10 Rock Albums You Constantly Have To Defend Loving
9. Guns N' Roses: Use Your Illusion I & II (1991)
Although Guns N' Roses represented something very different to the usual hair-metal bands of the Sunset Strip, they have come to represent the genre. It didn't help that they still rocked huge hair doos and had a reputation for partying as hard as Mötley Crüe, but their sound was distinctly different to what was on offer at the time.
They didn't sound like your usual cartoon-metal drivel. The guitar riffs were soaked in the blues-rock of the '60s, and they played with the ferocity of a '70s punk band. Their legacy is overshadowed by the chaotic, escapades of their frontman, but despite Axl Rose's propensity for being a bit of d*ck, he wrote some damn fine tunes.
Guns are considered a caricature of late '80s/early '90s hard rock, and admitting to liking them is always done with some hesitation. Usually you can get away with stating an appreciation for Appetite for Destruction... Use Your Illusion I & II, however, is always dismissed as a bloated mess of overindulgent power ballads and overly grand guitar solos. Sure, Axl Rose's ego was getting the better of him by this point, but it resulted in tracks like Civil War, Estranged and November Rain. Not to mention the theatrical cover of Live and Let Die. Yeah, this is a GREAT album.