Use Your Illusion I
Encyclopedia
Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock
band Guns N' Roses
. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour
, the other being Use Your Illusion II
. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album
. In fact, in the original vinyl releases, both Use Your Illusion albums are double albums. Material for all two/four discs (depending on the medium) was recorded at the same time and there was some question of releasing a "quadruple album". The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard
charts, selling 685,000 copies in its first week, behind Use Your Illusion IIs first week sales of 770,000. Use Your Illusion I has sold 5,502,000 units in the U.S. as of 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan
. Each of the Use Your Illusion albums have been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA
. It was nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1992.
The album has received some acclaim in 2011, being featured on Triple M
Radio's Life-Changing Album series in Australia, with the station playing numerous tracks with commentary.
, Use Your Illusion I demonstrated, for the first time, more or less, elements of blues
, classical music, and country
. For example, lead singer Axl Rose
plays piano
on several tracks of both albums. In addition, with the Use Your Illusion Tour, both the music and stage presence of the band became more theatrical, in the tradition of progressive rock
. This fact is evidenced by the numerous music video
s produced in conjunction with these albums. Use Your Illusion I contains two of the three songs, "November Rain
" and "Don't Cry
", whose videos are generally held by fans to be part of a trilogy. The third song, "Estranged
", is on Use Your Illusion II.
Another influence on the different sound to this album compared to the band's earlier work is the replacement of drummer Steven Adler (who was unable to perform well enough for the sessions due to drug problems) by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum.
A number of songs on the album were written in the band's early days. They were not included on Appetite for Destruction but can be found on the popular bootlegged so-called 'Rumbo Tapes', an album of early demo tapes. "Back Off Bitch", "Bad Obsession", "Don't Cry" (referred to by Rose during the ensuing tour as 'the first song [they] ever wrote together'), "November Rain", and "The Garden
" are considered part of this group. There's also a cover of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die
".
Besides stylistic differences, another new aspect seen in Use Your Illusion I was longer songs. "November Rain", an epic ballad, is nearly nine minutes long, and "Coma
" is more than 10 minutes long. Another change was the presence of tracks sung by other members of the band (even though certain songs from Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies
featured other members on duet
vocals): lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones", "You Ain't the First" and "Double Talkin' Jive" are performed by rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin
.
The band had some difficulty achieving the final sound of the album, especially during the mixing stages of the production of both albums. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone
magazine, after mixing 21 tracks with engineer/producer Bob Clearmountain
, the band decided to scrap the mixes and start from scratch with engineer Bill Price
of Sex Pistols fame.
Slash has stated that a great deal of the material for the album was written on acoustic guitars in a couple of nights at his house (the Walnut House), after several months of non-productivity.
The cover art of both Use Your Illusion albums is detail from Raphael
's painting The School of Athens
. The highlighted figure, unlike many of those in the painting, has not been identified with any specific philosopher.
The only difference in the artwork between Use Your Illusion I and II is the color scheme used for each album. Use Your Illusion I uses the warm colors
red and yellow; Use Your Illusion II uses the cool colors blue and purple.
Both covers are the work of Estonian-American artist Mark Kostabi
.
Timo Caltia (real name Timo Kaltio), who participated in the writing of this song, is a Finnish guitarist, songwriter and guitar-tech expert who once worked with Hanoi Rocks
. He'd played a chorus riff of the song at his home while Stradlin was visiting.
, Izzy Stradlin
and Duff McKagan
. It's the first song on the album sung by Stradlin and the first to feature Dizzy Reed on piano. It also includes a guitar with talkbox.
, and also giving the song a folk rock
feel, which is added to by the tambourine (played by Tim Doyle). The song is also notable for being the only song in the band's catalogue that is entirely in waltz time and it is the only song to feature three singers: Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose and Shannon Hoon.
. The song is about tackling drug abuse
and addiction
, which had haunted the band since they had become famous. Michael Monroe
, lead singer of Hanoi Rocks
and a big influence on Guns N' Roses, plays the harmonica
and tenor saxophone
on the studio version, which is 5:28 long.
A live version from the Tokyo Dome
was featured on the Use Your Illusion 1 DVD
as song number six and Axl Rose takes a dig at Izzy by saying "This a song that we wrote about one year before Mr. Brownstone
with the help of our friend West Arkeen and some guy that just, I don't know, his name just escapes me."
. The lyrics
of the song did not help the band's image of being misogynistic
. In a 1992 interview with Rolling Stone
, Axl said that "Back Off Bitch" was a "10-year old song" at the time. Therefore, it can be assumed that the song predates the formation of the group. The song was also played during Guns N' Roses concerts before the release of Appetite for Destruction
.
The song was performed live several times in 1986 before the release of Appetite for Destruction but never made the album. It was also demoed several times by the band during this period.
This is one of very few Guns N' Roses songs to feature Izzy Stradlin
playing a longer guitar solo. This solo opens the album version. The solo is more complex than the intro played on earlier live versions.
There is a music video
of the song, which consists of one continuous shot which features a close-up of Rose with the band playing in the background, whilst keyboardist
s Dizzy Reed
and Teddy Andreadis
(who played the harmonica
for the band during the Use Your Illusion Tour
) are seen dancing in the background.
There are two versions of the video, both made in 1992. One version has paper flying through the air, and is mostly found on music video sites like Yahoo Music. The other version has lyrics, complete with a "follow-the-bouncing-ball", but with no paper flying around. This is the version that is on the Guns N' Roses music video compilation Welcome to the Videos
.
On May 24, 1993 (the same day of release as The "Civil War" EP
), the song was released as a VHS video single, featuring the 'follow-the-bouncing-ball' version of the video.
Session musicians
Additional personnel
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour
Use Your Illusion Tour
The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991 to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries...
, the other being Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
. In fact, in the original vinyl releases, both Use Your Illusion albums are double albums. Material for all two/four discs (depending on the medium) was recorded at the same time and there was some question of releasing a "quadruple album". The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
charts, selling 685,000 copies in its first week, behind Use Your Illusion IIs first week sales of 770,000. Use Your Illusion I has sold 5,502,000 units in the U.S. as of 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. Each of the Use Your Illusion albums have been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. It was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
in 1992.
The album has received some acclaim in 2011, being featured on Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
Radio's Life-Changing Album series in Australia, with the station playing numerous tracks with commentary.
Overview
The Use Your Illusion albums represent a turning point in the sound of Guns N' Roses. Although they did not abandon the hard-rock tendencies vivid in their first album, Appetite for DestructionAppetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
, Use Your Illusion I demonstrated, for the first time, more or less, elements of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, classical music, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. For example, lead singer Axl Rose
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
plays piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on several tracks of both albums. In addition, with the Use Your Illusion Tour, both the music and stage presence of the band became more theatrical, in the tradition of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. This fact is evidenced by the numerous music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s produced in conjunction with these albums. Use Your Illusion I contains two of the three songs, "November Rain
November Rain
"November Rain" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, written by lead singer Axl Rose and released as a single in June 1992. It appears on the album Use Your Illusion I. The music video for this song was also released in 1992, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography...
" and "Don't Cry
Don't Cry
"Don't Cry" is a song by rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I, while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II...
", whose videos are generally held by fans to be part of a trilogy. The third song, "Estranged
Estranged
-Personnel:* Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, production* Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, production* Slash – lead guitar, production* Duff McKagan – bass, production* Matt Sorum – drums, production-External links:*...
", is on Use Your Illusion II.
Another influence on the different sound to this album compared to the band's earlier work is the replacement of drummer Steven Adler (who was unable to perform well enough for the sessions due to drug problems) by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum.
A number of songs on the album were written in the band's early days. They were not included on Appetite for Destruction but can be found on the popular bootlegged so-called 'Rumbo Tapes', an album of early demo tapes. "Back Off Bitch", "Bad Obsession", "Don't Cry" (referred to by Rose during the ensuing tour as 'the first song [they] ever wrote together'), "November Rain", and "The Garden
The Garden (song)
"The Garden" is a song by the rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on the album Use Your Illusion I as track 11, and the compilation album Use Your Illusion as track 5. The song was written before the band released Appetite for Destruction, but was not included on that album...
" are considered part of this group. There's also a cover of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (song)
"Live and Let Die" is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die and was performed by Paul McCartney & Wings for the movie soundtrack and appears on the soundtrack album. The song was one of Wings' most successful singles, and the most successful Bond theme to that point...
".
Besides stylistic differences, another new aspect seen in Use Your Illusion I was longer songs. "November Rain", an epic ballad, is nearly nine minutes long, and "Coma
Coma (song)
"Coma" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on the 1991 album Use Your Illusion I. At 10 minutes, 13 seconds it is the longest track released by the band, even though it lacks choruses....
" is more than 10 minutes long. Another change was the presence of tracks sung by other members of the band (even though certain songs from Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies
G N' R Lies
-Personnel:*W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, whistle on "Patience"*Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8, backing vocals*Slash - lead guitar, lead acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8...
featured other members on duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
vocals): lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones", "You Ain't the First" and "Double Talkin' Jive" are performed by rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
.
The band had some difficulty achieving the final sound of the album, especially during the mixing stages of the production of both albums. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, after mixing 21 tracks with engineer/producer Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
, the band decided to scrap the mixes and start from scratch with engineer Bill Price
Bill Price (record producer)
Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
of Sex Pistols fame.
Slash has stated that a great deal of the material for the album was written on acoustic guitars in a couple of nights at his house (the Walnut House), after several months of non-productivity.
Cover
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
's painting The School of Athens
The School of Athens
The School of Athens, or in Italian, is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the , in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican...
. The highlighted figure, unlike many of those in the painting, has not been identified with any specific philosopher.
The only difference in the artwork between Use Your Illusion I and II is the color scheme used for each album. Use Your Illusion I uses the warm colors
Color temperature
Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography, publishing, manufacturing, astrophysics, and other fields. The color temperature of a light source is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of...
red and yellow; Use Your Illusion II uses the cool colors blue and purple.
Both covers are the work of Estonian-American artist Mark Kostabi
Mark Kostabi
Kalev Mark Kostabi is an American artist and composer.-Early life:Mark Kostabi was born in Los Angeles on November 27, 1960 to Estonian immigrants Kaljo and Rita Kostabi. He was raised in Whittier, California and studied drawing and painting at California State University, Fullerton...
.
Song information
"Right Next Door to Hell"
This song is a product of discord between Axl and his West Hollywood high rise neighbor, Gabriella Kantor. Kantor had Rose arrested and sued Rose, claiming he hit her with a wine bottle. He denied the charges and labeled her a "fanatical fan". The condo was eventually given away in MTV's "Evict Axl" contest.Timo Caltia (real name Timo Kaltio), who participated in the writing of this song, is a Finnish guitarist, songwriter and guitar-tech expert who once worked with Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979, whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 after the death of their drummer, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley...
. He'd played a chorus riff of the song at his home while Stradlin was visiting.
"Dust N' Bones"
This is the second track on the album and was written by SlashSlash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
and Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
. It's the first song on the album sung by Stradlin and the first to feature Dizzy Reed on piano. It also includes a guitar with talkbox.
"You Ain't the First"
"You Ain't the First" is the sixth track on the album. Unlike most tracks on the album, electric guitars are nowhere to be found in the song – instead, acoustic guitars are used, similar to side two of G N' R LiesG N' R Lies
-Personnel:*W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, whistle on "Patience"*Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8, backing vocals*Slash - lead guitar, lead acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8...
, and also giving the song a folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
feel, which is added to by the tambourine (played by Tim Doyle). The song is also notable for being the only song in the band's catalogue that is entirely in waltz time and it is the only song to feature three singers: Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose and Shannon Hoon.
"Bad Obsession"
"Bad Obsession" is track seven on the album. It was written by Izzy Stradlin and West ArkeenWest Arkeen
Aaron West Arkeen , better known as West Arkeen, was an American musician best-known for co-writing several Guns N' Roses songs. He died in Los Angeles as a result of a drug overdose.-Biography:...
. The song is about tackling drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
and addiction
Substance use disorder
Substance use disorders include substance abuse and substance dependence. In DSM-IV, the conditions are formally diagnosed as one or the other, but it has been proposed that DSM-5 combine the two into a single condition called "Substance-use disorder"....
, which had haunted the band since they had become famous. Michael Monroe
Michael Monroe
Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm , best known by his stage name, Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician, and multi-instrumentalist who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23...
, lead singer of Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979, whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 after the death of their drummer, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley...
and a big influence on Guns N' Roses, plays the harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
on the studio version, which is 5:28 long.
A live version from the Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...
was featured on the Use Your Illusion 1 DVD
Use Your Illusion I (video)
Use Your Illusion I is a live VHS/DVD by Guns N' Roses. Filmed live at the Tokyo Dome, Japan on February 22, 1992 during the Japanese leg of the Use Your Illusion tour, this recording features the first half of the concert, the second half appearing on sister volume Use Your Illusion II...
as song number six and Axl Rose takes a dig at Izzy by saying "This a song that we wrote about one year before Mr. Brownstone
Mr. Brownstone
"Mr. Brownstone" is a song written by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their 1987 album Appetite for Destruction. Slash relates that the song was written by him and Izzy Stradlin while they were at Izzy and his girlfriend Desi's apartment...
with the help of our friend West Arkeen and some guy that just, I don't know, his name just escapes me."
"Back off Bitch"
This is track eight on Use Your Illusion I. However, it was written before the band's 1987 debut album, Appetite for DestructionAppetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
. The lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
of the song did not help the band's image of being misogynistic
Misogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...
. In a 1992 interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Axl said that "Back Off Bitch" was a "10-year old song" at the time. Therefore, it can be assumed that the song predates the formation of the group. The song was also played during Guns N' Roses concerts before the release of Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
.
The song was performed live several times in 1986 before the release of Appetite for Destruction but never made the album. It was also demoed several times by the band during this period.
This is one of very few Guns N' Roses songs to feature Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
playing a longer guitar solo. This solo opens the album version. The solo is more complex than the intro played on earlier live versions.
"Double Talkin' Jive"
This is the ninth track on the album, written by Stradlin & sung by Rose. At the end of the song Slash performs an extended Flamenco-style guitar solo. Interestingly, live performances of this song were stretched from its original three-minute length to more than eight minutes long. The opening line of the song "Found a head and an arm in a garbage can" refers to body parts actually found in a Dumpster in the vicinity of the studio."Garden of Eden"
According to Slash, the song, which appears as track 12, was written while the band was rehearsing for an extended period of time in Chicago.There is a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of the song, which consists of one continuous shot which features a close-up of Rose with the band playing in the background, whilst keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
s Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
and Teddy Andreadis
Teddy Andreadis
Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis is an American piano/harmonica player who has worked with many popular musicians, including Carole King, Guns N’ Roses, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, Bruce Willis, and the Boxing Gandhis. In 1999 he was voted “Outstanding Keyboardist of the Year” by the L.A. Music...
(who played the harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
for the band during the Use Your Illusion Tour
Use Your Illusion Tour
The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991 to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries...
) are seen dancing in the background.
There are two versions of the video, both made in 1992. One version has paper flying through the air, and is mostly found on music video sites like Yahoo Music. The other version has lyrics, complete with a "follow-the-bouncing-ball", but with no paper flying around. This is the version that is on the Guns N' Roses music video compilation Welcome to the Videos
Welcome to the Videos
Welcome to the Videos is a DVD released in 1998 featuring music videos by the American rock group Guns N' Roses. All the videos featured were made between 1987 and 1994...
.
On May 24, 1993 (the same day of release as The "Civil War" EP
Civil War (EP)
-Personnel:Guns N' Roses*W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, sound effects on "Garden of Eden"*Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals*Slash – lead guitar*Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals*Dizzy Reed – piano, backing vocals...
), the song was released as a VHS video single, featuring the 'follow-the-bouncing-ball' version of the video.
"Don't Damn Me"
"Don't Damn Me" is the 13th track on the album, and is the only song from the album that's never been played live."Bad Apples"
"Bad Apples" is the 14th track on the album, and has only been performed live twice. According to Slash, the song was written while the band was rehearsing for an extended period of time in Chicago.Track listing
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
2 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
| Australian ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... Albums Chart |
2 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Albums Chart |
2 |
| Switzerland | 3 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Austria | 2 |
| Sweden | 3 |
| Norway | 3 |
End of decade charts
| Chart (1990–1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 71 |
Personnel
Guns N' Roses- W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
on "November Rain", backing vocals on "The Garden", acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
on "Dead Horse", sound effectSound effectFor the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s on "Garden of Eden" - Izzy StradlinIzzy StradlinJeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First", lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
on "Back off Bitch", lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones", "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive", percussion on "Bad Obsession" - SlashSlash (musician)Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
– lead guitar, rhythm guitar on "Back off Bitch", acoustic and slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
on "The Garden", dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
on "You Ain't The First", talkbox on "Bad Obsession", six-string bassExtended-range bassExtended-range bass refers to an electric bass guitar with greater frequency range than the standard 4-string bass guitar. Bass guitars tuned one octave lower than a standard four-string instrument are also considered an extended-range bass...
on "Right Next Door to Hell" - Duff McKaganDuff McKaganMichael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "You Ain't The First" and "Double Talkin' Jive" - Dizzy ReedDizzy ReedDizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals - Matt SorumMatt SorumMatthew William Sorum is an American rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses and supergroup Velvet Revolver , which is comprised in part of former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Slash .-Early career :Matt Sorum was born Matthew William...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals, choir on "November Rain"
Session musicians
- Shannon HoonShannon HoonRichard Shannon Hoon was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and lead singer of the band Blind Melon until his death from a cocaine overdose in 1995.-Early life:...
– backing vocals on tracks 3, 10 and 11; back up vocals on track 4 - Johann Langlie – programming on tracks 3, 10 and 12; sound effects on track 16
- Michael MonroeMichael MonroeMatti Antero Kristian Fagerholm , best known by his stage name, Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician, and multi-instrumentalist who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23...
– harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
on track 7
- Reba Shaw – backing vocals on track 10
- Stuart Bailey – backing vocals on track 10
- Jon Thautwein – hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
on track 3 - Matthew McKagan – horn on track 3
- Rachel West – horn on track 3
- Robert Clark – horn on track 3
- Tim Doyle – tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
on track 6 - Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
– lead vocals on track 11 - West ArkeenWest ArkeenAaron West Arkeen , better known as West Arkeen, was an American musician best-known for co-writing several Guns N' Roses songs. He died in Los Angeles as a result of a drug overdose.-Biography:...
– acoustic guitar on track 11 - Bruce Foster – sound effects on track 16
Additional personnel
- Mike ClinkMike ClinkMike Clink is a record producer who started his career as an engineer at Record Plant Studios, recording such bands as Triumph, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, UFO , Jefferson Starship, The Babys, Heart, Eddie Money and many others.Clink began producing in 1986...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, nutcrackerNutcrackerA nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. Usually they work on the principle of moments as described in Archimedes' analysis of the lever...
on "Dead Horse" - Jim Mitchell – additional engineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- Bill PriceBill Price (record producer)Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - George Marino – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Kevin Reagan – art direction, graphic designGraphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
- Mark Kostabi – album artwork
- Robert John – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Allen Abrahamson, Buzz Burrowes & Chris Puram – engineering assistanceEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- 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