Use Your Illusion I - Guns N' Roses

Use Your Illusion I is one of two double-length albums released simultaneously by Guns N' Roses on September 17, 1991 on Geffen Records. The band's lineup had expanded to include keyboardist Dizzy Reed and rhythm guitarist Gilmore Clarke (replaced during sessions by Matt Sorum on drums), and the production, by Mike Clink with the band, is more ambitious and layered than Appetite for Destruction. Slash's guitar work ranges from the bluesy acoustic picking of "Don't Cry" to the sustained, orchestral solo on "November Rain" — a nine-minute ballad featuring a full orchestra arranged by Michael Kamen that became one of the band's signature songs. The album's fourteen tracks span hard rock, punk, blues, and progressive rock territory, with "Coma" stretching past ten minutes. "Double Talkin' Jive" features a flamenco-influenced acoustic guitar intro, and "Bad Obsession" includes harmonica from Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, behind its companion Use Your Illusion II. Together, the two albums represented a dramatic expansion of the band's scope, moving beyond the raw, street-level hard rock of their debut into territory that divided fans but demonstrated the band's ambition.