Use Your Illusion II

Use Your Illusion II is the fourth album, released the same day as the first and carrying a darker, more social tone. Made with the same lineup, this sequel more strongly reflects a gaze on politics, violence and the media. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 770,000 copies in its first week. Hard-driving riffs, piano-led ballads and long-changing arrangements let the record reshape its scenery again and again. In the anti-war opener “Civil War,” the cover of Bob Dylan's “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” and the nine-minute epic “Estranged,” dense playing and Axl Rose's dramatic vocal become tightly linked. The lead single “You Could Be Mine,” used in the film Terminator 2, is a signature song that concentrates the band's aggression. Where the first volume held many songs from the early days, this one draws on newer material, giving the paired discs distinct characters. It is a grand rock album that turns chaos and ambition directly into momentum.