Use Your Illusion as one album

[MaskingApathy]

On 10/12/2024 at 6:25 AM, izzyjim said:

Give me back off bitch or give me death!

I know many consider this a juvenile-esque tune, and perhaps they're right,  yet I'd rather have it - even as an instrumental - than nothing at all.

Gotta love the sleaziness of that Izzy guitar intro!

BoB is one of my favorite GnR songs, it rocks hard and there's some cool stuff happening instrumentally.

On 10/12/2024 at 10:30 AM, ZoSoRose said:

For what it’s worth, I think the countless “UYI as one discs” threads are meh. I love the records as a whole. UYI rocks and I dig most of those songs listed as “filler” by some people. 

I agree. It just wouldn't be the same as one shortened LP. It's unique because it's so long and there's so many different kinds of songs on it 

[Gordon Comstock]

Back Off Bitch has some nice guitar parts, but it's the only song on UYI I that'd I'd call filler. It sounds exactly like what it is - a generic hair-metal throwaway that Axl wrote when he was like 18. That song is the definition of filler, something they ditched back in '86 (I know they played it once on the UYI tour) but included because they were 'emptying the vault'...

[Free Bird]

2 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Finally, there are songs on there that I don't consider great, but nothing including My world that I wish away. 

I’d swap MyWorld for the long version of 14 Years which is even superior than the original.

12 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Back Off Bitch has some nice guitar parts, but it's the only song on UYI I that'd I'd call filler. It sounds exactly like what it is - a generic hair-metal throwaway that Axl wrote when he was like 18. That song is the definition of filler, something they ditched back in '86 (I know they played it once on the UYI tour) but included because they were 'emptying the vault'...

Disagree. I fucking love Back Off Bitch. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Free Bird

[izzyjim]

9 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

I’d swap MyWorld for the long version of 14 Years which is even superior than the original.

First time I hear about it 

Found it on YouTube, it's absolutely amazing

[gunsnchalupas]

4 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

It would have cost basically zero and it would have been super cool if the UYI 30th anniversary included Slash's raw mix, Izzy's / Slash's no nonsense 8-10 songs album. Easy to do bonus material.

Honestly to put one cd together is next to impossible. How do you leave off some of those songs? The thing that I loved was that I went from balls to wall and then to the most out there bombastic and that was possible because there was space to do so. When you consider the limitations of cd, you have to cut out some classic grade A songs. 

Finally, there are songs on there that I don't consider great, but nothing including My world that I wish away. And yes, it would be cool if gnr had two unquestionable stone cold classic albums in a row but it's also kinda cool that they had no 1 and no 2 albums at the sane time.

Other bands do it all the time. 

Look at Darkness On The Edge Of Town and The Promise by Bruce Springsteen. 

I'm grateful that we got UYI in the scope that they were released in, because it isn't guaranteed that they would have released a follow up, let alone multiple follow ups, but it would be have been really easy for someone to cut a 40 minute album from those sessions. Whether each member could agree on which songs is a different story. 

You could take the 8 songs they chose as singles, and that is a 45 or so minute album. Remove one of the covers, and it's a 40 minute album. It leaves a lot of cool stuff on the cutting room floor, but it would have likely be seen as comparable to AFD. 

Civil War
You Could Be Mine
Yesterdays
Live And Let Die
Don't Cry
November Rain
Estranged

Put those in whatever order makes the most sense. While it is missing a lot of good stuff, and you can argue the point about wasting Estranged on the same LP as November Rain, that would have been a more standout album. I wouldn't rank those as my favourite 8 songs from the UYI sessions, but they are reasonably cohesive. 

Again, not saying that's my ideal album. I'm just pointing out that had they released a lean 40 to 50 minute album of what they considered to be the most marketable songs, the legacy for the album would be very different. It is an infamous set of albums because they released two double albums on the same day, and GNR was still near their peak relevance, but your average music fan doesn't regard the albums the same way Appetite is regarded because to the average person enough of the songs sound like B-sides, or they never cared enough to give the 150 minutes of a music enough of a listen for it to stick. 

[Cosmo]

UYI as one album would be stronger than AFD. No joke. But I know they made a lot more money making it 2 records. 

[Bitchisback]

GNR have so few albums as it is and we are trying to widdle one away 😭😭

[Ant000]

The remix of D’You Know What I Mean is a cool example of the potential of remixing UYI songs.  Be Here Now has a lot in common with UYI, including massively indulgent production. The remix doesn’t eclipse the original imo, but it’s really cool in its own right and makes you wish Noel did the whole album. 

I still hope someday, when the tours are no longer possible and the bodies are worn through, the prospect of a remix starts to look compelling to the right people. It’s the only thing I’d change about UYI. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Ant000

[Sweersa]

On 10/12/2024 at 2:12 AM, SoulMonster said:

There are lots of great songs on the two Use Your Illusion albums. But that's kind of just what those albums are: Collections of songs, some of which are great. The lack of cohesion, in terms of song styles and genres and quality, hurts the albums and their legacy. Here's what I would have preferred to have made the follow-up album to Appetite more impactful and stood the test of time better.

First off, some songs should have gone elsewhere: So Fine should have gone to Believe in Me (as originally intended), it is a Duff solo song and I see absolutely no reason why it should be on a GN'R album; Live and Let Die should have been saved for Spaghetti Incident, as intended; and My World should have gone on a possible Axl solo album and not tacked onto a GN'R album.

A few songs should have been scrapped in rehearsal because they simply aren't good enough. Knockin' on Heaven's Door is an example of this. Playing it live made a lot of sense: They did a great bluesy version, Slash absolutely shines on it live, it's great for crowd interaction and sing-along, and it is useful to commemorate people like Todd. But the recorded version has none of this and with the choir and telephone it just is a bit silly, especially in retrospect. And I am not saying the other songs I would have preferred they never actually recorded are entirely without merit, either, Slash's playing is inspired throughout the albums also on the poor songs, but they are not good enough to be recorded. They could have been played live now and then to spice things up, though.

Then there are 8 songs that are only good or okay and drags the quality down and should have been kept off the album but used as B-sides on the 8 singles the band released: Dust N' Bones, You Ain't The First, Bad Obsession, 14 Years, Garden of Eden, Dead Horse, Yesterdays and Get in the Ring. These are songs that definitely should be part of the band's back catalogue, but works better as B-sides and not as fillers on albums. It would make the singles more attractive, too. Finally, the alternative version of Don't Cry should also have gone on the Don't Cry single, no need for two version of this song on the album.

This leaves the following 14 songs to go on the one Use Your Illusion album: Right Next Door To Hell, Don't Cry, Perfect Crime, Double Talkin' Jive, November Rain, Don't Damn Me, Coma, Civil War, The GARDEN, Breakdown, Pretty Tied Up, Locomotive, Estranged, and You Could Be Mine. I haven't calculated the minutes and we might be over the limit, though... 

If produced and mixed better, this would have been an album that in my opinion would have been as great as Appetite.

 

I pretty much agree. Either way, we would get all of those songs, or most. I do like KOHD, but it could have been better.

10 hours ago, Bitchisback said:

GNR have so few albums as it is and we are trying to widdle one away 😭😭

That is very true. It's probably one of a few reasons Chinese Democracy was included on the 2020 NITL GN'R Jersey Jack pinball machine. They also feature a lot of Robin's playing throughout, and some of Bucket's.