Use Your Illusion Song by Song Thread

Here's a live studio recording in 1989, but no Axl:

I'm gonna say it: WAY better than the studio version

 

Yep. I was drawn to GN’R as they offered something I was never gonna get from Def Leppard.

 

You can practically hear Slash having fun playing this series of riffs.

 

And it's a BAND. There's that chemistry, there's that oomph, there's that push and pull

 

Oh look, Steve was playing on this version and it sounds better than the final Sorum version.

Who woulda thunk it!

 

“I never wanted this to happen ...”

I was reading up on “Don’t Damn Me” here in the interwebs, and didn’t realize just how polarizing this track is. That being said, put me in the camp that believes it’s at least in the top two UYI songs, as “You Could Be Mine” would occupy the other slot on my list.

Simply put, the main riff is a monstrous, godlike phrasing that is equal parts melodic and hard, played at the perfect tempo. The ‘89 version with the band posted by our fearless thread leader sounds even better than the final product, as Slash was able to blues and groove the hell out of it.

I truly like Axl’s vocal line on this track; it’s effective in its simplicity, as he’s essentially singing the main riff. And surprisingly, the lyrics are actually rather inspiring at parts such as, “Silence isn’t golden when you’re holding it inside.” But of course, Axl’s Chester Cheetah impression at 0:12 is the bees knees. My only real criticism is that at certain points, there are way too many words for the phrasing, and it sounds too cramped.

And I love the bridges, as well as the organs in the slower section.

Slash’s solo is incredible; everything is perfectly paced. But, his little ditty at 4:12-4:16 is just a stroke of genius. It’s one of those little things that are seemingly just thrown in there that push the song over the edge.

One question for the huge fans of these two albums: Does Axl utilize the term “Illusions” in any other track than this one?

“All right, that sucked!”

10/10

 

In “Locomotive”: “You can use your illusion / let it take you where it may / you live and learn and then sometimes / it’s best to walk away.”

Another of Axl’s best lyrics.

 

Awesome - thanks!
So once on both YUI

 

But I think there's two different kinds of camp. The Stones have a wry sort of tongue in cheek humor, but it isn't some overboard glitzy glammy image-based no substance thing. What I'm saying is not that I wanted GN'R to be more like KISS or Motley Crue but I wish they had had more songs like Used To Love Her or You Ain't the First, the way the Stones had stuff like Dear Doctor and Faraway Eyes. I wish Axl had taken himself a little less seriously and done groovier rock ala Rocket Queen instead of piano epic stuff. Part of my problem with the UYI material (even the non ballads) is a lot of it takes it way too seriously and it moves more toward metal than toward rock.

 

Don't Damn Me is an odd song for me. I love the main lick and the song starts really strong. I also agree that Axl wrote song great lines. But it just doesn't come together into a great song, perhaps because it doesn't really seem to go anywhere dynamically despite the half time bridge. I don't know exactly why but the sum is a mid tier GnR tune, despite it having a top level riff and lyric.

Surprised that they didn't do this one live though...

 

I like Don't Damn Me and I think if not for a curse (there's a singular curse as I recall?) it could've been a single. It is one of the only UYI tunes that was never performed live. Axl said they would not perform it live because as a statement, it stood for itself. I think only maybe 2 other UYI songs were never played live.

 

UYI songs never played live:
Get in the Ring
Shotgun Blues
My World
Don't Damn Me

All the rest were played at least one time. Coma opened a show in 1991.

Look how odd this setlist was:


06.04.91 - Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH
opening act: Skid Row
set:
Coma,
Welcome To The Jungle,
Mr. Brownstone,
Bad Obsession,
Live And Let Die,
Dust N' Bones,
Don't Cry,
Double Talkin' Jive,
Civil War,
I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience,
Drum Solo,
Guitar Solo,
Godfather Theme,
Pretty Tied Up,
November Rain,
My Michelle,
Paradise City,
Used To Love Her,
Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door,
Estranged,
Bad Time [Intro] / Sweet Child O' Mine

A show that featured Coma as the intro and SCOM as the last song.

 

Or this set
06.08.91 - CNE Grandstand, Toronto, Canada
Perfect Crime,
Mr. Brownstone,
Live And Let Die,
Dust N' Bones,
Bad Obsession,
Double Talkin' Jive,
Civil War,
I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience,
My Michelle,
Don't Cry,
14 Years,
November Rain,
Drum Solo,
Guitar Solo, Godfather Theme,
Rocket Queen,
Pretty Tied Up,
You're Crazy [w/ Sebastian Bach],
Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door,
Bad Time [Intro] / Sweet Child O' Mine,
Estranged,
You Ain't The First,
Used To Love Her,
Yesterdays,
Paradise City,
Welcome To The Jungle

 

In terms of pacing, that’s a painfully weird setlist.

 

Coma as an opener? Maybe at the climax or as a closer, but opener? Regardless of the song itself, it's a terrible choice for an opener.

 

Also, Coma wrecked his voice even in 1991. Imagine how he sounded by the end of that show?

 

Don't Damn Me

So many excellent points mentioned already I don't know if I have anything else to add. More on that in a minute.

I love this song, it kicks ass! Slash is on fire! He owns these songs! The song opens with a killer riff and it was @munjeet that mentioned how great the lyrics are and I agree. One thing that often gets overlooked in Guns is that despite the dangerous/druggy image their songs usually tackled some pretty serious and seedy topics and Axl himself is one of the better lyricists in rock. He had his lapses in judgment which we will get to later on but for now let's admire what he does here.

My favorite part of the song is after the solo where the song breaks down and Slash starts spitting out these little riffs in the right channel (4:19-4:25) as the song builds back up to the chorus. Killer!!! This song makes every Illusion playlist I've ever made. And Axl's howl at the end is nasty!

@Cooks420 mentioned that his one tiny criticism is that Axl, at times, tries to fit too much into the verses and I agree. A few of the lines have a cluttered feel but not enough to be a detriment to the song.

@Captain Leo - Actually there are two curses in the song, the one you're thinking of and in the line "Vicarious existence is a ****ing waste of time". The song could still have been a single by replacing the "F" word with "stupid" or something similar. I had heard a demo of the song and the verse,

"Sometimes I could get even
Sometimes I could give up
Sometimes I could give
Sometimes I never give a ****"

was different. For the last line Axl sings something like, "Sometimes I never get enough" or something to that effect so originally I don't think the curse was there.

 

I would never have thought of that but it works!!

 

According to this, Lank wrote most of the lyrics for Don't Damn Me. Hmm...

 

A studio rehearsal take from 1989 of Don't Damn Me (no vocals) with Steven Adler on drums.

 

It's possible, he did have his own band, and it wouldn't be the first time GN'R used a borrowed song (Anything Goes was a Hollywood Rose song).

 

Studio rehearsal (Slash, Duff, Izzy, Steven Adler) 1989 featuring:

1. Don't Damn Me [1]
2. Don't Damn Me [2]
3. Garden Of Eden
4. Locomotive
5. Dust N Bones

 

Here is the demo where Axl sings "Sometimes I could give, sometimes I never get enough" instead of..that four letter word.

 

Another problem with UYI is way too much needless profanity.

 

Seriously, I actually did a count out of boredom. Profanity wise:

Appetite:
f**k or some variant - 5
b*tch - 2

UYI 1:

f**k or some variant: 19
b***h: 25
c-word: 1
s--t: 5

I didn't even bother getting to do UYI 2.

So much needless vulgarity.