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"Use Your Illusion 2" by Guns N' Roses
By Webjockey Flur
View the Rifflist, hear the clips: "Use Your Illusion 2"
The Use Your Illusions. Guns N' Roses' magnum opus. Occasionally thought of as grandiose in hindsight compared to the alleged rawness of "Appetite for Destruction." The album is so steadfast in its belief of its mastery of everything rock, the cover art is ripped straight from Raphael's masterpiece "The School of Athens." Where we can only assume Axl and Slash are taking the roles of Plato and Aristotle.
Strangely, "Use Your Illusion 2" has not seemed to age as well as Part 1, despite having debuted as #1 on the charts the day of their simultaneous release. The popularity of tracks like the enduring "November Rain" of UYI1 have overshadowed the truly powerhouse tracks on UYI2, like "Locomotive" and "You Could Be Mine," the sensitivity of "Yesterdays" and the devastation of "Estranged." Axl & co.'s song writing range on UYI2 is so varied and broad, the scope of the album can feel disarming on first listen. For those up to the challenge, however, soon they will discover a spectrum of human emotion that can comfortably harness songs like the adolescently furious “Get in the Ring” and the tentative sorrow of "So Fine." This album kicks it, hard, and is a key component in the Guns' legacy... which, as this album proves, has everything to do with soulful, balls-out rock, and almost nothing to do with hair metal.
Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of this album is the final track. "My World," a head trip of computer effects and electro-vox, is a glimpse at the direction Axl thought Guns should go in after 1991. Was his idea of electronic and industrial clairvoyant? HELL YES. Was his version good and polished? HELL NO. So next time someone cries "Chinese Democracy" isn't out, just think... it all could've sounded like "My World."
If you like this album, check out the prerequisite "Use Your Illusion 1," Metallica's black album, and "A Night at the Opera" by Queen.
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