SLASH Talks About Making Of GUNS N' ROSES' 'Use Your Illusion' Albums

September 15, 2011

Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) spoke to U.K.'s Total Guitar magazine about the 20th anniversary of GUNS N' ROSES' "Use Your Illusion" albums.

"I don't know which one I prefer," he said. "I haven't listened to the 'Use Your Illusion' albums for so long, I don't even know what's on each. I know people like the blue one over the red one Or maybe it's the other way around."

"I was just totally obsessed with the creation of the 'Illusion' records and when I got into that studio, I was completely absorbed with everything to do with them, all the time. Because it had been so long.

"We'd made 'Appetite [For Destruction]' and then toured for years and for me, and I know for a couple of the other guys we'd crashed and burned. So we were pulling ourselves out of the fucking quagmire and going back to work."

"It was definitely exploratory compared to 'Appetite'," he said. "I mean, honestly, I'd have preferred to do a record with just 10 fucking songs that were a bit more straightforward, but it was an opportunity to finally get the band to work again."

Slash revealed that there was a disagreement within the band over how much extra instrumentation should be put on the tracks.

"The problem was with Izzy," Slash said. "Because the album reached such gargantuan proportions as far as the production and complexity and the massive expectations [that] Izzy started to bow out. He was harder to find, because that was against his rock and roll philosophy, which I totally agree with.

"We got through the basic tracks and I think that's what gave the albums such a natural feel. But when we started getting into the time it took to do overdubs and vocals, he sorta disappeared."

Read the entire interview from Total Guitar magazine.

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