Track Listing
Right Next Door To Hell
Dust N’ Bones
Live And Let Die
Don’t Cry
Perfect Crime
You Ain’t The First
Bad Obsession
Back Off Bitch
Double Talkin’ Jive
November Rain
The Garden
Garden Of Eden
Don’t Damn Me
Bad Apples
Dead Horse
Coma
TVV Rating
8.5/10
Average Critic Rating
9/10
Overview
This is Guns N’ Roses at their highest ambition. ‘Use Your Illusion I’ takes their snarling Hard Rock sound into Blues, acoustic passages and sweeping piano ballads, with enough firepower to hold it all together. Slash’s guitar work is massive - balancing dirty riffs with expressive solos that give these arrangements real emotional weight. Axl Rose’s work on the album is equally admirable, moving between furious outbursts and surprisingly tender moments - something we didn’t get hear before now. There’s a theatrical confidence running through the album, and the shifts in scale give it plenty of character. The lengthy runtime and occasional excess could use some trimming, with a few ideas stretched further than necessary. Even so, the sheer quality of the playing and the strength of its best moments make this an easy album to return to. Bold and packed with enough brilliance for almost anyone to enjoy.
Recommended for the OG Guns N’ Roses listeners who always secretly wished ‘Appetite For Destruction’ had a lovely ballad number on there.
Featured Song
November Rain
Most Streamed
November Rain
Least Streamed
Bad Apples
Underrated
The Garden
TVV Top 3 Songs
Live And Let Die | Don’t Cry | November Rain
Singles
Live And Let Die | Don’t Cry | November Rain
TVV Top 3 Non-Singles
Dust N’ Bones | Back Off Bitch | The Garden
Listen to Again?
Yes
No-Skip Album?
Yes
Album Artwork Rating
8.5/10
So, a nice ode to Raphael’s ‘The School of Athens’, with its fiery red/orange/yellow palette - iconic. I am just wondering why they focused on this one lil’ philosopher perched like a flamingo and scribbling away.. my only conclusion is that Axl Rose sees himself in this one trying to write ‘November Rain’.
Genre
Rock
RL
Geffen Records
Recording Studio
A&M Studios (Los Angeles, California) | Conway Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) | Image Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) | Metalworks Studios (Ontario, Canada) | Record Plant Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) | Studio 56 (Los Angeles, California)
