Use your illusions

 

Guns N’ Roses have to be one of the most fascinating hard rock — and plain rock — bands ever at this point. For instance, did you know that Axl Rose’s core influence growing up was Queen‘s Freddie Mercury? Which explains why he was one of the chosen few to celebrate the singer’s life on the first anniversary of his untimely death back at Wembley in 1992… But we diverge: the story today is about the year before that, when Rose and his Guns released not one but two albums simultaneously — both clocking at over an hour. Talk about making it big…

You could say that Guns N’ Roses like surprises: their 1987 smash debut, Appetite For Destruction, virtually up-ended the 1980’s radio-friendly arena rock era with their sheer sonic violence and an authentic rage that hadn’t been seen (or heard) in music since punk’s heyday a decade prior. The following year, they came back with G N’ R Lies, a short album that almost felt rushed, perhaps because it was: the success of their first LP was such — although delayed — that the guys felt compelled to create new material in the naive hope it would appease their new fans. Although not a dud, that sophomore effort does not stand on the same ground today as its predecessor. Or its successors…

Come 1991. For several reasons, one of which was the drug-related problem that had the band fire drummer Steven Adler, the guys had been silent for about 3 years. Not that they were not working: actually, they had amassed so much material that it could not fit in any conventional album format. So the Guns and their Roses did what they do best: surprise people all over again. After the 33-minute long Liar came Use Your Illusion I & II, boasting respective lengths of 1:16:04 and 1:15:57. And a 30 track total. Including several 9/10-minute long songs, the most famous of which being “November Rain”, which has come to be a bone fide anthem for the band. And for the world.

The fact that both albums came out the same day meant that they were in effect competing with each other. And Use Your Illusion II debuted higher, if only because it featured lead single “You Could Be Mine”. However, what is perhaps understandable given the incredible hype surrounding such an atypical project (and launch), overall reception for the LPs turned out to be somewhat lukewarm. Again, compared to the hype: over the years, both albums turned multi-platinum and “November Rain”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” or “Don’t Cry” now count as classic Guns songs — and global rock anthems in their own rights. Like the song says, give it a little patience…

In the short term, the fact that this new material was noticeably milder and more melodic than their previous work meant that early Guns N’ Roses fans were disappointed. In the longer run, the grandiosity showcased in those tracks has come to redefine modern classic rock. If that’s a thing…