Album · 35 years old this year
Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by Guns N' Roses, released on 17 September 1991 by Geffen. It arrived on the same day as Use Your Illusion I, and the band had already been touring behind the pair since May, after delays in getting them out. The lead single was "You Could Be Mine".
The two records were a major moment in the band's story. This one was the slightly bigger seller, going straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 770,000 copies in its first week, and it spent a week at the top in the UK. It is also the last album to credit rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, and the final one with drummer Steven Adler, who plays on "Civil War". No new original material followed until Chinese Democracy in 2008.
Use Your Illusion II: tracklist, credits and charts
14 tracks · 1:15:57Tracklist
- 1Civil WarMcKagan, Rose, Slash7:42
- 214 YearsAxl Rose and Izzy Stradlin4:21
- 3YesterdaysArkeen, James, McCloud, Rose3:16
- 4Knockin' on Heaven's DoorBob Dylan5:36
- 5Get in the RingMcKagan, Rose, Slash5:41
- 6Shotgun BluesAxl Rose3:23
- 7BreakdownAxl Rose7:04
- 8Pretty Tied Up (The Perils of Rock N' Roll Decadence)Izzy Stradlin4:48
- 9LocomotiveAxl Rose and Slash8:42
- 10So FineDuff McKagan4:06
- 11EstrangedAxl Rose9:24
- 12You Could Be MineAxl Rose and Izzy Stradlin5:44
- 13Don't Cry (alternate lyrics)Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin4:44
- 14My WorldAxl Rose1:24
- Produced by
- Mike Clink, Guns N’ Roses
- Recorded at
- A&M (Hollywood), Record Plant (Los Angeles), Studio 56 (Los Angeles), Image Recording (Hollywood), Conway (Los Angeles), Metalworks (Mississauga, Ontario)
- Recorded
- 13 January 1990 – 3 August 1991
- Mixed by
- Bill Price
- Engineered by
- Mike Clink
- Label
- Geffen
- Length
- 1:15:57
Line-up
- Steven Adler · drums (drum set) · guest
- Duff McKagan · bass, background vocals, percussion, vocals
- Dizzy Reed · piano, background vocals, organ
- Slash · acoustic guitar, electric guitar, guitar, banjo
- Axl Rose · vocals, piano, background vocals, electric guitar, drums (drum set), keyboard, effects
- Matt Sorum · drums (drum set), percussion, background vocals
- Izzy Stradlin · guitar, vocals, electric guitar, background vocals, acoustic guitar
- The Waters · background vocals · guest
- Howard Teman · piano · guest
- Shannon Hoon · background vocals · guest
- Johann Langlie · drums (drum set), keyboard, effects · guest
Singles
- “You Could Be Mine” · 25 June 1991
- “Knockinon Heaven's Door” · 11 May 1992
- “Yesterdays” · 2 November 1992
- “Civil War” · 3 May 1993
- “Estranged” · 10 January 1994
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · Combined | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 · Combined | 1 |
| Argentine Albums (CAPIF) · 1991–2022 | 1 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1991–2022 | 1 |
| Austrian Albums · 1991–2022 | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums · Combined | 1 |
| Dutch Albums · 1991–2022 | 2 |
| German Albums · 1991–2022 | 2 |
| Norwegian Albums · Combined | 2 |
| Swiss Albums · Combined | 2 |
All 26 charts
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · Combined | 2 |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) · 1991–2022 | 3 |
| Hungarian Albums · Combined | 3 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE) · Combined | 3 |
| Swedish Albums · Combined | 4 |
| Italian Albums · Combined | 6 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 1991–2022 | 8 |
| US Tastemaker · Combined | 8 |
| US Hard Rock · Combined | 9 |
| French Albums · 1991–2022 | 11 |
| Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) · Combined | 15 |
| Scottish Albums · Combined | 18 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) · 1991–2022 | 22 |
| UKDigital · Combined | 23 |
| Polish Albums · Combined | 30 |
| Portuguese Albums · Combined | 35 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina | 6× Platinum |
| Australia · 1994 | 5× Platinum |
| Austria | 2× Platinum |
| Brazil · 1996 | Platinum |
| Brazil · 2024 | Diamond |
| Canada | 9× Platinum |
| Denmark · 2020 | 2× Platinum |
| Finland | Platinum |
| France · 1997 | Platinum |
| Germany | 5× Gold |
| Italy · 2021 | Platinum |
| Japan · 1993 | 2× Platinum |
| Mexico · 1999 | Platinum |
| Netherlands · 1992 | Platinum |
| New Zealand | Platinum |
| Norway · 1994 | 2× Platinum |
| Spain · 1992 | Platinum |
| Sweden · 1991 | Platinum |
| Switzerland · 1997 | 3× Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 2013 | Platinum |
| United States | 7× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
88.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
11k
ListenBrainz listeners
202k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
93k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 17 September
Every year →
More from Guns N’ Roses
Full discography →
Live ?!★꩜ Like a Suicide
1986
Appetite for Destruction
1987
EP
1988
G N’ R Lies
1988
On Tour Now!
1991
Use Your Illusion I
1991
The “Civil War” EP
1993
“The Spaghetti Incident?”
1993
Use Your Illusion
1998
Live Era ’87–’93
1999
Greatest Hits
2004
Chinese Democracy
2008
Appetite for Democracy: Live at the Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas
2014
Hard Skool
2022
The best of 1991
All of 1991 →
Nevermind
Nirvana · 1991
Metallica
Metallica · 1991
Use Your Illusion I
Guns N’ Roses · 1991
Ten
Pearl Jam · 1991
No More Tears
Ozzy Osbourne · 1991
On Tour Now!
Guns N’ Roses · 1991
Innuendo
Queen · 1991
Kerplunk!
Green Day · 1991
Badmotorfinger
Soundgarden · 1991
Gish
The Smashing Pumpkins · 1991
Arise
Sepultura · 1991
1916
Motörhead · 1991
More on Geffen
The label →Appetite for Destruction
Guns N’ Roses · 1987
Pinkerton
Weezer · 1996
“The Spaghetti Incident?”
Guns N’ Roses · 1993
On Tour Now!
Guns N’ Roses · 1991
G N’ R Lies
Guns N’ Roses · 1988
Weezer
Weezer · 2001
Incesticide
Nirvana · 1992
Make Believe
Weezer · 2005
With the Lights Out
Nirvana · 2004
Maladroit
Weezer · 2002
Live ?!★꩜ Like a Suicide
Guns N’ Roses · 1986
Use Your Illusion
Guns N’ Roses · 1998
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 17 September 1991 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 17 September 1991 | |
| Wikidata | 17 September 1991 | |
| US release | 17 September 1991 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 17 September 1991 | earliest UK or European date |
34 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | FR | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| — | XE | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| — | AU | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | US | Geffen | 720642442012 | other |
| 1991 | FR | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | CA | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | XE | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | AU | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | US | Geffen | 720642442012 | other |
| 1991 | XE | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | — | Geffen | other | |
| 1991 | ZA | Geffen | 6001211401734 | other |
| 1991 | CA | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 1991 | US | Geffen | 720642442029 | other |
| 17 September 1991 | US | Geffen | 720642442029 | original |
| 17 September 1991 | JP | Geffen | 4988067000873 | original |
| 17 September 1991 | US | BMG Direct Marketing, Inc. | original | |
| 17 September 1991 | XE | Geffen | 720642442029 | original |
| 14 October 1997 | US | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | 015775471221 | other |
| 24 July 2002 | JP | Geffen | other | |
| 2008 | XE | Geffen | 720642442012 | other |
| 22 November 2008 | JP | Geffen | 4988005537461 | other |
| 11 December 2015 | US | Geffen | 602567756842 | other |
| 11 December 2015 | MX | Geffen | 602547707925 | other |
| 2016 | XE | Geffen | 720642442012 | other |
| 1 June 2018 | XW | Geffen | 00602567756842 | other |
| 2022 | XE | Geffen | 602445117215 | other |
| 22 September 2022 | XE | Geffen | 602445125807 | other |
| 11 November 2022 | XW | Geffen | 602448514479 | other |
| 11 November 2022 | US | Geffen | 602445117215 | deluxe |
| 11 November 2022 | JP | Geffen | 4988031540619 | deluxe |
| 11 November 2022 | AU | Geffen | 602445117215 | deluxe |
| 11 November 2022 | XW | Guns N Roses P&D | 00602448303585 | deluxe |
| 11 November 2022 | XW | Guns N Roses P&D | 602448303608 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| coverartarchive | 2822×2814 | cropped |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |