Use Your Illusion II

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  • Q Template:Stars September 1991
    • |

    Last album = Use Your Illusion I
    (1991) | This album = Use Your Illusion II
    (1991]) | Next album = 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 slightly more popular of the two albums, debuting at #1 on the US charts (although both went on to reach 7x platinum sales).

    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 and is featured in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, however the song was not released on the actual T2 soundtrack. 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). Each of them also has at least one track sung by other members of the band: lead vocals on "So Fine" are performed by bassist Duff McKagan, lead vocals on "You Ain't The First" are performed by Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin' sings "Dust N' Bones" in Use Your Illusion I).

    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...
    • I've worked too hard for my illusions just to throw them all away...

    Another song's lyrics ironically sum up the fate of the band: From "Pretty Tied Up":

    • Once there was this rock n' roll band rollin' on the streets, time went by and it became a joke, we just needed more and more fulfillin' uh-huh, time went by and it all went up in smoke.

    Finally, the song "Get in the Ring" finds the band lashing out at a career's worth of critics and enemies. Among those referred to by name specifically are editors of several entertainment magazines.

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    Track listing

    1. "Civil War" - 7:36
    2. "14 Years" - 4:17
    3. "Yesterdays" - 3:13
    4. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - 5:36
    5. "Get in the Ring" - 5:29
    6. "Shotgun Blues" - 3:23
    7. "Breakdown" - 6:58
    8. "Pretty Tied Up (The Perils Of Rock N' Roll Decadence)" - 4:46
    9. "Locomotive (Complicity)" - 8:42
    10. "So Fine" - 4:04
    11. "Estranged" - 9:10
    12. "You Could Be Mine" - 5:48
    13. "Don't Cry" (Alternate Lyrics) - 4:40
    14. "My World" - 1:22
    [edit]

    Personnel

    • Axl Rose: vocals, piano, keyboards and drum machine on "My World", rhythm guitar on "Shotgun Blues"
    • Slash: guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo on "Breakdown"
    • Izzy Stradlin: guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "14 Years", sitar on "Pretty Tied Up"
    • Duff McKagan: bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "So Fine", percussion on "Locomotive"
    • Matt Sorum: drums, percussion, backing vocals
    • Dizzy Reed: piano, organ, backing vocals

    Also featuring:

    • Steven Adler: drums on "Civil War"
    • Howard Teman: piano on "So Fine"
    • Shannon Hoon: vocals on "Don't Cry"
    • Johann Langlie: sound effects on "My World"
    • The Waters: backing vocals on "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
    [edit]

    Trivia

    • One of the lines from the song, "You Could Be Mine", "With your bitch slap-rappin' and your cocaine tongue/You get nuthin' done" also appears in the liner notes from Appetite for Destruction.

    Template:Guns N' Rosescs:Use Your Illusion II it:Use Your Illusion II pt:Use Your Illusion II fi:Use Your Illusion II

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