Use Your Illusion II Released September 16th and 17th, 1991
Geffen Records
Length - 75 min 21 sec
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---<>--- Band Line-up ---<>---
Axl Rose - Lead/backing vocals, piano
Duff McKagan - Bass
Slash - Lead/rhythm/acoustic guitars
Izzy Stradlin’ - Rhythm/acoustic guitars, vocals, sitar
Matt Sorum - Drums
Dizzy Reed - Keyboards, piano
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Use Your Illusion II was the more popular album of the Use Your Illusion series albums by Guns n Roses and it debuted at #1 on the US charts. The double albums were released after the Use Your Illusion tour in 1991.
The second album is a lot more melodic and has more blues oriented guitar content as well as pop-influenced music. It is less of typical hard-rock music and hence important in the history of the band due to its different stylistic approach. The album also deals more with violence, media scrutiny and law enforcement rather than with drug abuse as with earlier albums.
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Highlights of Use Your Illusion II
Civil War
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate...
Some men who just can’t reach...
The first track of the album itself is absolute genius. The song is a cry of protest against the heavy toll of war on humanity, and the music and the strong lyrics bring the message home quite aptly. Starts off slowly and then intermediate acoustic and electric guitars take centrestage and Axl’s voice trills the chorus loudly. The various sections are strategically composed and is one of the best hard rock epics of the 90s.
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
A Bob Dylan classic song with renewed energy and enthusiasm. In fact, this cover is one of the epics of rock music and one which many rock fans relate to. Slash is brilliant with his melodic guitaring in this song and takes the song to a newer dimension. Axl’s voice is perfect as he shouts in his shrill voice Knock Knock Knockin on Heaven’s Door...The song also has a small phone interruption after the second chorus for kicks.
Pretty Tied Up
Penned by Izzy Stradlin’, this song has him playing the sitar as an intro to the song. The song is about living a rock-n-roll lifestyle and the positives that come out of it. One of the more harder tracks in the album based on a central Indo/Arabian theme.
Locomotive
A long and intense song, this one. A rhythmic drum cycle as the intro, the song progresses smoothly with distorted rhythm guitaring which later slows down to a softer bluesy feel. With good solos by Slash and heartfelt piano notes later on into the song, this one about relationships and their difficulties is another good addition to this album.
Estranged
Another fantastic number by GNR, and one of their most famous songs ever. The name of the song says it all, and yes, its all about the pain of parting from your loved ones, but also offers hope and encourages people to go ahead with life on a positive note. Soulful music and some great guitaring by Slash once again. There is also a fantastic and deeply emotional piano solo that evokes images of hope. The video of this song is amazing as well, with Slash rising out of stormy waters to start his blazing guitar solo. This song itself makes the album worth buying.
You Could Be Mine
This was released as a single in July 1991 and is a soundtrack for the film Terminator 2, and the video does include Arnold Schwarzenegger. The track is fast paced with fast rhythm guitaring and drum patterns. The song was originally composed keeping in mind Stradlin’s failed relationship with his ex-girlfriend Angela Nicoletti. Axl sings the song in a fast tempo, almost singing it like a rap number. If you want a taste of this song, one line goes - ’’With your bitch slap rappin’ and your cocaine tongue, you get nothing done’’.
Don’t Cry Alternate Lyrics
The same tune as in Use Your Illusion I, this is another good effort from the band although it has alternate https://lyrics. A fantastic number with good romantic lyrics and heartfelt music. But I do prefer the original song perhaps because I have become used to it.
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Overall
Use Your Illusion II was more popular and definitely a better album than UYI I. Having said that, songs like November Rain and Don’t Cry(Original) make the previous album important musically as well. Being a double album, you cannot do without each of them, but the second album is more musically appealing and creative. It contains more songs you will enjoy listening to than the previous album, and it contains some of Slash’s best guitaring efforts. In fact, he plays a major role in the success of this album through his melodic guitaring.
Both Use Your Illusion I and II have some similarities in the sense that both the albums contain a cover song(Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney in UYI I and Knockin’ On heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan in UYI II), different versions of the song Don’t Cry and a song on each album foul-mouthing their detractors(Don’t Damn Me in UYI I and Get In The Ring in this album).
This album ranks as my second favourite Guns n Roses album after Appetite For Destruction. I do feel that the album could have been better if some of the songs weren’t added but overall Use Your Illusion II is a great album top buy.
One warning though - the last song, My World is 90 seconds of pure techno crap, and undoubtedly the worst GNR number ever. Knockin on heaven’s Door, Civil War and Estranged are the songs to enjoy in this album, and I think I can safely rate it 4 out of 5.
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A List of what you’ll find on the album...
Civil War
14 Years
Yesterdays
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (A Bob Dylan Cover)
Get In The Ring
Shotgun Blues
Breakdown
Pretty Tied Up
Locomotive (Complicity)
So Fine
Estranged
You Could Be Mine
Don’t Cry (Alternate Lyrics)
My World
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