USE YOUR ILLUSION
GUNS N’ ROSES
Following up your debut is never easy. Especially when it’s one of the greatest debuts ever.
GETTY
For a few brief, bright months in 1991 – beginning on September 17 at midnight, to be precise – Guns N’ Roses achieved that rare state: they were the biggest band in the world. At that moment, Donald Trump was in a limousine with five models, heading for Tower Records in Manhattan, on his way to buy Use Your Illusion I and II, the new albums that were, in a music industry first, being released simultaneously. Stores in every major city were opening at midnight in order to sell them.
Unlike many bands’ second albums, material was not a problem for GN’R. November Rain, perhaps the pivotal song on Use Your Illusion, predated Axl joining the band; a 20-minute acoustic demo of it was recorded very early on. Manager Alan Niven had insisted that some material from the Appetite For Destruction sessions be held over. Included in that were You Could Be Mine, Back Off Bitch, Bad Obsession and The Garden. In addition, Slash, Izzy and Duff were all prolific, and fast, writers.