Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I (1991)

It had been a few years since the release of the instant classic Appetite For Destruction by Guns N’ Roses. Although on the inside, the band had a number of issues by this point, it seemed that this was another release that was powerful and full of energy. In any case, let’s take a listen to the first half of this two part album release, of which both parts were released as individual albums on the same day of release, and we should hope it is a good listen indeed.

We kick off with Right Next Door To Hell which begins with Slash playing a six string bass here. Some awesome guitar leads and drums enter, and we are underway here. Axl Rose begins singing, and this is quite a catchy piece of music, and definitely a great start to this album. It has some interesting lyrics to it as well, which make this piece a hellish listen, indeed. The guitar solo and manic profanity screaming here are insane. Quite a good piece of music from start to finish.

Next along is Dust N’ Bones which has an eerie introduction, before launching into a boogie style piece with piano. This is a really fun and interesting listen, and is very catchy and entertaining. Slash obviously is the real star here, apart from Axl Rose. His playing is underrated and nicely placed here, neither playing too much nor too little, he just delivers. A great climax occurs in the middle, before launching into a massive guitar solo. Excellent music here, and this is really catchy and cool. The outro has some repeated vocals and the whole song breathes attitude. Good music here, and very different to a lot of today’s music.

Live And Let Die is the famous Paul McCartney and Wings song for the James Bond film of the same name, but covered by Guns N’ Roses. It is very odd and seemingly out of place here, but is a good cover regardless. Seemingly a strange oddity here on this album, especially given the mixture of music, it sounds weird. Good but weird nonetheless. Interesting listen in retrospect. Definitely unusual, but catchy.

Don’t Cry (Original) is a real highlight of this first part of album releases. It begins with a nice and gentle guitar arpeggio, and just sounds really cool. This is a really tremendous listen, especially in the chorus. It’s a slow ballad full of Rock power and energy here. It builds up slowly and gradually, before launching into a fantastic guitar solo by Slash. It is a very powerful and moving piece, sounding like a build up of powerful energy and sound. Surprisingly good for Guns N’ Roses, the looped vocal at the end is hilarious. Good tune.

Next along is Perfect Crime which begins with some nice riffs and is a semi-Thrash piece that sounds different and energetic. It is a more fun listen from Guns N’ Roses here, and goes into a strange midsection that sounds different. Slash plays an awesome and frenetic guitar solo here. This is a good effort, but sounds a little humourous as well. Different.

After that is You Ain’t The First which is seemingly a parody, with acoustic slide guitars and some Country style feel to it. It’s a different listen all right about male sexual fulfillment and just sounds like a real oddity in the back of the Guns N’ Roses catalogue. Short and weird, it is only two and a half minutes long. Very odd, but listenable all the same. At the end it fades out, with someone calling, “to the bar!”. Very male.

Bad Obsession starts with some weird harmonica and drum sound, before going into a riff heavy sound courtesy of Slash. This is a really excellent piece of music by Guns N’ Roses and just sounds different. An unusual sound and riff based piece, this is surprisingly catchy for the piece that it is. Rather catchy and Southern music influenced here, this is a strange but catchy song here. Weird and wonderful for sure, this is a definite ode to Southern Rock. Great stuff and one of the highlights of this album for sure. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously here, but is great nonetheless. Awesome stuff to hear. The outro is interesting, too.

Back Off Bitch is an out there song for sure. It begins with loud guitars and rolling drumbeats, before launching into a very big statement by Guns N’ Roses, evocative of The Sex Pistols in a way. It is surprisingly good and catchy here, and just sounds really tremendous and funny, too. A really cool piece if you are a male who doesn’t mind sexism, but definitely not otherwise. A wonderful song to hear if you don’t mind being offended, it is a great statement here that is tremendous. No doubt feminists and a lot of wider society would be appalled by a song such as this, be warned if you easily get offended. The outro is pretty funny, too.

Next along is Double Talkin’ Jive which is more normal compared to the previous track. It begins with a thundering drumbeat and a great sense of riff based rhythm. It is a good song, once again that is quite short in length, but interesting all the same. A cool guitar solo by Slash is here, and it just sounds tremendous. It fades out fairly quickly, before some Spanish sounding acoustic guitar parts finish this off, in a Black Sabbath style way. Strange, but good nonetheless.

Following is the Guns N’ Roses classic eight minute plus piece November Rain which begins with piano and strings that sound very melancholy and moody. This adds a moody and, yes, sensitive sound to the whole thing. It is a good start to a song of its sort, and Axl Rose sings nicely here. It is a melodramatic piece for those who dig Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Quite possibly one of Axl Rose’s better performances here, it sounds different, emotional and touching piece that really doesn’t sound at all like Guns N’ Roses. A tremendous and wonderful listen all the same, Slash’s guitars remind us that this is indeed, a Guns N’ Roses song, with some very dramatic solos here that are magnificently played. The midsection is very much a great thing, with Axl singing away nicely with Slash’s guitars. Very wonderful, there are some gospel vocals in the background, along with other pseudo-Classical touches here. Decent song, although rather depressing in some ways. It goes into piano and marching drums towards the end, before Slash does another classic solo here. Some chanted vocals are here at the end as well, before concluding with the sound of rain. Good song.

The Garden begins a child saying, “No, I won’t” with some Led Zeppelin-esque acoustic guitar and slide guitar parts that sound different. This is a very unusual piece that seems more about sonic textures than actual music here. It quickly goes into a really weird section of crashing instrumentation and loud guitars. This is definitely an oddity in Guns N’ Roses back catalogue. Slash plays an amazing guitar solo here near the midsection, which is an excellent job for him to accomplish. A strange and somewhat throwaway piece, except for Slash’s guitar playing, this is rather trashy music, to be fair. A weird and odd song, this is an unusual piece for Guns N’ Roses.

Garden Of Eden comes next and it sounds like a continuation of the previous song. It’s fast and upbeat and sounds different. A shorter song at under three minutes long, this sounds like something from the Bill and Ted or Wayne’s World film series, in other words, it is not that serious. Some excellent guitar solos are here from Slash, it is easy to see why he eventually became a star on his own. Okay, but short.

Next along is Don’t Damn Me which begins with some raunchy guitar playing, before launching into more Rock and Roll with some pseudo-Biblical themes. This is another good song with some bad Rock and Roll attitude here, it just sounds punchy and direct. Towards the middle, it goes into a strange and slower section of music with processed vocals and Gibson Les Paul licks that make this a different audio experience than you’d expect. A good piece of music to blast in your car and annoy others in the neighbourhood with. Slash’s solos, once again, are the real highlight of this song, and indeed, album. Towards the end, some nice guitars and bass play along, before the rest of the band return to finish this off. It goes into a super thrashy section right at the end, before concluding with more interesting words from Axl Rose. Nice effort.

Following is Bad Apples which starts out with a semi-Fender Stratocaster sound (which is highly unusual for Slash) before launching into another song which is quite good, with piano. This album seemingly is more an experimentation in audio sound rather than anything else. Still, it is well delivered and Slash obviously plays super well here. The lyrics here are pretty nasty, but is an entertaining song nonetheless. This is a rough and ready style Rock tune, and Slash plays another excellent guitar solo here. He no doubt is an incredible guitar player, and does very nicely here. Good song but still not Appetite For Destruction in terms of overall quality.

Dead Horse begins off sounding rather Grunge like lyrically from Axl Rose, but with lone acoustic guitar supporting him. It is an excellent intro, before launching into a more typical Guns N’ Roses piece that is really quite good. A good and rocking piece with a serious edge to it, this is an okay song. It sounds really energetic and different here, a really nicely crafted piece of lively music. It’s interesting that Guns N’ Roses touched upon loneliness here, when Grunge was about to become a big thing. It ends with a sample of the intro, before the sound of the tape is wound back.

Coma is last here and is by far the longest song, at 10 minutes in length. It begins with a heartbeat sound and some rather odd melodies, followed by pounding drums, before launching into some nasty sounding guitar riffs. It has more rather self oriented lyrics about not wishing to leave a coma. Perhaps not quite necessary to finish this album like this, it sounds quite dirge like and despite having many different and interesting sections here, is a fairly naff tune. It needn’t be here at all really, and is neither impressive nor necessary for Guns N’ Roses. It’s a weird song all the same that goes into a quieter and ghostly sounding midsection. A really odd and unusual midsection is here with some loose guitar and bass parts that sound different. It is followed by pounding drums and guitar parts. Really, apart from Slash’s guitars here, this piece is pretty unnecessary to hear, and drags down the album towards the end here. Pretty awful to hear, and is a real question of why the group would add this onto this record. Not exactly a great listening experience talking about suicide and similar issues here, Guns N’ Roses could have done better here. A largely forgettable and awful listen here, it ends with some awful feedback guitars, before a final drum roll finishes this off.

To be fair, this is a good Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album, but not a great one. It hasn’t aged at all well and unlike Appetite For Destruction, it seems to lack a lot of the magic of a consistent listening experience from start to finish. Yes, there are good moments here but all the same, it is lacking in overall consistency. Many fans see this as inferior to Use Your Illusion II and they are likely correct. Only really recommended if you like Guns N’ Roses a lot, otherwise, avoid.

Ordinary.

6/10