Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by 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 a record 770,000 copies its first week and debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, 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 Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart for a single week.
"Sweet Child O' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's first single, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming the band's only US number-one single. In the United Kingdom, the song was released on August 8, 1988, reaching number 24 on the UK Singles Chart the same month. Re-released there in May 1989, it peaked at number six.
"November Rain" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, the power ballad was released in February 1992 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Use Your Illusion I (1991). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was the longest song to enter the top ten of the chart at the time of its release. As of 2019, it was the fourth longest song to enter the Hot 100 chart. Additionally, "November Rain" reached number two on the Portuguese Singles Chart, number four on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 on several other music charts around the world.
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. The song has received critical acclaim and features on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, being ranked number 106 in the 2021 edition.
"Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100—becoming the band's third single to reach the Top 10—and number six on the UK Singles Chart. It also topped the Irish Singles Chart, their first of three singles to do so.
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries. The song became one of Dylan's most popular and most covered post-1960s compositions, spawning covers from Eric Clapton, Guns N' Roses, Randy Crawford, and more.
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured as the opening track on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 then again in October 1988 this time including the US, where it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Cry" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I (1991), while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II (1991). Only the vocal tracks differ, and even then only in the verses; however, in those verses, not only are the words entirely different, but the meter and melody are also slightly different. There is also a third version, officially released only on the single for the song, which was recorded during Appetite for Destruction sessions in 1986.
"Patience" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses from their second studio album, G N' R Lies (1988), released as a single in March 1989. The song peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song is a ballad, played using three acoustic guitars and was recorded in a single session by producer Mike Clink. A music video of the song was shot and appears on the band's music video DVD, Welcome to the Videos.
"It's So Easy" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, appearing on their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. The song was released as the band's first single on June 8, 1987, in the UK, where it reached number 84 on the UK Singles Chart as a double A-Side with "Mr. Brownstone". It was also released as a maxi-single in Germany later in the same year.
"Civil War" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses that originally appeared on the 1990 compilation Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal and later on the band's 1991 album Use Your Illusion II. It is a protest song on war, referring to all war as "civil war" and stating that war only "feeds the rich while it buries the poor". In the song, lead singer Axl Rose asks, "What's so civil about war, anyway?"
"Yesterdays" is the third track on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion II. It was written by Axl Rose, West Arkeen, Del James and Billy McCloud. This song is featured in the 2004 compilation Greatest Hits, and the Vegas version below was included on the album Live Era '87–'93. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 72 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Since I Don't Have You" is a song written and composed by Jackie Taylor, James Beaumont, Janet Vogel, Joseph Rock, Joe Verscharen, Lennie Martin, and Wally Lester. It was first a 1958 hit single for the doo-wop group the Skyliners on the Billboard Hot 100. Country music singer Ronnie Milsap had a hit with the song in 1991. American hard rock band Guns N' Roses also had some success in 1994 with their version of the song which reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Live and Let Die" is the theme song of the 1973 James Bond film of the same name, performed by the British–American rock band Wings. Written by English musician Paul McCartney and his wife Linda McCartney, it reunited McCartney with former Beatles producer George Martin, who produced the song and arranged the orchestra. McCartney was contacted to write the song by the film's producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli before the screenplay was finished. Wings recorded "Live and Let Die" during the sessions for Red Rose Speedway in October 1972 at AIR Studios. It was also the first rock song to open a Bond film. Another version by B. J. Arnau also appears in the film.
"Give In to Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, released as the seventh single from his eighth studio album, Dangerous (1991). Released in February 1993 by Epic Records, the song peaked at number one in New Zealand for four consecutive weeks and at number two on the UK Singles Chart. The track was written and produced by Jackson and Bill Bottrell, and features Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Several critics wrote that the song has an aggressive sexual flavor. It was released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand only. The single release's B-sides include the album versions of "Dirty Diana" and "Beat It".
The discography of Guns N' Roses, an American hard rock band, consists of six studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, five extended plays (EPs), 24 singles, ten video albums and 27 music videos. Guns N' Roses was formed in Los Angeles, California with an original recording lineup of lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. After self-releasing the EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in December 1986, the band signed with Geffen Records and released its debut studio album Appetite for Destruction the following July. It topped the US Billboard 200 and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time, with reported sales over 30 million units worldwide, 18 million of which are in the US. Three singles – "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City" – reached the US Billboard Hot 100 top ten, with "Sweet Child o' Mine" topping the chart.
"Ain't It Fun" is a song written by Peter Laughner and Gene O'Connor and performed by their protopunk band Rocket from the Tombs. The song was first released by O'Connor's later group Dead Boys on their 1978 second studio album, We Have Come for Your Children. Laughner died a year before.
"Chinese Democracy" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the title track from their sixth studio album. It was released as a radio single on October 22, 2008 and was released on the iTunes Store on November 9, 2008. It was primarily written by Axl Rose and Josh Freese. It was the band's first single of original material since "Estranged" was released in 1994 as the final single off the 1991 album Use Your Illusion II.
"Always on the Run" is a song by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz, released as the first single from his second album, Mama Said (1991), in March 1991. It features a contribution by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Slash had written the music for the song with the original intention of releasing it on a Guns N' Roses studio album, but since former drummer Steven Adler had difficulty playing the song, he saved it for this eventual collaboration with Kravitz. On June 6, 1992, during Guns N' Roses's Use Your Illusion Tour stop in Paris, Kravitz joined the band onstage and played guitar and sang vocals for this track.
"Estranged" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, included on their 1991 album Use Your Illusion II. Described as a ballad, the song was released as a single in December 1993.
