When The Music Hits Presents:

Flashback Friday

I missed y’all again last week and to be honest as much as I’m gonna try and keep this to a bi-weekly thing don’t be surprised if it’s every 2-3 weeks. Work is stupid, win the lottery. With that being said let’s revisit two albums which were released by one band on the same day, Septemeber 17th 1991, which total 30 tracks and come in at just over 2 1/2 hrs. The band? Guns N’ Roses (GNR). The Albums? Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

I decided to revisit these albums recently and was shocked at not only how many of the tracks I remembered but how many of them I fucking love. A bit of a departure from the more Hard Rock sound that they had on Appetite for Destruction, these albums contained more blues influenced classic rock with an attitude than blistering punk and metal. Though there was plenty of that also. This lead to a very mixed  reception by fans but ultimately both albums were a huge success, each selling over 7 million copies. Use Your Illusion II selling more due to the fact that it contained You Could Be Mine which was featured in a little summer blockbuster called T2. There was also a video for the single which featured Arnold as The Terminator in search of Axl. Now that I think about it there were quite a few videos from these albums and I loved every one of them (we would watch them on MTV, back when they played music). I really got into these albums a few years later when I was a moody teenage boy looking for love as much as I was to be the angry rebellious cool guy. Wanna show that soft side? Here’s a little November Rain. Hanging out talking shit shootin’ hoop in the alley? How about we Get In The Ring (Motherfucker). These albums are definitely are in my top 10 nostalgic albums of all time. Fuck, it’s taken me over an hour to write this thing because I can’t stop flashing back as I sit here taking in another listen. Which in turn has made me feel old. So I’m gonna wrap this shit up. If for some reason you never sat down and listened to GNR do yourself a favor and take in these two albums. While it’s not what they were, I think it’s the best we would ever get and could really hope for. A mature sound covering a variety of sub genres with a swagger that I can only imagine translated to one amazing live show. So kickstart your Friday and give a listen.

Track Listing

Right Next Door To Hell*
Dust N’ Bones
Live & Let Die
Don’t Cry (Original)*
Perfect Crime
You Ain’t The First
Bad Obsession
Back Off Bitch*
Double Talkin’ Jive
November Rain*
The Garden*
Garden of Eden*
Don’t Damn Me
Bad Apples*
Dead Horse*
Coma

* denotes favorites

Track Listing

Civil War*
14 Years*
Yesterdays*
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door*
Get In The Ring*
Shotgun Blues*
Breakdown
Pretty Tied Up
Locomotive
So Fine
Estranged*
You Could Be Mine*
Don’t Cry (Alternate Lyrics)*
My World

* denotes favorites