UMUR "G N' R Lies" is the 2nd full-length studio/live album by US hard rock/metal act Guns N´ Roses. The album was released through Geffen Records in November 1988 in the US and December 1988 in the UK. While "G N' R Lies" is considered the band´s 2nd album, it´s actually more of a compilation. On the original vinyl version, side 1 featured the four live tracks from the "Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide (1986)" EP, while side 2 featured four semi-acoustic new recordings. It´s a rather short album with it´s 33:32 minutes long playing time, but at the time of release, Guns N´ Roses fans swallowed it up as there seemed to be an insatiable appetite for new material by the band following the great success of "Appetite For Destruction (1987)". The album has sold over 5 million copies in the US alone.

It´s probably needless to say, but as a cohesive album "G N' R Lies" doesn´t work very well. The mix of live tracks with semi-acoustic rockers make the album a fragmented listen. That doesn´t mean the tracks aren´t top notch though, because that´s certainly the case. I remember I wasn´t too fond of the live tracks when I listened to "G N' R Lies" the first time about 20 years ago, but boy do they rock hard when I listen to the album today. The sound quality is excellent and the material is filled with the snarling "Fuck You" attitude that would make the band so famous a couple of years later. The covers of "Mama Kin" by Aerosmith and "Nice Boys" by Rose Tatoo have been given a shot of adrenaline and Guns N´ Roses perfectly manage to make the songs their own. The two original live tracks "Reckless Life" and "Move to the City" are also raw and powerful rockers.

Out of the four semi-acoustic tracks on side 2, "Patience" is without a doubt the most famous one. It was also the only single released from the album. The video for the track received heavy rotation on MTV and undoubtedly further helped sales of the album. "Used to Love Her" is enjoyable but more in the silly department, while the equally strong "One in a Million" is quite the controversial track, with lyrics bashing minority groups like homosexuals and immigrants. "You're Crazy", which was originally released in a harder rocking and fully electric version on "Appetite For Destruction (1987)", is delivered here in a semi-acoustic version, which the band say was how it was originally intended.

Maybe I´m being a bit too generous with my rating here but I really enjoy "G N' R Lies" and while it´s certainly not perfect or cohesive as an album, a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Chinese Democracy" is the 6th full-length studio album by US glam/alternative rock/metal act Guns N' Roses. The album was released in November 2008 by Geffen. "Chinese Democracy" was recorded in the period 1998–2007 and it´s the first album featuring original material since "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" from 1991. The band did release "The Spaghetti Incident?" in 1993 but it´s a cover tunes album. Allthough not universally highly praised by neither critics nor fans, "Chinese Democracy" has sold fairly well by today´s standards and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over one million copies in Europe.

I fail to think of another hard rock/metal album this talked about and this hyped. To understand this (most of you of course already know) you have to understand how big Guns N' Roses were in the late eighties/early nineties. They were simply THE hard rock/glam metal act of that period and sold millions of millions of albums. They were idolized like few. The succeess took a toll on their egos though and internal fighting and lack of work ethics because of a massive drug and alcohol abuse among the members, resulted in all members, but lead vocalist Axl Rose, leaving the band in 1996. So the incarnation of the band that recorded "Chinese Democracy" is basically Axl Rose plus various session members who have been involved with the band in the years 1998 - 2007.

So what do we get after 15 years of waiting for a new release? Well...first of all you get 14 tracks distributed over 71:26 minutes of playing time, so you get quantity. That´s a check. The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Guns N' Roses allthough quite a few alternative rock/metal elements have sneaked into the sound (tracks like "Catcher in the Rye" and "Scraped" remind me quite a bit about a less metallic Avenged Sevenfold). Axl Rose has a distinct voice though and that, more than anything else, ensures that you´ll always identify the music on the album as the sound of Guns N' Roses. The material is not as sleazy or filthy hard rocking as the early material by the band but if you think about it they had already left some of the sleaze behind on the "Use Your Illusion" albums, so it´s really not that surprising. The main focus is more on epic orchestrated rockers rather than attitude filled hard rocking tracks and if you´re looking for a hard rocking album you´ve for the most part come to the wrong place. That´s not all bad though as the vocal melodies are generally pretty strong and memorable and Axl Rose delivers the goods. His performance here is actually his most diverse yet. Just take a listen to his vocal performance on "If the World". A bit odd sounding at first, but it´s nice to hear that he´s not afraid to try out new things.

Overall the album sticks in too many directions and the sterile sound production, the use of synths which at times give the tracks a new wave elements that softens the sound (don´t take the rock out of a rock band), the fact that there are few really hard rocking tracks on the album and the too long playing time results in "Chinese Democracy" not exactly being a triumphant return. I won´t join the choir that says that the album is terrible, because I partially enjoyed listening to the album and found it much more interesting than I had expected, but I won´t call it excellent either. A 2.5 - 3 star rating is fair.

UMUR "Use Your Illusion II" is the 3rd full-length studio album ( I think of "Lies (1988)" as a compilation) by American hard rock/ metal act Guns N´Roses. The album was released by Geffen on the 17th of September 1991. "Use Your Illusion I" ( the band´s 2nd full-length studio album) was released the exact same day. The album features a new drummer in former The Cult drummer Matt Sorum as original drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform and was fired in July 1990 due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed had joined as a permanent member a few months prior to Steven Adler leaving.

The album was released as a double LP and a single CD. As all 30 tracks that are featured on "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" were written and recorded during the same sessions and only later distributed on the two albums, the style on this second part is in the same vein as on part one. We´re talking bluesy hard rock with a metal edge. Guns N´Roses stray a lot from the path though and "Use Your Illusion II" is quite the eclectic release with both hard rockers, ballads and semi-progressive rock tracks. Like the case was with part one, the material is not very consistent though and IMO there are several tracks that the band should have left off the album. Songs like "So Fine" ( with bassist Duff McKagan on lead vocals) and the short album closer "My World" are sub par material to these ears. The best tracks here are "Civil War", "Locomotive", "Get in the Ring" ( nice attitude in that one), the Bob Dylan cover "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" ( they could have left out the gospel choir if you ask me, but it´s still pretty good), the epic 9:23 minute long "Estranged" ( which starts out great but gets a bit longwinded towards the end) and of course the great "You Could Be Mine" ( which is also featured on the 1991 "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" soundtrack). "You Could Be Mine" is probably the only track on the album that I would call truly great though.

All in all "Use Your Illusion II" is quite the mixed bag just like part one and when you have so much material of such low standard among the few excellent and above standard tracks, I can´t give more than a 3 star rating. Guns N´Roses may have made the right choice commercially, but artistically it´s hard not to be extremely disappointed bearing in mind the outstanding nature of "Appetite for Destruction (1987)". The band´s clashing egos ( the "I want all of my compositions on the album" factor) really ruined what might otherwise have been a good album, had the band decided for a single or maybe a double album release ( I vote for a single album release) instead of two double album releases. I´m serious when I say that I feel that part one and two combined only feature about 40 - 50 minutes of quality music. Newcommers to Guns N´Roses are adviced to always start with "Appetite for Destruction".

Stephen To describe how magical this album is in a short paragraph could be a very hard task as I could go on and on boasting every single song inside from A to Z, but I don't think that's necessary. Not only because everybody should ever experienced this album at least once or twice and being the best selling debut of all time clearly didn't need any extensive explanation to claim that "Appetite For Destruction" is undoubtedly the biggest hard rock creation in the history of mankind.

Raised on the tough street of Los Angeles, Guns N' Roses told many truthful stories behind the band's debauchery and reckless life on their songs. With Slash's soaring shred and Izzy's forceful rhythm, topped with Axl's strong and commanding vocal, tunes like "Welcome To The Jungle", "Nightrain", "It's So Easy", and "You're Crazy" put the band in an aggressive mode. For those who haven't heard them before, the music inside is a tight combination of heavy metal, melodic hard rock, and punk attitude. Bassist Duff McKagan is responsible of bringing in the punkish element and you can hear it in songs like "My Michelle" or "Anything Goes". Some radio-friendly hits such as "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O'Mine" are legendary and those riffs are brilliantly crafted. "Rocket Queen" is an evocative monstrous well-executed track; the sex moan is probably the most memorable moment of the songs which Axl claimed it was recorded live.

"Appetite" is definitely an unbeatable debut, every little thing that you want in hard rock realm are there. After listening to this album for thousand times in the last 20 years, I stil have the same feeling as it was the very first time. It never wears down a little, not even a bit. The highlights in particular are Axl's wailing voice and Slash' massive guitar, but I must admit, the coherent chemistry between members in the bands and the strong compositions of each songs are applauding. This is the landmark album of 1987 everyone must have and probably the album that's also responsible of converting 100 million people into rock/metal fans worldwide.

Bottomline : Insanely beautiful, Ultimately entertaining

UMUR Use Your Illusion I is the 2nd full-length studio album ( I think of Lies (1988) as a compilation) by American hard rock/ metal act Guns N´Roses. The album was released by Geffen on the 17th of September 1991. Use Your Illusion II ( the band´s 3rd full-length studio album) was released the exact same day. The album features a new drummer in former The Cult drummer Matt Sorum as original drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform and was fired in July 1990 due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed had joined as a permanent member a few months prior to Steven Adler leaving.

The album was released as a double LP and as a single CD. With 16 tracks and a total playing time of 76:04 minutes, Use Your Illusion I is quite a long album. Guns N´Roses spend most of 1990 and some of 1991 in various recording studios, recording 30 tracks that would be distributed on Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Quite a daring stragedy to release two double albums on the same day, but it would prove to be a succesful move. Use Your Illusion I would debut at the number 2 spot on the Billboard chart and Use Your Illusion II would debut at the number 1 spot on the chart. Both albums have sold several millions of copies and while neither have yet reached the gigantic sales numbers of Appetite for Destruction (1987), I´m sure the financial department at Geffen were more than happy with the sales figures.

The music on Use Your Illusion I is still rooted in bluesy hard rock with a heavy metal edge, just as the case was on Appetite for Destruction. The tracks are of a much more eclectic nature though and especially the addition of a keyboard/ piano player to the ranks gives the music a new dimension. There are several in your face rockers on the album ( Right Next Door to Hell, Perfect Crime), but also ballads ( Don't Cry), semi-progressive rock tracks ( the 10:13 minute long Coma) and the epic power ballad November Rain. While all tracks are more or less well composed, only few out of the 16 tracks actually stand out as excellent IMO, and sadly Use Your Illusion I does come off as one of those albums where quantity became more important than quality. Maybe the internal trouble within the band, meant that all members had to have "their" tracks featured on the album, even though a 10 track album might have been more artistically succesful. To my ears it´s actually only the three "hits" that stand out and out of those three songs ( November Rain, Live and Let Die and Don't Cry) only two are originals as Live and Let Die is a cover of Paul McCartney & Wings classic James Bond theme song from 1973 ( recorded in late 1972). A very succesful cover version though.

The production is professional and well sounding. It´s a bit more cold and clean compared to the warmer sounding Appetite for Destruction, but that´s pretty typical for album releases from the early nineties.

I´ve had the vinyl version of Use Your Illusion I since the release of the album and recently purchased the CD version, so I´d say I´ve given this album a fair shot to impress me. I can´t say I´m impressed though as far too many of the songs on the album lack memorable hooklines and therefore don´t linger in my mind after the album is finished. Somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5 star rating is fair IMO and I think I´m gonna have to go with a 3 star rating this time.