mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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appetite for destruction use your illusion I use your illusion II
Appetite For Destruction The debut of L.A.’s Guns N’ Roses is a fist in your face. On top of memorable and catchy riffs singer Axl Rose confidently delivers all the emotions that the legend claims are needed to create great art. Some people might raise an eyebrow or two to see the word art mentioned in this context, but is not art whatever form you choose to express your feelings? May it be poetry, painting, movies, theatre or music. Hard rock is music, so Appetite For Destruction would qualify. Fear, bitterness and cynicism along with personal agony, selfdoubt and boredom makes up the lyrics. As most rock and metal bands at the time, drugs and alcohol is frequently mentioned, but far from as glorified and romanticized as their peers presented it. Instead it serves as the only way to hide from your problems that the superficial surroundings are flooding you with. Talented guitarist Slash is given a lot of space and his playing is essential for the band. He is one of the very few metal/hard rock guitarists whom manages to play fast and technically good at the same as having a lot of feeling in his playing. Still it feels like this album belongs to Axl more than any other member, even he isn’t dominating in the way he would on later releases. In the end, Appetite For Destruction is as close to a group effort the band ever got, and every member has something to contribute. The center pieces of the album are “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. All of them breathing with raw energy and remains fresh to this day. However, the album is incredibly even and it’s hard to say anything bad about it, unless you are deliberately trying to point out fouls. You’d know that you’d be wrong, though. Guns N’ Roses are clearly influenced by other riff based bands, including the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen, Alice Cooper and maybe even Slade whilst Axl Rose is doing his best to imitate Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. Just like their heroes, Gun’s N’ Roses fires away melodically strong songs and thoughtful lyrics that does more than building up a bad attitude image. The musicianship is extremely high and the songwriting holds up in an impressive way, leaving Appetite For Destruction as a modern classic.
Use Your Illusion I Since the debut album, Guns N’ Roses toured the world, filled up on alcohol and one rock and roll image scandal followed the other. They did release one EP called Gn’R Lies based on mainly archived material. When Axl decided they should go into the studio again, they stayed there a while. The new project was very ambitious, both in format and musically. Not only did they release two double albums on the very same day, but they were also far more sophisticated than Appetite For Destruction. The thoughtful and well-constructed arrangements of “Don’t Cry” and epic “November Rain” witnessed about a new approach and hidden talent and admiration of classical rock and pop from the 60’s and 70’s. Elton John, David Bowie and Queen are a few artists that comes to mind. The acoustic blues ditty “You Ain’t The First” is done in the same vein as Rolling Stones’ blues numbers on Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed. Guns N’ Roses attempt fares better, mostly because the band is held tighter and the result is less messy. The Rolling Stones influences can also be heard in the up-tempo boogie rhythm of “Bad Obsession”, which is highlighted by great harmonica and a wonderful horn section. Some of the raw energy (maybe the honesty too) from Appetite is lost at the expense of the more mature arrangements, and sometimes the band sounds like they’re trying a bit too hard to sound like Guns N’ Roses is supposed to sound. Almost as a tribute band. However, when the band gets it together, they are clearly reaching for the spot as the world’s best metal band. Axl is in top form through out the album, and Slash does a fantastic job when he's given the opportunity (The Zeppelin-ish "The Garden", "Back off Bitch", "November Rain"). Maybe Queen sophisticated the genre with their multi-layered guitars and opera-influences, but Guns N’ Roses re-establishes metal and solidifies it as a serious art form. Use Your Illusion shows that even tattooed guys can be emotional and artistically important.
Use Your Illusion II At first it can be hard to tell the difference between the two Use Your Illusion-albums. Both of them features questionable covers (even if “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” is far from as stiff as the interpretion of “Live And Let Die”), both features “Don’t Cry” (how’s that for filler!), and both are so heavily pumped up with songs making the vinyl ready to crack any moment. However, Use Your Illusion II is far more melodic and pop-influenced and Slash’s tasteful and melodic guitar playing is given more time in the spotlight. He single handed saves “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and his intro to “Get In The Ring” certainly helps the song. The first half of this album is actually great, and while it doesn’t seriously challenge Appetite For Destruction, it blows away most of it’s twin album. Especially the opening “Civil War” is amazing. A hard rocking epic and one of the best songs ever written. Ambitiously constructed into different sections it is the “Stairway To Heaven” of the 90’s. The album could have been shorter and would definitely have benefited from that. However, the album isn’t quite the struggle to sit through as Use Your Illusion I. Even if I could do without “Locomotive” and the second version of “Don’t Cry”, they don’t harm the overall impression too much. This record is the better out of the two, but the other one holds too many great moments to ignore completely in favor of this one. You need both Use Your Illusion, but the second one should visit your record player more frequently.
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