VIA PRESS RELEASE | UME/Geffen celebrates Guns N’ Roses’ incredible musical legacy with Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II, the ultimate box set for the band’s 1991 multi-platinum releases Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.
Set for release on November 11, 2022, Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II Super Deluxes feature a total of 97 tracks, 63 are previously unreleased. Available in multiple configurations including a Super Deluxe Seven-CD + Blu-ray, a Super Deluxe Twelve-LP + Blu-ray, Two-CD Deluxe Editions of Use Your Illusion I & II separately, standard 1CD and 2LP versions of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II separately. In all formats, the original studio albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II have been fully remastered for the first-time ever, from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog masters. All versions will be available to stream and as digital downloads, with all configurations available to pre-order and pre-save, HERE.
Guns N’ Roses’ highly anticipated third and fourth studio albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were originally released simultaneously 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 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 ever 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,” which reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, 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. 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. This legendary show is one of three warmup shows for the Use Your Illusion Tour and features Izzy Stradlin on guitar, the original version of “Don’t Cry” and a special performance of “You Ain’t The First” both of which features the late Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon on guest vocals.
Also included is the complete audio recording of Live In Las Vegas taped at Thomas & Mack Center on January 25, 1992, newly mixed from the original multi-track tapes and features the band’s new guitarist Gilby Clarke. 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 and archival documents, Conspiracy Inc. replica fan club folder with membership card, four Conspiracy Inc. 1991/1992 Use Your Illusion era replica fan club newsletters, 10 Double-design lithos that reveals 1 of 2 unique images when inserted into the supplied red & blue reveal sleeves, seven 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) and a brand new 24”x36” band poster.
Use Your Illusion I & II: Limited Edition 4LP Color Vinyl + Zoetrope Turntable Mat | Both Use Your Illusion I & II are packaged together in a limited edition 4LP set, each housed in a premium tip-on gatefold jacket with a 12″x12″ insert and feature both original studio albums fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. Use Your Illusion I includes the debut of the newly recorded “November Rain (2022 Version)” with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy® Award winner and Emmy Award nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.
Both albums are housed in an exclusive foil-art slipcase showcasing both Use Your Illusion I & II covers. Use Your Illusion I LP 1 is pressed on yellow vinyl and LP 2 is pressed on red vinyl, Use Your Illusion II LP 1 is pressed on blue vinyl and LP 2 is pressed on purple vinyl. As an added bonus, exclusive to this set is a zoetrope turntable mat that when combined with a strobing light effect animates the mat’s artwork while spinning on a turntable.
Use Your Illusion I: 2CD Deluxe Edition | Disc one features the original studio album Use Your Illusion I, fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD, and now includes the debut of the newly recorded “November Rain (2022 Version)” featuring a real 50-piece orchestra for the first-time conducted and arranged by Grammy® Award winner and Emmy Award nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.
Disc two features 13 unreleased, newly mixed live tracks from London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York, and Las Vegas recorded during the Use Your Illusion 1991/1992 tour including the track “Always On The Run (Live in Paris – 6/6/92)” featuring Lenny Kravitz, complete with a 24-page booklet with expanded artwork and unreleased photos and images.
Use Your Illusion II: 2CD Deluxe Edition | Disc one is the original studio album Use Your Illusion II fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD. Disc two features 13 newly mixed, unreleased live tracks from London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York & Las Vegas recorded during the Use Your Illusion 1991/1992 tour including special guest appearances by Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith for live renditions of “Mama Kin & Train Kept A Rollin’ (Live in Paris – 6/6/92).” Included is a 24-page booklet with expanded artwork and unreleased photos and images.
Use Your Illusion I: 2LP 180g Vinyl / Use Your Illusion II: 2LP 180g Vinyl | Each pressed on 180g heavy-weight audiophile black vinyl as a 2LP set, both Use Your Illusion I & II are available separately and each housed in a gatefold jacket with a 12″x12″ insert and feature the original studio album fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. Use Your Illusion I includes the debut of the newly recorded “November Rain (2022 Version)” with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy® Award winner and Emmy Award nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.
Use Your Illusion I: 1CD & Digital / Use Your Illusion II: 1CD & Digital | For the first-time ever, the 1CD versions of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, both available separately, have been remastered from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD. Use Your Illusion I includes the newly recorded “November Rain (2022 Version)” with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy® Award winner and Emmy Award nominated composer Christopher Lennertz and each housed in a jewel case with 16-page booklet.
