Guns 'N' Roses
Use Your Illusion I

LA RECENSIONE

In 1991, after a long wait, the guns had started firing again. They fired in a different way (double, no less) but they were still the same.
The Guns N' Roses were back in the market with two CDs: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Let's take a look at Use Your Illusion I.

The album is a large melting pot in which we can find many facets. There are, in fact, more aggressive songs in pure Hard-rock style, semi-acoustic moments, and excellent ballads. Despite all this, however, the album turns out to be quite uneven in which, alongside great songs, we find tracks such as "Bad Apples", "Dead Horse", "Garden Of Eden", and "Don't Damn Me" that add nothing to what has already been said previously on the album. As we mentioned before, the CD still features some great moments: above all, the beautiful "November Rain", excellently led by Rose in which Slash's guitar lines fit perfectly. Also excellent is the ballad "Don't Cry" (written by Stradlin'), supported by Duff McKagan's solid bass work and centered around a great performance by Rose and Slash's central solo. On the softer song side, we must mention the cover "Live And Let Die" (written by P. McCartney) and the semi-acoustic "You Ain't The First" (all Stradlin' 100%). From the more Hard-Rock side, we find "Right Next Door To Hell" with great work from Duff and Izzy, "Perfect Crime" (great Rose) along with the excellent Dust N' Bones (written and sung by Stradlin') and Bad Obsession, a very captivating song. It's worth noting how many songs on the album are composed by Stradlin', just to remember who the genius of the Guns was.

Listening to the album, there's a regret that if the Guns had eliminated some fillers and combined the CDs, the resulting album would have been one of the greatest ever. A real shame.