Guns N Roses Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I cover
Studio album by Guns N' Roses
Released September 17, 1991
Recorded 1990-1991
Genre Acoustic Rock, Classic Rock, Glam Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Honkey Tonk, Power Ballad, Punk Metal, Symphonic Rock
Length 76:10
Label Geffen Records
Producer Mike Clink, Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses chronology
G N' R Lies
(1988)
Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II
(1991)
The "Civil War" EP
(1993)

Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by Guns N' Roses, released on September 17, 1991 (along with Use Your Illusion II) on Geffen Records. It and Use Your Illusion II are often considered a double album, even though they were released separately. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, behind only Use Your Illusion II, the first time a band has held the top two spots on the chart at the same time.

The album yielded four singles: "Dead Horse", "Don't Cry", "Live and Let Die" and "November Rain".

The Illusions albums are the first and last albums to feature the Illusions era Guns N' Roses lineup of Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dizzy Reed. Also Live and Let Die was a James Bond theme tune.

Track Listing[]

  1. "Right Next Door to Hell" - 3:03
  2. "Dust N' Bones" - 4:59
  3. "Live and Let Die" - 3:04
    • Paul McCartney & Wings cover
  4. "Don't Cry'" (original version) - 4:45
  5. "Perfect Crime" - 2:24
  6. "You Ain't the First" - 2:37
  7. "Bad Obsession" - 5:28
  8. "Back Off Bitch" - 5:04
  9. "Double Talkin' Jive" - 3:24
  10. "November Rain" - 8:58
  11. "The Garden" (feat. Alice Cooper) - 5:22
  12. "Garden of Eden" - 2:42
  13. " Don't Damn Me" - 5:20
  14. "Bad Apples" - 4:29
  15. "Dead Horse" - 4:19
  16. "Coma" - 10:14

Personnel[]

Guns N' Roses
  • W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, piano, choir and synthesizer programming on "November Rain", percussion, acoustic guitar on "Dead Horse", sound effects on "Garden of Eden and Perfect Crime"
  • Slash - lead guitar, rhythm guitar on "Back off Bitch", acoustic and slide guitar on "The Garden", dobro on "You Ain't The First", talkbox on "Dust N' Bones", six-string bass on "Right Next Door to Hell"
  • Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First", lead guitar on "Back off Bitch", lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones", "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive", percussion on "Bad Obssesion"
  • Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive"
  • Matt Sorum - drums, backing vocals, choir on "November Rain"
  • Dizzy Reed - keyboards, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
Session musicians
  • Shannon Hoon - backing vocals on tracks 3, 10 and 11; back up vocals on track 4; lead vocals on track 6; choir on track 10
  • Johann Langlie - programming on tracks 3, 10 and 12; sound effects on track 16
  • Michael Monroe - harmonica, saxophone on track 7
  • Reba Shaw - backing vocals on track 10
  • Stuart Bailey - backing vocals on track 10
  • Jon Thautwein - horn on track 3
  • Matthew McKagan - horn on track 3
  • Rachel West - horn on track 3
  • Robert Clark - horn on track 3
  • Tim Doyle - tambourine on track 6
  • Alice Cooper - lead vocals on track 11
  • West Arkeen - acoustic guitar on track 11
  • Bruce Foster - sound effects on track 16
Additional personnel
  • Mike Clink - production, engineering, nutcracker on "Dead Horse"
  • Jim Mitchell - additional engineering
  • Bill Price - mixing
  • George Marino - mastering
  • Kevin Reagan - art direction, graphic design
  • Mark Kostabi - album artwork
  • Robert John - photography
  • Allen Abrahamson, Buzz Burrowes & Chris Puram - engineering assistance
  • Craig Portelis - engineering assistance
  • Ed Goodreau - engineering assistance
  • Jason Roberts - engineering assistance
  • John Aguto - engineering assistance
  • L. Stu Young - engineering assistance
  • Leon Ganado - engineering assistance
  • Mike Douglass - engineering assistance
  • Talley Sherwood - engineering assistance

​Info[]

  • The cover art is taken from the Renaissance painting School Of Aristotles. The writer can be seen on the right pire. Along with this, the cover reflects the style of music included: Use Your Illusion I has a more hard rock sound (hence the red), while Use Your Illusion II has a calmer sound (hence the calmer blue.).
  • Use Your Illusion I & II represented a change in the Guns N' Roses sound. They ditched their raw hard rock style for calmer songs. Axl Rose even plays piano on some tracks.

@bestevahgnralbum

Advertisement