The UYI records were great, but also flawed. I guess a bit like The White Album (but two of it at once...), the sprawling, self-indulgent nature of it is part of what makes it so legendary, and you have to respect the cojones of a band doing something so massive at such a relatively early stage in their career; but there's a lot of stuff on there that is pretty unremarkable to say the least. I imagine we could all come up with different tracklists for a slimmed down version, but at the end of the day for every Estranged there's a My World, for every November Rain there's a So Fine, for every Don't Cry there's... uh... a rather self-indulgent version of the same song with different lyrics. And this is taking place in the context of what's already a pretty slim back catalogue, by the standards of other big league rock bands (with obvious exceptions like Nirvana, of course).
Personally, I wouldn't want a double album if it's going to be as patchy and inconsistent as UYI.
Of course, Iron Maiden are just about to release their first studio double album, so the format isn't dead - but they've built up a lot more credit (in terms of people being willing to give such an ambitious project it a shot) than Guns N' Roses have, with pretty consistent album releases, tours and general public activity and visibility. Would I buy a Guns N' Roses double album? The very day it came out, of course I would. But I wouldn't expect a general world-going-nuts for it repeat of 1991, not unless it was messianically good (cf. Chinese Democracy).
I must admit I find it funny when some say they?d prefer less music.
It?s an interesting point of view.
I don?t really think the Illusions were all that flawed.
Some songs aren?t as strong as others, but none of them (with the exception of My World) are begging to be skipped.
I personally dig So Fine, and a lot of the tracks some posters here seem less keen on.
I think for the most part, if you are a fan of a bands music, you will usually appreciate the majority of songs they put out(especially in their prime).
Obviously some bands hang on too long, start mailing it in, or personnel changes alter their direction, but for the most part, I can dig the majority of songs by bands I enjoy.
So I say the more the merrier.
In the case of a potential new release, it may work in the opposite respect.
I found Chinese to be very patchy, with songs like Rhiad, Scraped, even the title track, sounding like filler.
A new release by the CD era lineup isn?t anywhere near as appealing to me as unheard material by the classic lineup.
But if they want to clear the vaults, clear them. Get it all out there, and hopefully for every Rhiad, there will be a Catcher in the Rye.
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