Use Your Illusion Song by Song Thread

"You Ain't The First" definitely has some Beggars Banquet era Stones vibe to it. A nice tune, I don't think it would've have sounded out of place on the Ju Ju Hounds album either.

 

I’ve always liked “You Ain’t The First,” way out of proportion to its quality as a song. Cool track. The dismissive kiss-off has more of a nasty bite than some of the more explicitly angry tracks on either album. Would fit well on many Izzy solo albums, definitely.

 

You Ain't the First

Yeah, this song always reminds of Beggars/Bleed era Stones in vibe, even down to the humorous lyrics. It's a brisk little country song that's provides a nice break in the pacing of the record. It's a long album so why not throw in something different? We've just come off a rocker with another 2 coming up and then the centerpiece ballad so Izzy throws us a bit of a curveball, something we really haven't heard from Guns yet. This is one of those gems we may never had heard if these albums weren't packed with so much music.

 

The duet vocals on the lines “Time can pass slowly / things always change / Your days are numbered / And I've read your last page” are one of my fave musical moments on the entire set. Enjoyably unpolished.

 

Love it. Sometimes two chords is all you need. The fact that this and, say, November Rain are on the same album shows the range of the band...something they don't really get much credit for...

 

Ironically, one of the only things I don’t love about “You Ain’t The First” is the (feigned?) ad-lib “to the bar” after the fade-out. It’s another example of adding something unnecessary. It feels like a contrived informality, stating obviously what is already beautifully implied in the song’s performance. The track doesn’t need the ad-lib. The “ad-lib” may well be an overdub, too, which just takes the cake.

 

Axl's bass vocal "deep down inside" is pretty cool.

 

You Ain't the First is by far my least favorite thing GN'R has ever recorded. Even My World is superior. I thought this song was included as a joke when I first heard it or to maybe appease Izzy but they played it even when he wasn't in the band so I guess someone likes it. Mind boggling to me but different strokes and all. I cannot express how much I dislike this song personally though. It is just awful for me.

 

OK, my update of the last days:

Live and Let Die: still remember the "missing" with the picture of Izzy on the milk carton in the video. I like this version of the song but a totally different beast live with the firworks and all. Remember listening to Wings version back when i was seventeen and not liking it at all.

Don't Cry: remember whe action packed video from 91, love this song specially like a lot have mentioned Slash solo, he owns it. Totally unnecesary alt lyrics version, at least if they had put a different arrangement to it.

Perfect Crime: great fast paced rocker, love Axl's venomous delivery here, the lyrics seem strange but the arrangements and again Slash solo add a lot to the song. The countdown seems out of place like a lot od addons to these album

You Aint the First: i used to hate this song when i first listened to it back in '91, too slow, too country, well i didn't know sh&%. Love the Stonesy acoustic funny Izzy lyrics and vibe.

 

Oh ****!

I saw this thread and want to contribute, but to be honest I blank out when it comes to the a̶b̶Use Your B̶a̶n̶d̶m̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ Illusion albums.

 

Bad Obsession anyone?

 

Bad Obsession:

And now we arrive at Bad Obsession, written by Izzy and GnR associate West Arkeen, this being the latter's first contribution to the Illusions. This song is basically about addiction, covering similar territory as Mr Brownstone. Is it as good? Well.....
We kick off with a harmonica played by Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe, who also plays saxophone on this track, backed by a cowbell, and I am normally a fan of all three instruments, but I do not enjoy any of them on this song, This song is so overbloated, with the whole kitchen sink thrown in there, it's like The Stones on the Steel Wheels Tour, just throw in the million backup singers. Let's go back to Mr Brownstone, now that is a killer song. You got the dirty, grimy, sleazy groove, the killer interplay between Slash and Izzy, the band just constantly pushes and pulls, and Axl sounds both pleased, overwhelmed, and furious about his addiction, it is a classic, this song is not, not even remotely.
The album has lost me again, after I had been digging this from Track 2 on, s***, I'll even take Right Next Door to Hell over this.

 

...in stark contrast to the demo, which had circulated for about a year (?) and seemed like a really cool song. I got a sneak preview that they'd overcooked it when we saw them live a few weeks before UYI was released. The live version was borderline ok, but album version was just gross.

 

LOL, it's better than anything on CD

 

Ok, got some ground to retake.

Perfect Crime

This one honestly doesn't do much for me. Kind of in the same league as "Right Next Door to Hell." Feels a bit "by the numbers" to me.


You Ain't the First

On first hearing this album, I didn't like this song. The comparisons to Beggar's Banquet-era Rolling Stones is very on point here. If you're a teenager looking for "rawk," this ain't the track for you. At this point, I'd consider it a rough and ready highlight of the first volume.


Bad Obsession

Alright! Now we're back into it. Nice groove, the band rocking out... We're back in the green, folks! This is a great example of what the UYI-era band was capable of - higher production value than Appetite, but with a nice looseness still in attendance. And yes, my prog leanings render the "everything and the kitchen sink" approach not only acceptable, but enjoyable.

 

Here's a live clip from 1991:

 

I found a version that is apparently Izzy on vocals, and I will say, I somewhat dig the kind of lo fi cowpunk vibe of this version:

 

Ooh, didn't realize this thread was going. My comments on the last few songs...

Live and Let Die: I grew up with McCartney’s version but I’ve loved this cover since the time I first saw GnR play it on the UYI pre-tour in the summer ’91. Just love the sound Slash’s guitar has on this. Great vocal by Axl too. I’m not as down on GnR covers as some of you here, but this is one that really works for me even with the previously mentioned “reggae” part which I’ve always thought was the weak part in the original too.

Don't Cry: Never really cared for this song for some reason. I’ve listened to these albums so many times but I would never be able to pick out either version.

Perfect Crime: Decent, but not a real standout. Doesn’t get skipped, but it probably wouldn’t make my single UYI compilation. The countdown was a “WTF?” for me too.

You Aint the First: This is a nice change of pace. Definitely like the acoustic vibe and lyrics.

 

Bad Obsession: i loved it back in the day, it doens't do much for me now. To overbloated like someoje said. I like the harmonica and sax, and of course Izzy's lyrics. The groove of the song is ok in my book, not the best song but not bad either. I can imagine Steven Adler's swing would have benefited the song more.

 

I always thought Izzy's vocals on it would make the song well Izzyness, more let's say "cool"

 

Definitely it would've helped this song. Not save it necessarily, but help it

 

When i read the words "I called my mother she's just a c%$& now" i always though the words were written by Axl, but noticed on the credits that it was written by Stradlin'/Arkeen, to me it seems more like something Axl would say given the bad relationship with his mother and him.

Also the last line "Maybe you'll do better next time
Punk!!" seems unnecesary, but i guess Axl just HAD to put something in there, didn't him?

 

Yeah, I thought that too. But then again Axl wasn't as into drugs as the others (which is kind of ironic as he is in many ways the most dysfunctional of the bunch except for maybe Adler)

 

I you notice most lead singers (but Morrison and Adler) Axl, Plant, Jagger, Roth are not drug addicts, too much control, too much ego, they're control freaks unlike guitarists.

 

And Zappa, Stanley, and Simmons you can add to that list. Hell, they make your guys look like Cheech and Chong