In honor of the 20th anniversary of Use Your Illusion I & II, I recently broke down all 30 songs from the albums, ranked in order from worst to best.
During the process of trying to get in touch with GNR's people for an unrelated project, I also caught up with current Guns guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, and I asked him about his favorite song from UYI to play live. Here's what he had to say:
"It was May 2006, my first tour with GNR. Fans would email daily asking if we could please play 'Don't Cry.' I remember standing alone on stage in front of 100,000+ people, taking a solo, and I just started playing it on my own, motioning the audience to sing along. For the next year that became part of my solo, a lone guitar rendition, the audience singing along, a moment where we'd really connect each night. One of the last shows after a year of touring, I played it as an encore and Axl joined in and sang it, for the first time in over a decade. [We] started adding it back into the set after that. Always loved the song, but after all that it has an added personal meaning to me now."
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
“The Yardbirds had no need to worry about Clapton’s departure – they had Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page onboard”: The history of the ’60s British blues boom – the movement that carried a tidal wave of guitar heroes across the Atlantic
“Shredding is an amazing thing to be able to do, but when you can really write a feeling with a melody, like Johnny Marr did so well, that’s the goal”: Conor Curley of Fontaines D.C. on his love of Deftones and why he’s writing riffs like a beginner