Many conversations about Guns N’ Roses often begin and end with Appetite For Destruction. But after a stopgap release called Lies, GN’R returned in 1991 with twin albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. The biggest band in the world kept getting bigger, and no one was going to edit them. It was followed by a covers album, a revolving door of band members, and nearly two decades before Chinese Democracy arrived.
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However impossible it might have been to follow a perfect debut, GN’R would do it on their own terms. The albums arrived a week before Nirvana’s Nevermind upended the rock landscape. But the only thing capable of stopping GN’R was the internal chaos that defined them. “November Rain” and “Don’t Cry” were massive hits. Meanwhile, covers of Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Live And Let Die” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” became concert staples.
Navigating its 30 tracks is an undertaking, so today, let’s look at five bangers from Guns N’ Roses’ mammoth third and fourth releases.
“Dust N’ Bones” from ‘Use Your Illusion I’
Two tracks in, and it’s obvious this is not going to be Appetite part deux. Izzy Stradlin sings “Dust N’ Bones”, which highlights the band’s punk n’ blooze DNA. I always thought Stradlin was the coolest part of GN’R. A Keith Richards meets Johnny Thunders character. A calm figure between the perfect storm of Axl Rose and Slash.
“Yesterdays” from ‘Use Your Illusion II’
Similar to “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “Yesterdays” benefits from a broken-throated punk singing a tender melody. Unlike the sentiment behind most rock and roll songs about the past, Rose has little interest in nostalgia: “’Cause yesterday’s got nothing for me / Old pictures that I’ll always see.”
“Civil War” from ‘Use Your Illusion II’
“Civil War” opens Use Your Illusion II and features original drummer Steven Adler, recorded before he was fired from the band. It’s a hefty track, clocking in at around eight minutes. This is Rose’s protest song. It’s an interesting track, and the rest of the album shows how much Matt Sorum steadied the rhythm section after replacing Adler. But the real highlight, like most GN’R tunes, is Slash.
“You Could Be Mine” from ‘Use Your Illusion II’
The band rehearsed “You Could Be Mine” during the Appetite era, but it wasn’t finished in time to make the album. With its building intro, you can imagine it opening Use Your Illusion II. Instead, it’s relegated to track 12, following the panicked piano epic “Estranged”. It also features a rage bridge from Rose. A recurring theme on the twin LPs.
“Locomotive (Complicity)” from ‘Use Your Illusion II’
Appetite For Destruction had already made Slash a legend. You don’t need me to tell you that. But we need to discuss “Locomotive”. I will avoid saying it’s Slash’s best riff only because “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Paradise City”, and “Mr. Brownstone” already exist. But this banger features slippery blues, Duff McKagan’s signature bass fills, and Rose on some kind of psychedelic bad romance/grievance trip. Then, after countless shredding solos, “Locomotive” transforms into a rambling piano rocker, with Rose telling us, “Love’s so strange.”
Photo by Pete Still/Redferns
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