy both on the first day?  Did you buy one and a friend buy the other?

I didn't get my first two copies (in CD form) until six months later in April of 1992 (they were birthday presents from friends).  I relied on the radio to hear new songs and some mixtapes I made with some friends.  

GNR was always something I was aware of, but it wasn't until these two albums that made me become a huge fan.  People often cite Appetite as their best creative output, but for me it was the Illusion albums.  They are still my favourite Guns albums to date.

For the many reasons people criticized the records are the reasons why I love them.  They were an attempt to be something more than your typical blues-based rock band.  Both albums helped cement GNR's company amongst their legendary predecessors.

Hearing and watching Axl play November Rain made me want to learn how to play the piano.  I've been playing for almost 30 years now, still play an hour almost every day.

For me, Axl's legend grew to almost mythical like status with UYI1&2.  I couldn't understand how one man could have so many different voices.  His vocals sounded so different on so many songs.  How he would weave melodies over long and sustained chord progressions (like Coma and Locomotive) was stellar.

The videos for each single were astonishing, if not insane.  These albums and their accompanying videos helped to create an otherworldly aura around the band.  I truly feel bad for the fans of the band who were born too late have experienced this period.  

These albums made them feel larger than life.

It was a great time to be a Guns fan.

#wheresizzy

[Voodoochild]

I had the Illusions 1 first, and would only get the Illusions 2 on CD years later. Because I had such a limited exposure to the vol. 2, I had a sense that both Estranged and Locomotive were mystical, because of how dark and weird they were. I still remember when they released the trilogy, and how pumped I was with the singles (didn't get Civil War here, but was totally on board with KOHD on the Days of Thunder OST). 

I played those songs so much over those 30 years that I think it's like my life's soundtrack.

[We love Axl Rose]

I'll just say this:

Guns N' Roses I F'N Love You !

Edited September 16, 2021 by We love Axl Rose

[slash23579]

I really wish I could've been around for the release of these albums, was too busy not being alive yet unfortunately. Appetite was the first GNR record I ever bought and listened to, but it really was the Illusions that made me a lifelong fan. Hearing songs like Estranged, Locomotive, Coma etc for the first time as a young kid was something magical, it completely changed my perception of what rock music could be. They were a huge part of my childhood and are definitely my favorite albums of all time 

[Screamin' Demon]

I used to listen to UYI all the time; some of my favourites were You Could Be Mine, Coma, Locomotive, Back Off Bitch, Don't Damn Me, Civil War, Get In The Ring, Perfect Crime, Shotgun Blues. I would constantly keep listening to them over and over again until it was embedded in my mind so much that even when I didn't listen, I would keep hearing them in my mind. You Could Be Mine was the birth of my love for Guns N' Roses when I heard it in Terminator 2 throughout the movie scenes and then when it would aggressively launch into it during the ending credits I couldn't believe what a rocking song I had just heard!

[mikeman5150]

These are indeed my stranded desert island albums 

[jamillos]

All I know is that this album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable. They can F?!* OFF and buy something from the New Age section. 

Seriously, for me, too, were UYI the first complete GN'R albums I owned; I got AfD only later. They are an inherent part of my life. 

[surforia]

I was 11 years old, and I remember seeing the YCBM video that came out alongside Terminator 2.  When UYI albums dropped, it was beyond huge.  My pre-teen friends and I had a conversation akin to the following: “which one has YCBM?  II?  Ok, get that one.  But wait, the other one has November Rain and Don’t Cry.  Well, II also has Don’t Cry.”  
 

To this day, I love ‘em both.  I do think II is ever so slightly better though.  It was great seeing them dust off Civil War finally in 2010 (or whenever that was), and I’m so glad it’s a live staple now.

Really hoping for a cool box set, with demos and at least a live show on vinyl that we haven’t heard.  

[SoulMonster]

Bought both immediately. Felt excited, disappointed and confused. 

[h2sublime]

I was an 11 year old kid when the Illusions were released and I had heard KOHD from Ritz on MTV along with it from the Days of Thunder soundtrack and we had Civil War from the benefit tape. I heard Bad Apples on the radio leaked months before the records came out. I was so hyped for both albums as I had been a fan since Appetite. I remember my brother went with a friend and got UYI II the first night it was released on tape and he let me listen to it. I loved it. I remember loving YCBM from Terminator 2 and it was the jam that summer on the radio. I finally got UYI I for my birthday a few days later  and thought it was fantastic. I still give the edge to UYI Ii as it has my favorite all time song Estranged. I think the Illusions represent my favorite thing about Guns. Their ability to adapt and play many different songs and styles. While I of course really like Appetite, these are the masterpieces of the GNR catalog for me. Such epic albums. Really something special. Awesome to celebrate their anniversary but how has it been 30 years?!

[nickzark]

Was near 11 years old . Time has passed . A great Era . Combined with my fave movie Terminator 2 

[Georgina Arriaga]

They are perfect in my eyes. 

I was 15 when they came out....I remember like yesterday when I heard Don't Cry and You could be mine in the radio. They were big in my country.

With Don't Cry I heard that single every hour on the radio and my aunt who was a nun in USA bought me the cassetes and sent them to me. They were perfect!!!!

 

[metallex78]

I was 13, and got into GN’R in 1991-92, so I bought these first before anything else. Hearing YCBM on the radio hooked me, so I bought UYI2 on cassette first, then UYI1, and the rest of the catalogue a few months later. 

So though I kinda remember AFD, from when I was younger, by the likes of SCOM and PC, I didn’t become the massive fan I am, until listening to UYI in the early 90’s.

I rarely listen to the albums these days, but back then, I think that’s all I pretty much listened to.

And unlike all these “it would’ve been better as one single album” comments that pop up when they’re mentioned, I for one am glad we got two full albums.

And while I like some songs more than others, Slash pretty much rips on every track he plays guitar on, from riffs to solos, and I love it all.

I’d hate to think on not hearing any of those songs, just because some people think it should’ve been whittled down to a single album.

GN’R had a grand vision with UYI 1&2, and I for one, absolutely love it. 

[jamillos]

1 hour ago, jamillos said:

All I know is that this album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable. They can F?!* OFF and buy something from the New Age section. 

Seriously, for me, too, were UYI the first complete GN'R albums I owned; I got AfD only later. They are an inherent part of my life. 

Plus, the first time I heard it was in 1992. I was 10 and became a fan that year. A friend of mine sold me the two cassettes for what would be a few Euro today. The band was everywhere. Mtv (which actually was quite a good music channel back then, with the Headbangers Ball and everything, but I don’t have to tell you that) aired the clips all the time, including CW from Tokyo. They played in Prague that year (the one with DC alt. lyrics), but I was too young to go (the times were very different, and it had only been 3 years since the fall of the totalitarian regime). Some Czech channel aired Paris 92 – I still vividly remember watching Axl walk around the stage, smoking, spitting, and talking in his very low voice (I didn’t understand what he was saying then, though). It was one of the moments where I was becoming a fan. My very first record was a cassette which was a mixture containing mostly UYI plus several AfD/Lies tracks. I learned a lot of English from the UYI lyrics (AfD didn’t have them in the booklet, and the internet hadn’t existed yet, obviously). I was absolutely stunned by the video clips. I got my first posters that year. GN’R were everywhere. Later I got my hands on the Tokyo VHSs, which I would borrow from a friend now and then and play it wherever I could (we didn’t have any VHS player at home). 
RNDTH, Don’t Cry, Perfect Crime, NR, Coma, GITR, Shotgun Blues, Breakdown, Estranged, YCBM… yeah, it all rocked. 
Has it been 30 years? Times, they are a-changin’, huh. 

[axljungle]

I bought the two albums together the release day. 
 

I remember ser the You Could Be Mine vid in june. Since this day can’t wait to buy the albums and see Terminator 2 in cinema.

 

I lived in a small town and had  classes this morning. I had to wait some hours after afternoom before the music store opened.

Today can remember when I open my cassettes and heard it in my room.

[Chris 55]

LOVE em! Still listen to them! All these years later, I really enjoy my key favorites "Dead Horse" and "Estranged"

 

I wish a box set was coming out like AFD got. 

[Free Bird]

My birthday 38 years later

[viktorfc]

 

[EvanG]

I was too young to get them when they came out, but I bought them a few years later. They aged incredibly well. I still listen to them from time to time. I can't say that about every record I've listened to that often and for so long. They could have left a few songs off and Axl should have added less corny lines in some of the songs, but besides that, great records. 

[3coloursbeige]

I was about 11, I knew Appetite inside out and bought the YCBM single on cassette - I wonder if that's still in my parents loft somewhere?  I definitely didn't get the albums when they came out - not sure why, but I probably didn't have any money.  When I finally got hold of the Illusions, I absolutely loved them - though it took a long time to fully get to grips with it all.  They were the biggest band in the world and were always in the papers (in the UK) - though usually for nefarious reasons.  I can remember everyone at school talking about the Freddie Mercury tribute concert appearance the following day.  I think that was the absolute peak of their popularity.

The older me can now appreciate some of the flaws of the albums, though I still enjoy them a great deal.  And, although I can make it a single album, I have no idea how the band would've managed it without blowing up before they even came out.

For what it's worth, my Ultimate Illusion tracklisting is as follows:

1) Civil War
2) Dust 'n' Bones
3) Bad Obsession
4) Perfect Crime
5) You Ain't The First
6) Breakdown
7) November Rain
8) Yesterdays
9) The Garden
10) Pretty Tied Up
11) Locomotive
12) Estranged

First half includes more of the Izzy/rock'n'roll stuff, second half more of the ambitious Axl/Slash stuff.  And no covers!  You're Guns n' Roses for crying out loud!

[Bitchisback]

I'm was 7 so I wasn't really into music yet but when I was 16 I picked them up at the same time. I already had appetite but was blown away by the Illusions and how many great songs were on them. It was at this point I knew GnR was my favorite band.  I think if you take the best 10/12 songs off of them and make one record (not that PA version from Walmart) it's truly better than Appetite.  I don't listen to them often as they are pretty long records and there are some skips on them but for real they have the best songs the band ever wrote. Love those albums 

[RussTCB]

I've got a video about UYI coming to my vinyl YouTube channel tomorrow but I thought I'd share some memories that are not in that video. I'll make a thread for the video tomorrow when it's live

My two favorite memories involve just before and the day the albums were released. One memory is the first time I heard You Could Be Mine. 

My dad was a truck driver, so he had a car phone. And by "car phone", I mean the big black box thing that barely fit between the two front seats of our family van. My dad took the phone with him when he drove truck, but it would be in the family van when he wasn't on the road. We were reminded constantly to never touch it because calls were outrageous in price. So my mom was shopping in a store once and I was just sitting in the car listening to the local pop station. The car phone rang and I when answered my brother was yelling "TURN ON WRIF! TURN ON WRIF! THEY'RE PLAYING THE NEW GUNS N ROSES!". So I flipped over to WRIF and caught YCBM around the first chorus. My brother and I sat on the line together being like "THIS IS AMAZING! WHAT A JAM! OH MY GOD!". It was only after the song that we both realized we were going to be executed by our parents because of a $50 phone call lol. 

My second memory sucked when it happened but it's funny to look back on now, especially since my mom has passed away. The day UYI came out, I got my mom to take me to Sound Warehouse. There was a big floor standee with both CDs on it. I grabbed both and went to the register. When we got to the register, my mom noticed the Parental Advisory stickers. My mom HATED the F word and immediately asked me if they said it on the album. I was like "well they didn't say it on their first album" lol. 

She asked the guy at the register if they said the F word on the album and he looked at me while I was standing behind my mom. I gave him this look of desperation like "please say no, please say no, please say no". He said "they're really not my thing so I haven't heard these albums but I know Axl swears a lot in concert, so maybe that's what they mean". My mom confirmed that she could return them if they said the F word and the guy said no problem. 

BOOM. I finally owned UYI. 

Here comes the problem. When we got in the car, I was dying to hear new GN'R music. I'd already heard Civil War at some point. So I put UYI I in...... what a stupid decision LOL. 

So you know what happened about half way through the song. As it was happening I was like "noooooooo" and my mom said "this is FILTH" then she did a U turn right there in the middle of a very busy road. Like......action movie car driver style U turn LOL. The tires on the car were squealing lol. 

Back to Sound Warehouse we went. My mom went in, slammed the CDs down on the counter, confirmed for the sales person that they were, in fact, filth, then got her money back. 

So I owned UYI for approximately 2 minutes on the day of release. This was devastating on that day but again, I can totally look back and laugh at it now. I had a friend from school tape his CDs for me a couple days later, which I promptly labeled "Paula Abdul" and "Pebbles" (two current pop artists at the time) and only played with my headphones on.

Long winded post, but hopefully someone finds it entertaining. I'll post the video about the albums in general tomorrow

Edited September 17, 2021 by RussTCB

[Twinaleblood]

5 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I've got a video about UYI coming to my vinyl YouTube channel tomorrow but I thought I'd share some memories that are not in that video. I'll make a thread for the video tomorrow when it's live

My two favorite memories involve just before and the day the albums were released. One memory is the first time I heard You Could Be Mine. 

My dad was a truck driver, so he had a car phone. And by "car phone", I mean the big black box thing that barely fit between the two front seats of our family van. My dad took the phone with him when he drove truck, but it would be in the family van when he wasn't on the road. We were reminded constantly to never touch it because calls were outrageous in price. So my mom was shopping in a store once and I was just sitting in the car listening to the local pop station. The car phone rang and I when answered my brother was yelling "TURN ON WRIF! TURN ON WRIF! THEY'RE PLAYING THE NEW GUNS N ROSES!". So I flipped over to WRIF and caught YCBM around the first chorus. My brother and I sat on the line together being like "THIS IS AMAZING! WHAT A JAM! OH MY GOD!". It was only after the song that we both realized we were going to be executed by our parents because of a $50 phone call lol. 

My second memory sucked when it happened but it's funny to look back on now, especially since my mom has passed away. The day UYI came out, I got my mom to take me to Sound Warehouse. There was a big floor standee with both CDs on it. I grabbed both and went to the record store. When we got to the register, my mom noticed the Parental Advisory stickers. My mom HATED the F word and immediately asked me if they said it on the album. I was like "well they didn't say it on their first album" lol. 

She asked the guy at the register if they said the F word on the album and he looked at me while I was standing behind my mom. I gave him this look of desperation like "please say no, please say no, please say no". He said "they're really not my thing so I haven't heard these albums but I know Axl swears a lot in concert, so maybe that's what they mean". My mom confirmed that she could return them if they said the F word and the guy said no problem. 

BOOM. I finally owned UYI. 

Here comes the problem. When we got in the car, I was dying to hear new GN'R music. I'd already heard Civil War at some point. So I put UYI I in...... what a stupid decision LOL. 

So you know what happened about half way through the song. As it was happening I was like "noooooooo" and my mom said "this is FILTH" then she did a U turn right there in the middle of a very busy road. Like......action movie car driver style U turn LOL. The tires on the car were squealing lol. 

Back to Sound Warehouse we went. My mom went in, slammed the CDs down on the counter, confirmed for the sales person that they were, in fact, filth, then got her money back. 

So I owned UYI for approximately 2 minutes on the day of release. This was devastating on that day but again, I can totally look back and laugh at it now. I had a friend from school tape his CDs for me a couple days later, which I promptly labeled "Paula Abdul" and "Pebbles" (two current pop artists at the time) and only played with my headphones on.

Long winded post, but hopefully someone finds it entertaining. I'll post the video about the albums in general tomorrow

Man, this is devastating and it still feels painful 30 years later. I'm so happy I live in a country where English is not the first language and I could get away with all of that stuff when I was just 8 years old or so, lol.

Like many of you I got into GNR through Terminator 2. I was a huge action movies/Schwarzenegger fan back then and when I saw the YCBM video with Arnold in it I was totally hooked. I soon managed to record YCBM from the radio, then I taped both UYI I and II from an older cousin a few months later. Eventually, I got both of them on cd in the summer of 93 and they still resist to this day.

Back in the days I liked UYI II more than I, I guess because it had YCBM. Nowadays, I equally love both of them. There are a few songs I don't mind much, but I wouldn't "merge" them as a shorter single record. They're good as is and some of the deep cuts are really amazing.

[Voodoochild]

6 hours ago, h2sublime said:

I heard Bad Apples on the radio leaked months before the records came out.

I didn't know Bad Apples leaked. Imagine if it was today, and people would judge the Illusions just by that song. 

[Blackstar]

7 minutes ago, Voodoochild said:

I didn't know Bad Apples leaked. Imagine if it was today, and people would judge the Illusions just by that song. 

Yes, Bad Apples had leaked in June 1991 and Geffen had accused a rival record company employee:

"We have sworn testimony from radio station staffers saying the Guns N' Roses tape came from a Mercury Records national promotion staffer named Douglas Burton," explained Al Coury, general manager of Geffen Records.

"It's bad enough that we had radio stations playing a rough mix of a song that wasn't finished--and was months away from release. But then to have the leak come from an employee at another record company, who tried to use it to get airplay for one of his acts, is just outrageous. It's like falling off a bridge--and then have someone run you over too!"

According to Norman Beil, Geffen's general counsel, the label sent a letter Monday to Mercury Records, saying it had "definitively linked" Burton to the GNR tape leak. "We've asked Mercury to provide us with information explaining who he obtained the tape from and who he distributed copies to," Beil said. "We are also asking Mercury to reimburse us for legal fees and any expenses incurred in obtaining the cooperation of the radio stations."

Asked what Geffen would do if Mercury refuses to cooperate, Beil responded: "We'd sue them--and we'd sue them very quickly."

Mercury co-president Mike Bone refused to comment on the Geffen charges, except to say that as of Wednesday, he had not received any letter from Geffen about any Mercury links to the leak.

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3155-1991-06-09-los-angeles-times-to-geffen-the-leak-of-bad-apple-has-a-rotten-core

Edited September 17, 2021 by Blackstar