Guns N Roses: Ranking Their Albums From Worst To Best

2. Use Your Illusion II

The second part to Use Your Illusion has a more epic scope than the first, as heard in the purposeful politicking of "Civil War" and the never-ending sprawl of "Estranged." This was no doubt the portion of the double album that had Axl handling the reigns and, as hard as this might be for GNR's diehard fans to say out loud, his progressive direction really worked. That's not to excuse the bloat of a song like "Breakdown," which could have been cut in half and un-layered by about ten, but Axl's visionary musicianship certainly outshines the repetitive riffage of "Shotgun Blues," which aims for Appetite's level of grungy immediacy, but ends up sounding base and sophomoric when stacked up against the likes of "14 Years" and "Yesterdays." All in all, though, the disappointments are few and far between on Illusion II, which narrowly positions it above its first half in the Guns' legacy. And, if nothing else, they proved once and for all that a hard rock band actually can do justice to a Bob Dylan classic, further proving their musical breadth with the cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpmAY059TTY