USE YOUR ILLUSION II is the fourth studio album by Hard Rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the USE YOUR ILLUSION TOUR, and as a result the two albums are sometimes seen together as a double album. Bolstered by the lead single "You Could Be Mine", USE YOUR ILLUSION II was the slightly more popular of the two albums, selling 770,000 copies in its first week and debuting at #1 on the U.S. charts, ahead of USE YOUR ILLUSION I's first week sales of 685,000. USE YOUR ILLUSION II is Guns N' Roses best selling album in the U.S., having sold 5,587,000 units as of March 2010 according the Nielsen SoundScan. Both albums have been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. It was also #1 on the U.K. Albums Chart for a single week.
The USE YOUR ILLUSION albums were a stylistic turning point for Guns N' Roses. In addition, USE YOUR ILLUSION II is more political than most of their previous work, with songs like "Civil War", a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and "Get in the Ring" dealing respectively with the topics of violence, law enforcement, and media bias. The thematic material deals less with drug use than previous Guns N' Roses albums. USE YOUR ILLUSION I featured mostly songs pre-APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION (with notable exceptions) while USE YOUR ILLUSION II featured more tracks written during and after APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION.
The band's cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" had been released almost a year earlier on the DAYS OF THUNDER soundtrack. "Civil War" was debuted at the 1990 Farm Aid concert. That concert also featured Guns N' Roses playing a cover of the U.K. Subs song "Down on the Farm". "Civil War" was released as a B-side to "You Could Be Mine". The song was also released on a charity album called NOBODY'S CHILD. The album was a fund-raising compilation for Romanian orphans.
The first single, "You Could Be Mine", was released in July 1991 and is featured in the film TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. The song was not released on the actual T2 soundtrack. The band also filmed a video featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in character as the Terminator, and a loose plot featuring Axl Rose himself as its "target." The original subject matter of the song dealt with Izzy Stradlin's failed relationship with his ex-girlfriend Angela Nicoletti.
Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, coral sitar); Axl Rose (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums, sound effects); Slash (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo); Duff McKagan (bass, percussion, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Recording information: A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Image Recording, Hollywood, CA; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; Studio 56, Hollywood, CA.
Audio Mixer: Bill Price.
Produced by Mike Clink & Guns N' Roses.
Track Listing:
1. Civil War - 7:36 2. 14 Years - 4:17 3. Yesterdays - 3:13 4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - 5:36 5. Get in the Ring - 5:29 6. Shotgun Blues - 3:23 7. Breakdown - 6:58 8. Pretty Tied Up - 4:46 9. Locomotive - 8:42 10. So Fine - 4:09 11. Estranged - 9:20 12. You Could Be Mine - 5:48 13. Don't Cry [Alternate Lyrics] - 4:42 14. My World - 1:22
Use Your Illusion II (1991)
ReplyDeleteGuns N' Roses
Album Description:
USE YOUR ILLUSION II is the fourth studio album by Hard Rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the USE YOUR ILLUSION TOUR, and as a result the two albums are sometimes seen together as a double album. Bolstered by the lead single "You Could Be Mine", USE YOUR ILLUSION II was the slightly more popular of the two albums, selling 770,000 copies in its first week and debuting at #1 on the U.S. charts, ahead of USE YOUR ILLUSION I's first week sales of 685,000. USE YOUR ILLUSION II is Guns N' Roses best selling album in the U.S., having sold 5,587,000 units as of March 2010 according the Nielsen SoundScan. Both albums have been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. It was also #1 on the U.K. Albums Chart for a single week.
The USE YOUR ILLUSION albums were a stylistic turning point for Guns N' Roses. In addition, USE YOUR ILLUSION II is more political than most of their previous work, with songs like "Civil War", a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and "Get in the Ring" dealing respectively with the topics of violence, law enforcement, and media bias. The thematic material deals less with drug use than previous Guns N' Roses albums. USE YOUR ILLUSION I featured mostly songs pre-APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION (with notable exceptions) while USE YOUR ILLUSION II featured more tracks written during and after APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION.
The band's cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" had been released almost a year earlier on the DAYS OF THUNDER soundtrack. "Civil War" was debuted at the 1990 Farm Aid concert. That concert also featured Guns N' Roses playing a cover of the U.K. Subs song "Down on the Farm". "Civil War" was released as a B-side to "You Could Be Mine". The song was also released on a charity album called NOBODY'S CHILD. The album was a fund-raising compilation for Romanian orphans.
The first single, "You Could Be Mine", was released in July 1991 and is featured in the film TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. The song was not released on the actual T2 soundtrack. The band also filmed a video featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in character as the Terminator, and a loose plot featuring Axl Rose himself as its "target." The original subject matter of the song dealt with Izzy Stradlin's failed relationship with his ex-girlfriend Angela Nicoletti.
Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, coral sitar); Axl Rose (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums, sound effects); Slash (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo); Duff McKagan (bass, percussion, background vocals); Dizzy Reed (piano, organ); Matt Sorum (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Recording information: A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Image Recording, Hollywood, CA; Metalworks Recording Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; Studio 56, Hollywood, CA.
Audio Mixer: Bill Price.
Produced by Mike Clink & Guns N' Roses.
Track Listing:
1. Civil War - 7:36
2. 14 Years - 4:17
3. Yesterdays - 3:13
4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - 5:36
5. Get in the Ring - 5:29
6. Shotgun Blues - 3:23
7. Breakdown - 6:58
8. Pretty Tied Up - 4:46
9. Locomotive - 8:42
10. So Fine - 4:09
11. Estranged - 9:20
12. You Could Be Mine - 5:48
13. Don't Cry [Alternate Lyrics] - 4:42
14. My World - 1:22