Use Your Illusion I poll

I used to 'produce' my friend's shitpost albums when we were 12/13. Anyway one of them had a track which was just the last 25 seconds of Back Off Bitch playing out my CD player before my friend says the name of some footabll stadium.

Ha, I had junior high friends who claimed copyright on a new version of "Nighttrain," simply because they changed the lyric "flying like an aeroplane" to "flying like an arrow plane."

I realised tonight Miami Twice was UK TV's Use Your Illusion

I listen way more to my own curated distillations of UYI I & II than I do Appetite, the latter of which was pretty much spoiled by me through radio overplay before I ever bought it myself around 1999-2000 (when I was 16-18 years old). UYI definitely hurts from the loss of Adler’s natural groove, but I don’t think anyone could reproduce that - they tried with a bunch of other drummers before settling on Sorum, who whatever his deficiencies still replicates it more accurately than GNR’s current drummer.

The current reissue of UYI I has a newly-recorded orchestra in place of the synth strings on the original November Rain. I haven't heard it yet, so I can't comment on whether it adds to or detracts from the song, but I guess it's good to see Axl is still capable of grandiose, misguided bullshit.

Yeah, I mentioned that in my writeup — it sounds really good. That's about the only argument in favor of the reissues, honestly.

Oh fuck, sorry - I missed the link! I'm glad to hear that it sounds good, but it still rankles me that they would "special edition" a track like that.

I think it's essentially meant to "replace" the original track – as the new CDs aren't called out as special new editions or anything on the packaging (other than the shrink-wrap sticker; I mentioned this on another thread). I assume the original versions of the albums will be discontinued, and these remasters just sort of take their place.

Right, I meant "special edition" in the George Lucas sense of overwriting the material that is already known to fans.

Nah, they just replaced cheap orchestrations with a real orchestra.

Lucasing the track would be like adding an accordion solo and having background singers periodically singing "BLASPINKY"

“Coma” is still one of their few songs that I enjoy

xp "Where's Izzy?" vs. "Han Shot First"

Replacing "You Ain't the First" with "Trouble On the Way"

It may just be that I'm not from the US but the UYIs have never struck me as a very convincing a New Jersey because they have so many hits that people still listen to

The thing is though the most famous songs on the UYIs are “November Rain” and a couple of covers (why release two covers as singles?)

Their equivalents on Appetite in terms of fame and notoriety? Welcome To the Jungle, Sweet Child O Mine, Paradise City (and if you go on, Mr Brownstone, It’s So Easy etc). It’s a washout.

Have Don’t Cry, Estranged, Civil War, You Could Be Mine etc really endured in popular consciousness beyond the fact they were a big deal in 1991/92? I’d say not