Zootlesque said:
You ever seen this?
http://www.amazon.com/Use-Your-Illu...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1204392572&sr=1-4
Very lazy collection. How could they exclude You Could Be Mine and include the unnecessary alternate version of Don't Cry instead?
I'm surprised that was an official release. Must have been the record company; I can't imagine the band signing off on that one.
I don't understand putting both versions of Don't Cry, either.
One of the first things I did on mine was get rid of the covers. Live and Let Die is fun, but it's an overrated song to begin with (a fucking James Bond theme song, for christ's sake), and should have been a b-side. Knockin' on Heaven's Door is one of the biggest abominations I've ever heard in my life; it took me years and seeing Dylan several times in concerts to get Axl's "hey, hey...hey,hey,hey" out of my head. Fucking butchered it.
Anyway, no time like the present for my playlist (with selected comments):
1. Double Talkin' Jive
This is a short song that I think works great as an intro. It has a cool lead from Slash, and though it might seem strange to open with an Izzy vocal, Axl is on backing vocals, and there's that nice nod to the last album with his "no more Patience...man", which works great upfront. Plus it has that nice classical guitar outro that leads right into...
2. You Could Be Mine
I ALWAYS thought this should have been the first song of the double-album, and works way better than Right Next Door to Hell, which is just a weak song to begin with. This is defininitive G'n'R, and works in the same way it did as the lead single.
3. Yesterdays
Ballads are always good in the 3 slot.
4. Don't Cry
5. 14 Years
6. Breakdown
7. Locomotive
--
8. Civil War
The "meat" of the album, culminating what's arguably the most powerful song. Sure they're all long, but they each have their own vibe and certainly don't drag. If you were dividing this into "sides", which I like to so, Locomotive would close out Side One with that amazing piano instrumental section at the end (one of the album's highlights), and Civil War would open Side Two, preserving its distinction as the original lead track on Use Your Illusion II.
9. Dust 'n' Bones
I can't stress enough how good the Izzy songs on this album are. They all deserve inclusion.
10. Perfect Crime
Some people like The Garden, some Garden of Eden...I think this is the best of what I'd call the "generic", unambitious rockers of the collection. It's also under 2.5 minutes long, and this album can use shorter diversions.
11. Bad Obsession
12. You Ain't The First
13. So Fine
The album changes gear from your typical G'n'R sound again, with Bad Obsession venturing into some nice honky-tonk sounds, and then we go almost full country with You Ain't The First. Last is So Fine, which I think is a really beautiful contribution from Duff. Very underrated.
14. Estranged
Axl's epic. It's not as mainstream as November Rain, but it's much more accomplished in my eyes. It's a bit of a tour-de-force from the whole band. A great closer.
--
15. My World (hidden track)
Yeah, most people hate it, but there's room for it as it's only a minute and a half, and as a bonus track works as a subtle nod to the (possible) direction of G'n'R's future. Unfortunately, it's been over 15 years and we still don't know if that's true or not.
As I mentioned in my above post, I think November Rain would be a nice stand-alone single. The problem with getting UYI down to one disc is that there are a lot of LONG songs. There are like 6 songs over 7 minutes. So obviously there isn't room for Coma, either.
Get in the Ring is a fun song, but all the name-calling gets a bit old, and is definitely dated. B-side material.
Comments welcome, but I urge you to mix this track order and give it a try!