Use Your Illusion II
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| Use Your Illusion II | ||
|---|---|---|
| Missing image GunsnRosesUseYourIllusionII.jpg Album cover | ||
| CD, cassette and LP by Guns n' Roses | ||
| Released | September 16 & 17, 1991 | |
| Recorded | A&M Studios, Record Plant, Studio 56, Image Recording, Conway Studios & Metalworks Recording Studios - 1991 | |
| Genre | Hard rock | |
| Length | 75 min 21 sec | |
| Record label | Geffen Records | |
| Producer | Mike Clink and Guns n' Roses | |
| Professional reviews | ||
| Allmusic.com | 4 1/2 out of 5 | Link (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ahq6ktro9kl6x) |
| Q | 5 stars out of 5 | September 1991 (http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=119298&resource=119298&fixture_artist=140546) |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide | 4.5 out of 5 stars | |
| Guns and Roses Chronology | ||
| Use Your Illusion I (1991) | Use Your Illusion II (1991) | The Spaghetti Incident? (1993) |
Use Your Illusion II is an album by Guns n' Roses. It was the second of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour. Use Your Illusion II was the more popular of the two albums, debuting at #1 on the US charts.
The Use Your Illusion albums were a stylistic turning point for Guns n' Roses (see Use Your Illusion I for discussion). 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.
The first single "You Could Be Mine" was released in July 1991 is and featured in the film Terminator 2. The band also filmed a video featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. The original subject matter of the song dealt with Izzy Stradlin's failed relationship with his ex-girlfriend Angela Nicoletti.
The Use Your Illusion albums can be taken as a single cohesive work, and certain elements of Use Your Illusion II underscore this intent. For instance, both albums have a version of the song "Don't Cry". Both albums also have one cover song; "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney (Use Your Illusion I) and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan (Use Your Illusion II). In addition, certain lyrics give meaning to the name of the band and the title of the albums:
From "Breakdown":
- Funny how everything was roses when we held on to the guns.
From "Locomotive":
- You can use your illusion; Let it take you where it may...
The mood of the album is unfortunately broken by the song "My World", considered by many fans to be the worst Guns n' Roses song, and certainly very different musically from any other Guns n' Roses has written, with the possible exception of the song "Oh My God" written for the End of Days sound track.
Track listing
- "Civil War"
- "14 Years"
- "Yesterdays"
- "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
- "Get In The Ring"
- "Shotgun Blues"
- "Breakdown"
- "Pretty Tied Up"
- "Locomotive (Complicity)"
- "So Fine"
- "Estranged"
- "You Could Be Mine"
- "Don't Cry" (Alternate Lyrics)
- "My World"
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