Tuesday 12/15/2020 12:30am ET: Feature LP: Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II (1991)

Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, released on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart Use Your Illusion II. Both albums were released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, selling 685,000 copies in its first week, behind Use Your Illusion II’s first-week sales of 770,000. Use Your Illusion I has sold 5,502,000 units in the United States 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. This is their first album to featured the former The Cult drummer Matt Sorum, replaced Steven Adler following Adler’s departure in 1990 (although he was featured again on “Civil War”, which featured on their counterpart album), as well as their first album to be recorded as six-piece band members, with the added of the keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

1. “Right Next Door to Hell” 3:02
2. “Dust N’ Bones” 4:58
3. “Live and Let Die” 3:04
4. “Don’t Cry” (Original) 4:44
5. “Perfect Crime” 2:23
6. “You Ain’t the First” 2:36
7. “Bad Obsession” 5:28
8. “Back Off Bitch” 5:03
9. “Double Talkin’ Jive” 3:23
10. “November Rain” 8:57
11. “The Garden (ft. Alice Cooper)” 5:22
12. “Garden of Eden” 2:41
13. “Don’t Damn Me” 5:18
14. “Bad Apples” 4:28
15. “Dead Horse” 4:17
16. “Coma” R 10:13

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, choir, synthesizer, programming, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, sound effects
Slash – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, dobro, classical guitar, talkbox, six-string bass, backing vocals
Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, lead vocals on “Dust N’ Bones”, “Double Talkin’ Jive”, and “You Ain’t the First”
Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals, choir
Dizzy Reed – keyboards, backing vocals

Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses. The album was released on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart Use Your Illusion I. Both albums were released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour. Bolstered by the lead single “You Could Be Mine”, Use Your Illusion II was the slightly more popular of the two albums, selling 770,000 copies its first week and debuting at No. 1 on the U.S. charts, ahead of Use Your Illusion I’s first-week sales of 685,000. As of 2010, Use Your Illusion II has sold 5,587,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Both albums have since been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA. It was also No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart for a single week.

It is the last Guns N’ Roses album to feature rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin. It also includes “Civil War”, the last track to feature drummer Steven Adler in any capacity. This album, along with the counterpart of the album, were the last Guns N’ Roses album to feature original material until 2008’s album Chinese Democracy.

1. “Civil War” 7:42
2. “14 Years” 4:21
3. “Yesterdays” 3:14
4. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” 5:36
5. “Get in the Ring” 5:42
6. “Shotgun Blues” 3:23
7. “Breakdown” 7:04
8. “Pretty Tied Up (The Perils of Rock n’ Roll Decadence)” 4:48
9. “Locomotive (Complicity)” 8:42
10. “So Fine” 4:08
11. “Estranged” 9:23
12. “You Could Be Mine” 5:43
13. “Don’t Cry” (Alt. Lyrics) 4:45
14. “My World” 1:24

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, whistling, backing vocals, rhythm guitar on “Shotgun Blues”, synthesizer, drum machine
Slash – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, rhythm guitar on “Breakdown” and “Locomotive”, backing vocals
Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “14 Years”, acoustic guitar, coral sitar, lead guitar
Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on “So Fine”, percussion
Matt Sorum – drums, backing vocals
Dizzy Reed – keyboards, backing vocals
Steven Adler – drums on “Civil War”
Johann Langlie – drums, keyboards and sound effects on “My World”
The Waters – backing vocals on “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
Howard Teman – piano on “So Fine”
Shannon Hoon – co-lead vocals on “Don’t Cry”

Monday 12am ET: Feature LP: Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records to massive commercial success. It topped the Billboard 200 and became the best-selling debut album as well as the 11th best-selling album in the United States. With about 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling records of all time. Although critics were ambivalent toward the album when it was first released, Appetite for Destruction has since received retrospective acclaim and been viewed as one of the greatest albums of all time.

The album was preceded by the single “It’s So Easy”. “Welcome to the Jungle”, the chart-topping “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, “Paradise City” and “Nightrain” were released as singles after the album’s release. The album debuted at number 182 on the Billboard 200 on August 29, 1987, slowly rising to the top of the chart on August 6, 1988 after extensive touring and radio airplay.

The album was re-released as a remastered box set in June 2018 to universal critical acclaim. It was preceded by the single “Shadow of Your Love”. 

1. “Welcome to the Jungle” 4:31
2. “It’s So Easy” 3:21
3. “Nightrain” 4:26
4. “Out ta Get Me” 4:20
5. “Mr. Brownstone” 3:46
6. “Paradise City” 6:46
7. “My Michelle” 3:39
8. “Think About You” 3:50
9. “Sweet Child o’ Mine” 5:55
10. “You’re Crazy” 3:16
11. “Anything Goes” 3:25
12. “Rocket Queen” 6:13

Friday 1pm ET: Feature Artist – Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses, often abbreviated as GNR, is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Melissa Reese.

Guns N’ Roses’ debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987), reached number one on the Billboard 200 a year after its release, on the strength of the Top 10 singles “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Paradise City”, and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, the band’s only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units in the United States, making it the country’s bestselling debut album and eleventh-bestselling album. Their next studio album, G N’ R Lies (1988), reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies worldwide (including five million in the U.S.), and included the Top 5 hit “Patience”. Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, recorded simultaneously and released in 1991, debuted at number two and number one on the Billboard 200 respectively and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide, including 14 million units in the United States. The Illusion albums included the lead single “You Could Be Mine” (also featured in the film soundtrack for Terminator 2), covers of “Live and Let Die” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, and a trilogy of ballads (“Don’t Cry”, “November Rain”, and “Estranged”), which featured notably high-budget music videos. The Illusion records were also supported by the extensive Use Your Illusion Tour, a world tour that lasted from 1991-1993. “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993), an album of covers, was the band’s last studio album to feature Slash and McKagan before their initial departure.

Work on a follow up album stalled due to creative differences between band members; by 1998 only Rose and Reed remained from the Illusion-era lineup. After a more than a decade of work and several lineup changes, Guns N’ Roses’s long-awaited sixth studio album Chinese Democracy (2008), was released. At an estimated $14 million in production costs, it is the most expensive rock album in history. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, but undersold industry expectations despite mostly positive critical reception. Slash and McKagan rejoined the band in 2016 for the Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which became the second-highest-grossing concert tour on record, grossing over $562 million by December 2018. The tour continues as of October 2019.

In their early years, the band’s hedonism and rebelliousness drew comparisons to the early Rolling Stones and earned them the nickname “the most dangerous band in the world.” The band’s classic lineup, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, its first year of eligibility. Guns N’ Roses have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them the 41st-bestselling artist in history.

Saturday 12pm / Sunday 6am: Brit Rock with Dominic Forbes

This week on Brit Rock – Michael Schenker Group, Scorpions, Focus, Concrete Kingdoms, Meme Detroit, Survival Code, Green Day, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Styx, Procol Harem, Marillion, Dio, Motorhead, Don Henley, Foreigner, Chicago, Queen, Deep Purple, Genesis, Night Ranger, Allman Bros Band, Fleetwood Mac, REM, Joe Cocker, Rolling Stones, Who, Ozzy Osbourne, Mountain, Rembrandts, C.C.S., Rod Stewart, Aerosmith.  Join Dominic Forbes 12pm or the encore Sunday 6am on RadioMaxMusic.

Artist Countdown: Guns ‘N Roses Top 25 Hits 7:30pm ET

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band who formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The classic lineup as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. Today, Axl Rose is the only remaining original member, in a lineup that comprises Use Your Illusion–era keyboardist Dizzy Reed, lead guitarists DJ Ashba and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, lead and rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman. The band released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million albums worldwide, including shipments of 45 million in the United States.

 

Scott Weiland Reunites With Velvet Revolver

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland has revealed to ABC News Radio that he has reunited with VELVET REVOLVER and is back making new music with the band. “We’ve all grown a lot,” explains Weiland. “We’re able to put egos and differences and old… conflicts aside and so that’s really cool.”

He added, “They gave me a couple of [new] songs and myself and [guitarist] Dave [Kushner] and [bassist] Duff [McKagan] are gonna be getting together for a songwriting session next week.”

According to Weiland, VELVET REVOLVER will hit the road for a short tour before the end of the year. “[VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash‘s solo album gets released [on May 22] and so he’s gonna do some touring on that and then we’re gonna go and do some [VELVET REVOLVER] shows in the later part of summer into early fall,” the singer said.  Read more