Released‎: ‎September 17, 1991

I listen to the Use Your Illusion albums more than I do Appetite these days. FM radio has cut the balls off Appetite. While besides November Rain and the 2 covers, UYI 1 & 2 are still pretty fresh. They both have some filler, but the good tracks are great tracks. It also re emphasizes how vital Izzy was to the band and how sour I still am that they fucked him over because of money for the "reunion" shows. Ultimately leading to something I never thought I'd do, and that pass on seeing Axl, Slash and Duff sharing the same stage again.

There are some great songs on those albums which I sometimes forget are there. Breakdown in particular is one I never think about, but love when it pops up.

I did see the tour a month or so ago. It was good, although nothing I'd write home about. The sound was awful, so I was kind of disinterested after about an hour.

Twenty-six years, damn! I remember buying the cassettes of both the day they were released, and playing them in my car constantly for months after. Yeah, lots of filler but lots of great tracks too, I especially like the Izzy songs.

These two along with Metallica's Black Album made for a great time. Wore out the cassettes for all three. Still listen to the CDs (I was a slow adopter) quite a bit today.

Between the two there are enough tracks to compile a full release that stands up to Appetite. But as a whole the filler brings them down.

I was 13. At that time saving enough money to buy a CD took me several weeks. I remember only having enough money to buy one and I agonized over which one to buy.

I went with Part 1.

Lol, exact same thing here. In a way, that made it even better because I had time to fully digest I & made the anticipation of when I could buy II all that much more exciting.

I miss the days when music stuck around in your CD player for a while. Nowadays I would Spotify it a few of times & move onto something else.

Another memory I have of when this was new is that only part 2 had the parental warning label.

The first shipment of these didn't have the usual Parental Advisory sticker but instead one saying "This album contains language that may be offensive to some people. They can f--- off and buy something from the New Age section!" The later shipments replaced that with the Parental Advisory sticker.

Was volunteering at a local non-commercial radio station (KDVS) at the time, they actually got both albums in and put them out for airplay though they didn't usually do that with mainstream stuff, and I don't think anyone actually played them on the air- but someone wrote on one of them "How cool- one album for the price of 2!"

I remember waiting in line at Sam Goody to buy the cassettes while on vacation with my family in AZ. They had sold out of I and so only II was available. Being a kid, I lagged forever on getting the first volume so I have a closer relationship with the material from II.

Great albums, even with the few filler songs.

Ironically, I just got both albums on vinyl yesterday as a birthday present to myself. I wanted the versions I remembered from H.S. I got a pleasant surprise when my parents got them for me for Christmas of 1991. They knew I wanted them but could not purchase them since I was only 15 and the age to purchase was 17 at the time (though it's my understanding they would sell them to you regardless of the sticker if you went to the right place).

There was one cashier at Best Buy that was 50/50 on whether or not she would sell to us. So annoying.

I was 16 and we were moving so I bought both on cassette and put the first one in the player in the car stereo and my dad who was driving was shocked when Right Next Door To Hell came on. It was a 12 hour car drive so we listened to both albums several times. I think the only lyrics he could understand were the curse words. A few times I blushed.

I would have loved to see his reaction to GET IN THE RING!

Anyway dammit!, thought this thread was for deluxe versions of these masterpieces.

GnR, specifically these 2 albums are what got me out of rap & into rock. Did we really need the Don't Cry alt lyrics though??

I turned down free tickets to the last Houston show for the same reason.

While I agree with this in theory, the issue for me personally is what I consider filler may not agree with what you and others do. Whenever I see people's lists of their version of a 1 disc album it almost always includes songs I am not that crazy about.

Although I think everyone can agree the ALT version of Don't Cry and My World are the 2 most unneeded tracks.

Best Buy was around in 1991? Not where I lived.

The mini chains where I bought music, like Wherehouse, Music Plus, and Tower Records never enforced any age rule on those warning stickers. There was no rule. This wasn't the MPAA, there were no guidelines for enforcement.

I feel the same as hdnmickey, and this is pretty much what I would pick minus the alt-Don't Cry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_Your_Illusion

Use Your Illusion I

"Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 3:04
"Don't Cry" (original) (Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose) – 4:44
"You Ain't the First" (Stradlin) – 2:36
"November Rain" (Rose) – 8:57
"The Garden" (Rose, West Arkeen, Del James) – 5:22
featuring Alice Cooper
"Dead Horse" (Rose) – 4:17

Use Your Illusion II
"Civil War" (Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan) – 7:42
"14 Years" (Stradlin) – 4:21
"Yesterdays" (Rose, Arkeen, James, Billy McCloud) – 3:16
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) – 5:20
"Estranged" (Rose) – 9:23
"Don't Cry" (alternate lyrics) (Stradlin, Rose) – 4:43

I had the CDs and played them to the point they wouldn't play anymore.

No love for "You Could be Mine"?

I would add that to the tracks on my post. I would also remove "Knockin' On Heavin's Door" - insufferable song IMO.

I've always preferred the alt. version of "Don't Cry."