Use Your Illusion Song by Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Dec 4, 2017.

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  1. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I agree and have contemplated this idea many, many times..a single 50 minute album. The problem I encounter is that most of the songs I prefer are very long and those songs themselves would need some editing as well. And if you don't edit them, too many great ideas are forced to be left out.
     
  2. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I might think about it
     
  3. WilliamWes

    WilliamWes Likes to sing along but he knows not what it means

    Location:
    New York
    I actually love both albums in full and I know everyone has their comments about 'Appetite' being better and I'm sure they'll be a whole lot more of 'not as good as Appetite' posts but it's been so rare to have a band get this ambitious that I prefer the albums as they stand. Now of course taking the best of any 2 albums would be better than the individuals but the only issue I have with this much music being released at once was that it took a huge toll on the band along with all the other things going on. If releasing one great album of these 2 kept the band going longer, I'd be all for it.
     
  4. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I love both albums quite a bit. I do feel there are some clunkers on these, songs I skip (a rarity for me for any album) but given the choice of having two chocked to the gills releases instead of one album where too many great ideas were omitted, I would take the two discs.

    I think the Illusions were a daring and ambitious statement made by the band when the easiest thing for them to do would have been to try and make Appetite Two. These records are overflowing with soooooo many ideas it's crazy. Does it all work? Nope, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Just for fun I have tried and tried and tried to make a single disc out of these and can't do it.
     
  5. Szeppelin75

    Szeppelin75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Panama
    I like it as it is, meaning the 150 minutes of everything, shure there is a lot of fat than can be cutted off (Shotgun Blues, Get in The Ring, So Fine, Alt version of Dont Cry, My World, Back Of Bitch) but that's the whole mess of it.

    Axl or was Slash complained that Izzy's songs were half baked, liked demos, i don't know, some of Izzy's songs on the set seem the best songs for me (14 years is top five on the Illusion set for me), anyway.

    Live and Let Die anyone?
     
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  6. mick_sh

    mick_sh Hackney diamond

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    Whaaaat? "So Fine" fat that can be cutted off? No way, "So Fine" is top sirloin.
     
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  7. Szeppelin75

    Szeppelin75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Panama
    To each it's own, i never liked it, but my 16 year old brain lovoooed Get In the Ring, now i find it childish. Pretty Tied Up and Locomotive on the other hand...
     
  8. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    Wow. Check out for a day and the thread blows up! No complaints though - just a lot to catch up with. :D

    First, the less said about "Right Next Door to Hell," the better. I won't get into the weeds on things like swing or groove here. It just feels like someone doing a parody of what GNR were supposed to sound like. This is the SNL version of GNR as far as I'm concerned and, as the opening track on Illusion I, it really biased me against this album for a long time. Fortunately, it gets better...

    "Dust N' Bones" would have been a far gutsier opener for the album (imagine that!) as it has that gritty "last night's whiskey and desert dust in the back of the throat" vibe that I always associated with GNR. Nice track, infectious vocal melody, and high on vibe. Seriously, this is a track that didn't make an impression on the first pass, but that I found myself singing along with on the second. Thumbs up. :edthumbs:
     
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  9. uncle

    uncle Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    I actually like the music to Dust N Bones and the melody a lot but I just cannot stand Izzy's voice. Axl's voice is the thing that got me into GN'R in the first place so any time anyone other than him sings it just doesn't work for me. Izzy is a far better songwriter than he is a singer for my tastes anyway. This is usually a skip track to me but if I am not in control I will listen to it despite wishing Izzy did not sing lead on it.
     
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  10. Gavman

    Gavman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grimsby. UK
    Not fully relating to the thread: but did anyone find Dizzy Reed kind of 'mysterious' when he joined? He seemed to have very little back story. His 'On Stage' position was weired: High up to the left behind the drums. His contributing to only 50% of songs on the Illusion albums (background piano or organ) only added to his mystique.
     
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  11. RPOZ51

    RPOZ51 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Since I became digital listener, I don't listen to whole albums in track order too much anymore.

    I have I and II in the same playlist, but I often play it in shuffle mode, and am quick to skip the tracks I don't happen to be in the mood for at the time.

    The long tracks don't seem to have as many plays.
     
  12. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    "Dust and Bones", "Five Years" and "Double Talkin' Jive" are 3 of my top 5 on the "Use Your Illusions" albums. I love me some Izzy.... Just love his "I don't give an F" delivery.
     
  13. Szeppelin75

    Szeppelin75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Panama
    You mean 14 Years?
     
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  14. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Ah yes. Forgive me. I've heard a lot more Bowie in the last couple years than I have GNR.
     
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  15. Meyer

    Meyer Heavy Metal Parking Lot Resident

    "Dust and Bones" is one of my favorites from this collection. Great melody and I love the laid-back intro leading into the first chorus.
     
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  16. Cooks420

    Cooks420 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    So, I’m keeping up with this thread being three songs in, but I’m not commenting on these songs specifically simply because I have nothing of note to contribute, nor do I possess strong feelings either positive or negative concerning these tracks.

    That being said, Matt Sorum might be one of the least creative, let-me-play-it-safe-in-the-pocket drummers EVER. Everything he plays is completely obvious, but even worse than that, painfully generic. The man is a robot - in a bad way - completely antiseptic in his playing. Don’t get me wrong: the man is competent, but that’s about it. And any other competent drummer would have filled his shoes PERFECTLY. But maybe that’s exactly what Axl wanted; I have no idea.

    Now, conversely, Adler was absolutely NOT exhibiting technical drumming on A4D, but god damn, he made sure you KNEW it was him. He’s a huge reason A4D sounds as raw and dirty as is does, and why the album will remain an undeniable classic.

    Case in point: I defy you, dear reader, to name another rock album with cowbell in 75% of their songs! And two of those songs have just ONE cowbell his (“Paradise” at 3:24 and “Queen” at 2:45 far back in the mix). But if you can find cowbell hits in “Chile,” “You’re Crazy” or “Anything Goes,” let me know ;)
     
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  17. nolazep

    nolazep Burrito Enthusiast

    I had to try really hard and believe in myself, but I just made it through UYI-I for the first time in a while today because of this thread. It didn't take me long to remember why. Apart from Izzy's songs, which are incredibly awesome, it's over-produced to the point of ridiculousness (apart from Matt Sorum's drum sound which is inexplicably weak). I was a HUGE GnR fan back then, as was everyone my age when the UYI's dropped, but two recurring thoughts kept creeping into my head while the CD was spinning:

    1. Steven Adler was irreplacable
    2. Thank ____ for "grunge"

    I do remember fondly how at midnight on release day the big Sound Warehouse had a record release party (remember those?!?) with a "dance like Axl" contest.

    Anyway may favorite tracks from UYI-I are Dust and Bones, Perfect Crime, Double-Talkin Jive, Garden of Eden, & Bad Apples. I can't believe I spent a week figuring out every note of Coma :D
     
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  18. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Live And Let Die:

    We come to Track Two, our first cover on the album as well the second single from I and fourth from the whole Illusion saga. This is a cover of the Paul McCartney and Wings song that served as the theme of the James Bond film of the same name. The video, which is a live performance as well as various old pictures, is the last to feature Izzy Stradlin, as it was made shortly before his departure. It also features many horn players, including Duff's brother Matthew, and this is Blind Melon's departed frontman Shannon Hoon's first appearance on the album doing backing vocals, which he landed as his sister was a high school friend of Axl's. Slash also plays six string bass on this tune.
    We start off with a piano based rhythm with Axl vocalizing over it, and he does a call and response of sorts with the backing vocals which consist of himself and Hoon, and it's pretty cool, their voices blend really well with each other, to the point that I didn't realize Shannon was on this song until reading the credits, but once I did, I couldn't unhear Shannon. Dizzy plays a little piano Lick which, along with Axl singing, the band kicks in at :29, and I love when it speeds up and it's so cool hearing Slash do the string or horn line on guitar, it's so awesome, and I like when it gets to the semi reggae part and Axl kind of slows down his vocals, I think he sounds great on this song, it's so un-TSI like, you actually hear that he is into the song, and yeah, compared to TSI which is chocked full of ****ty covers, good songs, just covered really ****ty, I would say this is easily a success. As good as the original? Hell no, but I do love this track
     
  19. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Live in Tokyo in 1992:
     
  20. The Doctor

    The Doctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philidelphia, PA
    Actually, Slash and Duff picked Matt. Also, his playing is music better on TSI, the Snakepit record, and VR.
     
  21. Cooks420

    Cooks420 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    I’ll defer to you on who picked Matt for sure, but I always got the feeling Axl was the captain behind this ship, and preferred less from the drums since they were so vocal and guitar driven.

    I’ll have to check out those albums again; it’s been a while.
     
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  22. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I like that first Snakepit, but that is in spite of Matt. As @Cooks420 said, he's not incompetent, but... there's no soul, there's no feeling to him, he's just there. Even on TSI where he has songs to go by, EVEN THOSE HE COULDN'T RIGHT! Goddamn, of all the drummers they could've hired, why him?
     
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  23. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I think Matt is great personally. I bet you the sound of the drums on this album (that effect they used) has a lot to do with Axl, knowing how he wanted so much artistic control and the rest of the band at the time just sort of went along with it.

    Listen to VR, the drumming there is great and is more representative of what Matt should sound like.

    Still, can you deny that Matt's intro on You Could Be Mine is awesome, and no one seems to be able to do it correct live except for him. And I think the drumming actually does fit some of the songs well. It has a dated quality but this is an early 90's hard rock album after all. The songs are big and so is the sound of the drums.

    As for Live and Let Die, never did like the song. The original or this version (not a McCartney fan). I have to admit though, it's way better live.

    Right Next Door to Hell - 4/10
    Dust N' Bones - 8.5/10
    Live and Let Die - 5/10
     
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  24. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Live and Let Die

    I lack the ability to appropriately review this song as my finger impulsively hits the skip button every time it comes on.

    I say....let it die...and that's being kind. :D
     
  25. The Doctor

    The Doctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philidelphia, PA
    Fun fact: Duff wrote the drum intro. Duff was a drummer before he was a bassist.
     
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