UME/Geffen celebrates Guns N’ Roses’ incredible musical legacy with GUNS N’ ROSES 1991 multi-platinum – USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II. Set for release on November 11, 2022, GUNS N’ ROSES – USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II SUPER DELUXE feature a total of 97 tracks, with 63 previously unreleased.
Guns N’ Roses’ highly anticipated third and fourth studio albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, were originally released on September 17, 1991. With the massive success of GN’R Lies and Appetite For Destruction, the band had the daunting task of a follow-up album. Not only did the band deliver, Guns N’ Roses surprised the world by releasing not one but two new, full-length studio albums. Upon release, Use Your Illusion I reached No. 2, and Use Your Illusion II took the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 chart concurrently, selling over 500k in the first two hours of release, with an estimated sales of over 685k and 770k, respectively within the first week of release.
Use Your Illusion I features the band’s bombastic cover of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” the Top Ten hit “Don’t Cry,” and what NPR described as “one of the ultimate hard-rock power ballads.” The album also includes the band’s ’90s anthem and MTV staple “November Rain,” which hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, spending a total of 30 weeks on the chart, and holds the title of the first video from the ’90s to hit the 1 billion views mark on YouTube – now nearing 2 billion views. “November Rain” will now include a real 50-piece orchestra for the first time, newly recorded, conducted & arranged in 2021 by Grammy® Award-winning & Emmy Award nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.
Use Your Illusion II features the band’s Top 50 single “You Could Be Mine,” “Civil War,” and Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door,” plus an alternate version of “Don’t Cry” featuring different lyrics.
GUNS N’ ROSES – USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II Super Deluxe Seven-CD + Blu-ray and Super Deluxe Twelve-LP + Blu-ray box sets feature a whopping 97 songs, 63 of which are unreleased audio and video tracks. The original studio albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II are both remastered for the first time from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. The box set features an impressive, anamorphic illusion showcasing each of the two covers at different angles. All versions will be available to stream and as digital downloads.
The Twelve-LP box is pressed on 180-gram heavy-weight audiophile black vinyl with six premium tip-on gatefold jackets. Both Super Deluxe Editions also include the complete live audio recording Live In New York, taped at the Ritz Theatre on May 16, 1991, with sound newly mixed from original multi-track tapes.
The bonus disc is a Blu-ray Video of the complete Live In New York concert film, newly transferred from 35mm film prints to 4K UHD and presented in 1080p 24fps HD, in its entirety, along with audio mixed in Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround, and PCM 48kHz 24-bit stereo. The Blu-ray menu features the brand-new live music video “You Could Be Mine.” This is the first-time release of any complete audio and video concerts from the Use Your Illusion era GN’R.
The Super Deluxe box sets are housed with a 100-page hardcover book with:
- Unreleased photos, memorabilia & archival documents
- Conspiracy Inc. replica fan club folder with a membership card
- Four Conspiracy Inc. 1991/1992 Use Your Illusion era replica fan club newsletters
- 10 Double-design lithos that reveal 1 of 2 unique images when inserted into the supplied red & blue reveal sleeves
- Sseven-band 8″x10″ photo prints
- Four Use Your Illusion tour replica cloth sticky backstage passes,
- A Ritz Theatre 5/16/1991 replica concert ticket (with the original misprinted date of 5/15/1991)
- A brand new 24″x36″ band poster.
