Use Your Illusion I (First Half vs Second Half)

[Bodhi]

in my opinion i think the Use Your Illusions are perfect the way they are...like it was said on the BTM it was the "good the bad and the ugly" of GNR....and considering it was the last record from the original line-up im happy that they busted their whole load(so to speak) on two full albums of everything they ever worked on...

[GeraldFord]

I always thought a lot of GN'R's most underrated songs were burried on the second half of each UYI album.

[COMAMOTIVE]

I always thought a lot of GN'R's most underrated songs were burried on the second half of each UYI album.

Indeed 

[bodine]

Trying to condense the Use Your Illusion albums into one disc is essentially impossible, unless sacrifices are made.

Didn't they do this?  And agreed....  sacrifices were made!

[OreGunsNRoses]

I think you're high.? Back off? Bitch is one of my favorites on the albumn.? And the only song that i skip (and the only one that i don't know ALL the lyrics to) is Garden of Eden.? I hate that damn song.

That and My world are the only two bad songs that GnR ever did.?

Ouch, I have to disagree.? Garden of Eden's lyrics kick serious ass. (I am a big lyrics guy).? "Most organized religions make a mockery of humanity, our governments are dangerous and out of control..."? Nothings changed in the past decade and a half, in fact it's become even more true.?

yaeh those are some awesome lyrics in that song

[COMAMOTIVE]

I think you're high.? Back off? Bitch is one of my favorites on the albumn.? And the only song that i skip (and the only one that i don't know ALL the lyrics to) is Garden of Eden.? I hate that damn song.

That and My world are the only two bad songs that GnR ever did.?

Ouch, I have to disagree.? Garden of Eden's lyrics kick serious ass. (I am a big lyrics guy).? "Most organized religions make a mockery of humanity, our governments are dangerous and out of control..."? Nothings changed in the past decade and a half, in fact it's become even more true.?

yaeh those are some awesome lyrics in that song

Oddly enough, when I first got the albums - Back off was one of my favs and Garden of Eden was one of my  least liked songs, but now..it shows you how 15 years can change a guy!   I'm more likely to skip over Back off and play Eden

[OreGunsNRoses]

yeah I used to skip over the song Breakdown, now I love it.

[Duffio]

Ok, so I was listening to Use Your Illusion I the other day and I couldn?t believe what an awesome record it was. But as I was listening to it, I noticed that the second half of the record was infinitely better then the first half of the record.

If you take a look at UYI I?s track listing, you will know what I mean.

1st Half:

1. Right Next Door to Hell ? Horrible song, and bad way to start a record
2. Dust N Bones ? Great Izzy song, one of the best of the 1st half
3. Live Let Die ? The is a cover so I consider it filler, not a great cover at that
4. Don?t Cry (Original Lyric?s) ? a GNR classic, but I prefer the UYI II version better
5. Perfect Crime ? Horrible song
6. You Ain?t the First ? Ok song, but still filler
7. Bad Obsession ? Great song, this one along with Dust N Bones are the only two great songs of the 1st half of UYI I.
8. Back Off Bitch ? Bad song, to me this is a gimmick song, (muck like ?Get in the Ring? on UYI II) Total filler and a track that I skip most of the time.
________________________________________________________________________
2nd Half:

9. Double Talking Jive ? Good song, I like the way it goes all acoustic at the end
10. November Rain ? Kind of played out, but still a GNR classic
11. The Garden ? Great Song!
12. Garden of Eden ? Great Song (Love the video)
13. Don?t Damn Me ? This is one of my personal favorites ? Great song
14. Bad Apples ? Another killer song ? I love this track
15. Dead Horse ? Another of my personal favorites ? This is a rocken? track
16. Coma ? This is one of the best GNR songs EVER and it?s also one of the most under rated. I love the guitar parts and the lyrics are some of the best Axl has ever written

So, as you can see, I think the 2nd half is way better then the first. I really don't understand the track listing for this record. Shouldn?t the great songs come at the beginning of the record, and all the filler songs come at the end? To me, this record is all upside down.

I know everyone has there one opinion, and this is just mine, but I?d like to see if anyone else agrees with me. (You can disagree too, that's ok)

Ben

I just love dead horse...
best song to make silly little comments like this one.
DEAD HORSE. 
this has been argued over time... over and over and over and over.  get over what you like that others don't like and vise versa.   

[slashisvr]

i just skip "you aint the first" 

[Drew]

i just skip "you aint the first" 

Me too.

[seely]

I was just wondering about this yesterday- if the Use Your Illusion records  took 13+ years to make such as how Chinese Democracy has, and if they were released after 13 years souding the exact same as the records actually do, would you say they represent 13 years of work?

My thought is that the leaks from CD are very similar, musically and wsong-writing wise, to some of the songs on the UYI records. So, if UYI had taken 13 years to make and ended up sounding the way the did in 1991, then would you say they represent 13 years of solid work?

[grog mug]

yeah...both masterpieces

[Wheres Izzy]

i just skip "you aint the first"?

I fucking love that song. I think lyrically it's pretty bad ass and it's a pretty cool mellow song to start the day off with.

[faldor]

I was just wondering about this yesterday- if the Use Your Illusion records? took 13+ years to make such as how Chinese Democracy has, and if they were released after 13 years souding the exact same as the records actually do, would you say they represent 13 years of work?

My thought is that the leaks from CD are very similar, musically and wsong-writing wise, to some of the songs on the UYI records. So, if UYI had taken 13 years to make and ended up sounding the way the did in 1991, then would you say they represent 13 years of solid work?

Firstly, I don't believe Chinese Democracy has been worked on for 13 years YET!  More like 8 or 9 years.  However, when all is said and done it could be 13 years worth, though I hope not.  IF we got two albums like the UYI's though, I'd be more than satisfied.  I know those albums get some flack, people say they have lots of filler, should've cut it down to one.  If that's the case, I guess I love filler.  I'm only expecting one album IF we get anything, but if we get two, oh happy day.

[OreGunsNRoses]

i just skip "you aint the first"?

me too. I was amazed to see it included in the one disc version of Use Your Illusion

[younggunner]

My ultimate UYI album would consist of:

Civil War
Dust N' Bones
Yesterdays
Locomotive
Dont Cry (Either Version)
14 Years
Breakdown
DTJ
November Rain
The Garden
Dead Horse
Estranged
YCBM
Coma

thats a sick album. Not sure if it could all squeeze onto 1 cd but it would be close.

Its not AFD in terms of radio play but it is def an epic album.

[Jim Bob]

i just skip "you aint the first" 

me too. I was amazed to see it included in the one disc version of Use Your Illusion

the songs that made that one disc illusions wal-mart piece of shit are only there because they have no dirty language in them.

[OreGunsNRoses]

i just skip "you aint the first"?

me too. I was amazed to see it included in the one disc version of Use Your Illusion

the songs that made that one disc illusions wal-mart piece of shit are only there because they have no dirty language in them.

yeah that probably true. I cant believe the tracklist on that thing. Did the band authorize that or what?

[gilee7]

I think I'm in the minority that prefers UYI 1 to UYI 2--- although both are masterpieces, in my opinion. UYI 1 just has more balls-to-the-wall rock n' roll on it, though UYI 2 has my all time favorite song, "Estranged."

"Right Next Door to Hell" isn't my fave song on the CD, but I think it's a good opening track, just because it sounds the most like an AFD song. It's like GNR was saying "Here's what we used to sound like . . ."' before exploding into several different musical directions on the rest of the CD.

"The Garden" is probably the only GNR song I don't like . . . but the rest of the CD is perfect, imo. I don't see songs like "Back Off Bitch" and "Bad Obsession" to be filler, because I think they're freaking awesome. It seems like I've went through a period of time with each GNR tune where I was obsessed with it and couldn't stop playing it.

I don't think the UYI albums have ever gotten the respect they deserve. I don't see any of the songs as filler. Each song ranges from good to great to oh-my-God-I-just-blew-my-load-that-song-was-so-goddamn-amazing!!  I admire and respect GNR for making the UYI albums because they didn't play it safe, like most bands do. They didn't try to recreate AFD. They ventured into new territory, trying all different kinds of sounds . . . from the sing-along-at-the-bar song "You Ain't the First" to the ballad "Don't Cry" to the punk genre with "Garden of Eden."

AFD will always be my favorite CD just because it was the album that introduced me to GNR. Because of that, it'll never replaced. With that said, I think the UYI albums are the most daring, ambitious albums to date. If you consider them as one joint CD, I think it has to be considered the greatest album of all time (what other album has such masterpieces like "Estranged" and "November Rain" and "Coma" and "Civil War"?).

[JMack]

(Quote)gilee 7
I think I'm in the minority that prefers UYI 1 to UYI 2--- although both are masterpieces, in my opinion. UYI 1 just has more balls-to-the-wall rock n' roll on it, though UYI 2 has my all time favorite song, "Estranged."

I agree with most everything in the post especially the above sentence.