Use Your Illusion I And II | Classic Album Under Review | Amplified 

These are the albums that made me go from someone who just listens to music, to playing it. It’s a guitar masterpiece from slash.

I remember the mystique of those two records. UYI 1 and UYI 2... As a kid it was colossal. I would ride my old kuwahara to my buddies place, invite the other kids in the neighborhood. We would lay on our backs on the floor and listen to Estranged. Our whole lives ahead of us. No parents and no rules. What a time.

I remember my friend Justin getting PULLED OUT OF SCHOOL to go buy Use Your Illusion. How he convinced his mother, who was a lawyer, to do that, is something I can't fathom to this day.

1991 what a year for music

Probably the best double studio album of all time. They are both amazing.

I bought these two albums when they both came out - 31 years ago - and I STILL love them. Ironically for their huge record sales, they are underrated works, historically overshadowed by 'Nevermind' and the whole grunge movement which was happening at the same time. G n' R were suddenly massively unfashionable in the press and the rock music scene in general, and I don't think that their reputation ever fully recovered, especially due to Kurt Cobain's open resentment of them. All these decades later, when all you have is the music left, you realise how brilliant these albums were: Inventive, intense, dynamic heavy rock. A truly great band in the history of rock n'roll.

Izzy Stradlin...the soul of GnR. He was pivotal to their sound.

I bought these two albums when they first came out, iirc I paid something like $25 bucks, a lot of money for a 13 year old kid back in '91-'92, but a small price to pay for the many years of enjoyment they've provided me.

I remember buying Illusion 1 LP on either the day, or at least the first week of release. My friend bought 2,so that we could copy them to cassette and give to the other. I distinctly remember sitting in my bedroom at 13 yo playing on my 8 bit Sega Master System listening to November Rain for the first time.

I remember getting the appetite destruction cassette tape when I was 9 years old and 1988 and it was probably one of the best times of my life it took a year for me to even realize that it was out for that time and again it was the best time of my life that album is the greatest!

UYI II is a true masterpiece

What some people on here call bloated, I call a lesson in musical mastery.

Personally I think the two Illusion albums are amazing & show the biggest band in the world (at the time) stretching their wings & growing into something bigger & more expansive than the amazing sound of Appetite. Yeah, there’s some filler, but I actually love a lot of the filler as there’s still some epic tracks also. Had they cut it down to a single 16 song album you could argue that it would’ve been even better than Appetite depending on what you’re looking for from them. That said, I like that they’d include the filler because although it weighed the albums down some, it also gave the fans so much more material to listen to. If I was editing it down to a single album I’d go: Civil War Dust N’ Bones November Rain You Could Be Mine Estranged Locomotive Don’t Cry (Original) Breakdown Dead Horse Bad Apples Pretty Tied Up Live & Let Die Don’t Damn Me Yesterdays Knockin’ On Heavens Door Coma

I saw this tour. June 1991, Nassau Coliseum Long Island, N.Y. Skid Row opened. G&R came on really late. 11:00pm. I thought they were gonna cancell. The crowd waited 2hours after SkidRow ended. But then they finally came on! The Illusion records weren't even out at the time. But they came out a few months after that show. But we had heard November Rain, Civil War & You Could be Mine. Those had been on the radio before the album came out. But that show that summer, was the best concert I've ever witnessed for a hard rock concert. G&R played so good. Izzy was still in the band. He hadn't left yet. He was gone in November....5 months later. By the way....the Spaghetti Incident record rocks! I dont care what anybody says; that album kicks ass!

The original GnR was the best band I've ever heard in my life in a strong 2nd Pantera, GnR will never be matched.

A trimmed down one disc album could have been seen as one of the best albums ever. For a mixture of talented songs and rockers, my list would be: Right Next Door to Hell - November Rain - Live and Let Die - You Could Be Mine - Don't Cry - Perfect Crime - Civil War - Breakdown - Locomotive - Don't Damn Me - The Garden - Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Estranged - Garden of Eden - Coma

I was 15 years old when illusions came out, I'd only discovered Appetite the year before so I was overloaded with GnR at that age, had moved to a foreign country and imagine my surprise that all the kids in the school there also were crazy about rock... More than my home country England... We all listened to GnR Metallica, Nirvana, chilli peppers and pearl jam, plus skid row, iron maiden etc .... It was the common interest between all the students, we were all foreigners in a different country and music kept us together....

The Greatest Hard Rock band of all Time 🤘🤘

They made like a dozen music videos from those albums. They were on mtv none stop for two years with a new video every couple months . On top of touring the entire time!

21:30 it’s so true , Steven wasn’t the best drummer ever but he had so much feel , Steven Adler was the perfect drummer for Guns’n’Roses and yes Izzy was the backbone for Guns’n’Roses sound and obviously Slash made magic with whatever Izzy brought to the band , it’s was just the perfect dynamics every member truly complimented each other , just like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple Beatles and Black Sabbath the perfect guys put together!

The reason why this only happened once in history is because Gn'R was being way too generous. With 31 songs, you could make 3 seperate albums over the next 3 years. Still, I bought both tapes upon release when I was 14 years old.

The 3 songs, November Rain , Don't Cry, and Estranged are only part of what these albums are all about. The rest of the music in the albums , whether original or cover , describe the emotion and feeling of what life for Axl was at that time. These 2 albums are Masterpieces.

Great documentary! I love how diverse is your channel, from Velvet Underground to Liberace to hip-hop and Beach Boys. A real RU-vid treasure.

Can't wait to watch this one! Thanks for posting

One of the best documentaries I’ve seen and probably one of my top 5 bands

Even as commercialized GNRs body of work eventually became...YCBM is a great exposition for the human race to experience what artists at the top of their game and the prime of their music abilities can create and showcase for fellow humans to experience and appreciate...just listen to the casual build up and collaborations from the first note and on...

I couldn’t relate to the material on these albums. Appetite For Destruction was such a powerful debut that it was almost like their peak and everything that followed was going to be measured by this incredible collection of material. It seems practically impossible to create a record that would even measure up, let alone surpass it. In my opinion, not only did they never come close to capturing that vibe again, their material went in a very different and far more subdued direction. The result was that the material felt like it was forced and/or contrived to me. Having said that, Appetite was a complete surprise that appeared out of nowhere and got everybody’s attention. It was pretty cool to have grown up in the 80s and experienced the explosion of GnR into existence.

I'll always rep The Spaghetti album since it led me to discovering the Misfits. Listening to a Misfits album for the first time with zero knowledge of who they are or what their music sounds like was a solid childhood moment.

That dude thinking that the sunset strip is the only place where music exists is beyond me

I was 13 when use your illusion 1 & 2 came out and my mother and father said to my brother and myself allowed us to buy them on cassette. I got 1 and my brother got use your illusion 1. We listened to them religiously, both are hard to pick a winner but I do think that 2 had a few more better tracks

Izzy was the secret weapon of GnR...Also Steven Adler is one of the most underrated drummers from that time period...Steven Adler along with Sean Kinney form AIC were massive influences on my own playing 🧐🤘✌️

Loved seeing them during the Illusion tour when they were firing on every cylinder possible,very memorable guns and Metallica tour

Slash n Izzy chop it up like no other guitar duo ever imho. Unplug a speaker n listen to Appetite. Now switch. 2 completely different experiences/feels.

I think they did alright with these two albums..personally i don't only like the stand out songs..I love both albums listening to them whole from start to finish.. nowadays you can't find albums that are good from start to end...

The greatest rock band that the universe had ever produced. No dout about it.

Appetite was their masterpiece

When the Use Your Illusion tour was booked EVERYBODY was smitten with Appetite For Destruction! I had most of the Illusion cd's memorized, loved them. Was looking forward to the concert. Even though I waited starting 5 am & was one of the first in line they (concert venue) made us get bracelets & buy our tickets based off some kind of weird roll call so I was pretty sad, didn't get "called" first, didn't get very good seats, it was harsh. But my cousin had an amazing zest for life & would never just sit back & take sh*t.... so that night of the concert she asked at the front desk if we could upgrade out tickets, low & behold she got us close enough for Slash's sweat to get on me!!! THEN after the show they were hunting pretty girls to go backstage & she made that happen too!! GnR went on two hours late, this was widely reported, Axl takin the heat BUT my God he was magnificent!! It was so SO worth the wait however due to that, the concert getting over so late & the roadies telling us that all the girls would have to wait in a room for the band to come hang out & there was zero estimated time frame, they had no idea how long we'd be waiting & possibly not see them at all my cousin & I decided to leave. But in order to even get in that room you had to have a special pass.... and I got one. Thanks to her. I have the special backstage pass & felt sticker they gave us to this day. The performance was beyond my wildest dreams. I noticed that almost nobody knew the words to all the songs from Use Your Illusion & only a couple Appetite songs had the whole audiences attention. But I sang every song. People around me were impressed & called me a true fan. Truly one of THE best shows I've ever attended & I've been to Glastonbury twice/Radiohead. Guns & Roses were at peak. They were astonishingly good & my cousin made it a dream come true💕 I feel lucky as they started a decline shortly after & Axl being so late really caused problems on that tour. I got to see the beginning. Soundgarden opened for them man, BadMotorFinger Good to be alive🌊🐬

Fun fact: Today is April 21st, 2022. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert.

36:03 - "Metallica were putting out their sort of gigantic record" Yeah, it sold moderately well, I suppose while a small handful of people attended the tour. I may have heard that Sandman But True song once or twice on the radio? But it was an exciting time. I love that GnR song which featured on the soundtrack about some Austrian Robot. Apparently the director went on to make a film about a boat.

Awesome albums. Yeah!

THAT WAS AMAZING AND TOTALLY BRILLIANT ❤

Waiting for a remaster of both these albums ☺️☺️☺️

This is an interesting piece of work. I saw them in the autumn of 91' on this tour at Madison Square Garden. The same place where roughly 14 years before Led Zeppelin performed when I had just been born not too far from there.

Man I loved these albums as a kid and still do! Know every word and was to young to know Nirvana hated them but loved both!

Great albums

These came out when my youngest son was born on the next day. My husband and I saw them in Vegas. November rain was brand new and amazing.my husband and my son have both passed and I will always have these songs in my heart. I understand

Top 10 all time band, arguably top 5

Really enjoyed watching that.

I was 10 years old- thank God my older sister bought em both. I stole them about 5 years later, because I'd blown my money on KISS tickets 😆 got her copy of appetite, too. Love you, sis! One of the best bands EVER 🤘

izzys song writing and steven drums made gnr, slash and duff were definitely characters of the band but man izzy and adler were such key components

Estranged is imo the greatest song ever written by anybody ever and here in 2024 they are arguably the biggest band in the world right now, their reunion tours since 2016 proves that

This was not a documentary about the Illusions albums, it was a documentary about GNR. It spanned their whole history.

26:00 correction . From what I heard from an interview with Bob Claremont himself ...cant remember where. Bob Claremont was fired from Use your illusions mixing because Slash and Axl discovered the usage of drum samples which by the time wasn't a new mixing trick been used in the recording industry to make the drums more punchier ,clear and consistent in power.

I stood in line for Use Your Illusions 1 & 2

I love almost every song on both albums. My World is terrible but it was a prank by Axl on the rest of the band as he snuck it on there without them knowing lol. Dont Cry alternative and maybe Bad Obsession I could do without. But everything was killer

Use Your Illusion 2 has been my favourite album for the last 32 years

I bought every issue that Rip put out. R.I.P. Rip.

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie: the only double album since even in the same ballpark.

I remember the day I got back from being overseas, I bought both cassettes at the Camp San Mateo PX......For the next few months, all I heard were these two cassettes and the New Jack City soundtrack and I Got An OPP haha

Jeff Duran with the SRH hat! Bloody legend!👊♠️

Civil War, You Could Be Mine and November Rain are some of the best songs they ever wrote. Even better than the stuff on Appetite For Destruction, in my opinion.

Interesting...😎

Very good video! The only thing I disagree with is that Estranged ended the double albums with a "thud". If you get what Axl was trying to do with November Rain, Estranged comes across as even more powerful and beautiful. The lyrics are incredible and sonically, I've never heard anything like Estranged before or since. It's a hell of a powerful song and I think it's gotten more recognition over the years. I just got it earlier than most :)

Denise "because I was there" Ames.... haha... more ego than every band on the strip 😏Killer doc though... Thanks for posting.

My favorite all time albums. their White Album

One of my favorite liner notes of all time: "Fuck you, St. Louis!"

Very Good

Axle in biker shorts is truly embarrassing. You know your fashion choices are dubious when a kilt is an improvement.

That was cool to watch. I’m in my 40s so i was in high school and college when all this was playing out. I loved AFD and still think it’s a perfect hard rock record. I have played guitar since I was a kid and always loved slash’s style. GNR stood out in the 80s because they did have that off the rails image and punk rock attitude. They were like a mash up of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and the New York dolls. Bands like poison, warrant, and white lion were really pretty cheesy. That being said their sound did get a little more produced and lost some edge on the illusion albums. I didn’t care for them too much then they came out but have grown to like 7 to 10 of them tracks of the albums. I have never even listened to Chinese democracy because it’s not really GNR, having just one member is not sufficient. To me the key members of the band that gave them their sound where axl, slash and Izzy. Izzy was clearly a good song writer and his guitar style added a good grove to the songs on AFD.

8:39 Always liked Lon. It felt like he was everywhere during that time (shows, ect) seems like a good guy, knew his shit.

I love gun's n roses 🌹🌹🌹 I have apprentice of destruction is a good album I brought it while I was in high school back in Los Angeles California at that time!

I remember riding my bike down lee Trevino blvd miles and miles to buy this CD. Hate kids can’t do that anymore.

I actually prefer these to the first album to be honest, which I still think is very good

Ive never heard anyone say "guns n roses were so much better once matt and dizzy joined" no one ever has thought that in the whole world apart from one mental great but mental dude .... Axl Fxxcking Rose!!!!! God bless that crazy genius!

lol being born in 79' i experienced these guys in their prime, but they were kind of taken for granted at the time, we had Queen and other bands. Looking back, they were only second to Queen IMHO. Fuck they were good and i knever realised it.

I prefer illusion 1, But neither are as good as appetite.

I liked November Rain, and I also liked Estranged and feel that it was somewhat under rated.

When you hear poisons style compared to guns you can see why guns hated poison

The best concert I have ever been to was GnR in Pittsburgh, PA.

Should have been a killer single album

I remember the day this double disc set hit store shelves Best Buy opened at midnight and people were wrapped around the building

I still think they could of made one with 14 tracks (2) covers that would of rivaled AFD . I lean hard to Illusion 1 . I like Dead Horse , Coma , Back Off , Don’t Cry original . Although Cival War may be favorite song of theirs all time .

It took me years (by that I mean like 2010's) to actually appreciate these records. Like everybody else at the time I bought them both the night they came out and the only songs I liked were Right next Door to Hell, Garden of Eden, Yesterdays & You Could be Mine. There was too much to digest (I had my own band at the time & I was booking clubs as well) I thought it was way over produced & without Steven it really didn't sound like GnR.

Spaghetti Incident is a perfectly excellent record.

took me 30 years to appreciate these albums. as a teen in 90s when they came.out, i didnt like either of them. mayne 3 songs total. now and days i hear what theh were doing. still think Lies is the best album

I can't understand why so many people wait in line for hours for an album on release day. It's gonna be available for a long time after. Especially if it's by the biggest band in the world at the time. Record Store Day is different- most are limited editions.

The drums were way more powerful and sounded great on them albums I must say.. love that sound. but not taking anything away from Steve or his sound or style at all.. he was amazing too. and at least he survived it. all of them did... props to them. not an easy life by no means. one of the most dangerous occupations in the world!

Use your illusion 2 was better than 1

Civil War my favourite G'nR song.

Talking about Coma it wasn't Axl that was saved by doctors it was Slash and Axl wrote the song after that incident.... That's what I understood anyway?

Get in the ring kinda reminds me of suicidal tendencies song, "institutionalized

coma is epic..

Before another person blurts out "GNR would be nothin without (insert favorite band member) Stones wouldnt be Stone without Keith or Mick, Zeppelin without Plant or Page etc. Enjoy the band and be happy these guys got together and that particular chemistry gave us some KICK ASS music

Coma and Locomotive are in their top 3 best songs

6:28 44:12 Backing vocal 1:02:23 St Louis

I saw this tour in Pittsburgh with Metallica! 🔥🎸🤘😎🤘🎸🔥

the rainbow is awesome

I loved the huge super group feel for the tour. It was like Axl’s bringing his circus to town. Also Nirvana never sold the tickets that GNR did and I don’t think Nirvana was as good live either

Nothing cheap about B&G at Denny’s in 2022

I personally love Chinese Democracy. It's basically a Axl punk rock/emo album but it's got some great material.