Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion I CD

Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, percussion); Axl Rose (vocals, piano, keyboards, keyboard programming, sound effects); Slash (acoustic, classical, electric & slide guitars, slide dobro, 6-string bass, background vocals); Duff McKagan (acoustic guitar, bass, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ, Clavinet, background vocals); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Shannon Hoon, Alice Cooper (vocals); Mike Monroe (harmonica, saxophone); Matthew McKagan (horns, keyboard programming); Rachel West (horns); Tim Doyle (tambourine); Johann (keyboard programming, sound effects); Mike Clink, Bruce Foster (sound effects); Stuart Bailey, Reba Shaw (background vocals).
Recorded at A & M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56 and Image Recording, Hollywood, California; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario.
Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, percussion); Axl Rose (vocals, piano, keyboards, keyboard programming, sound effects); Slash (acoustic, classical, electric & slide guitars, slide dobro, 6 string bass, background vocals); Duff McKagan (acoustic guitar, bass, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, clavinet, organ, background vocals); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Shannon Hoon, Alice Cooper (vocals); Mike Monroe (harmonica, saxophone); Matthew McKagan (horns, keyboard programming); Rachel West (horns); Tim Doyle (tambourine); Johann (keyboard programming, sound effects); Mike Clink, Bruce Foster (sound effects); Stuart Bailey, Reba Shaw (background vocals).
Recorded at A & M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56 and Image Recording, Hollywood, California; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This single release combines the best of USE YOUR ILLUSION I and II.
Guns N' Roses: Axl Rose (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, keyboards, programming); Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Slash (acoustic, electric & slide guitars, slide dobro, banjo, 6-string bass); Duff McKagan (acoustic guitar, bass, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ. background vocals); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Alice Cooper (vocals); West Arkeen (acoustic guitar); Matthew McKagan, Rachel West, Robert Clark, Jon Trautwein (horns); Johann Langlie (synthesizer); Steven Adler (drums); Tim Doyle (tambourine); Shannon Hoon, Stuart Bailey, Reba Alexander, The Waters (background vocals).
Recorded at A & M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56, Image Recording, Hollywood, California; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario.
The "difficult second album" is one of the perennial rock & roll clichés, but few second albums ever were as difficult as Use Your Illusion. Not really conceived as a double album but impossible to separate as individual works, Use Your Illusion is a shining example of a suddenly successful band getting it all wrong and letting its ambitions run wild. Taking nearly three years to complete, the recording of the album was clearly difficult, and tensions between Slash, Izzy Stradlin, and Axl Rose are evident from the start. The two guitarists, particularly Stradlin, are trying to keep the group closer to its hard rock roots, but Rose has pretensions of being Queen and Elton John, which is particularly odd for a notoriously homophobic Midwestern boy. Conceivably, the two aspirations could have been divided between the two records, but instead they are just thrown into the blender -- it's just a coincidence that Use Your Illusion I is a harder-rocking record than II. Stradlin has a stronger presence on I, contributing three of the best songs -- "Dust n' Bones," "You Ain't the First," and "Double Talkin' Jive" -- which help keep the album in Stonesy Aerosmith territoRolling Stone (5/13/99, p.56) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (10/17/91) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Guns N' Roses fire on all comers and take no prisoners..."
Rolling Stone - 4 Stars - Excellent - "..Guns N' Roses fire on all comers and take no prisoners."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.53) - "There were huge ballads, orchestral behemoths and an appearance from Alice Cooper."
New York Times (Publisher) (9/15/91) - "...Finally, the baddest boys in rock are back on record--and nearly as confused, abused, defensive and defiant as ever...."
New York Times (Publisher) (9/15/91) - "Finally, the baddest boys in rock are back on record--and nearly as confused, abused, defensive and defiant as ever."