rogers park bryan wrote:
I get not liking the album, but this is not "falling off"
The band released the recordings as two albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, on September 17, 1991.[94][95] The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively in the Billboard charts, making Guns N' Roses the only act to achieve this feat until hip hop artist Nelly in 2004.[96][97] The albums sold 770,000 units (Use Your Illusion II) and 685,000 units (Use Your Illusion I) in their first week,[98] and spent 108 weeks on the chart.[96] They have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide,[99] including 14 million in the United States.[47]
Guns N' Roses accompanied the Use Your Illusion albums with many videos, including "Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "Estranged", some the most expensive music videos ever made.[100] The ballad "November Rain" reached number 3 in the US and became the most requested video on MTV, eventually winning the 1992 MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. At 8.57, it is also the longest song in US chart history to reach the top ten. During the awards show, the band performed the song with Elton John accompanying on piano.[101]
Use Your Illusion Tour
Main article: Use Your Illusion Tour
Before the release of the albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long Use Your Illusion Tour. It became famous for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows. The tour had 192 dates in 27 countries, with over seven million people attending concerts.[102] It is considered the "longest tour in rock history".[102] The Use Your Illusion World Tour program included a guitar solo from Slash based on The Godfather theme, a piano-driven cover of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath, and an extended jam on the classic rock-inspired "Move to the City", where the group showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour.[103]
Again, not disputing much of this; however, presumably from the same source:
Released at midnight on September 17, 1991, the Use Your Illusion albums were among the most anticipated in rock history. Predictions in the industry were of sales reaching the likes of Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A., this despite the fact that major stores K-Mart and Walmart refused to stock the albums due to the profanity present. Estimates suggested that over 500,000 copies of the two albums were sold in just 2 hours.[26] Both albums ultimately underperformed expectations domestically but were still commercially successful, with Use Your Illusion I selling 5,502,000 and both being certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA.[27][28] Use Your Illusion I debuted below Use Your Illusion II mainly due to the fact that the second album contained the main lead single of the two albums "You Could Be Mine".Yeah, they sold very well, and a lot had to do with the GnR fan based starved for some new music from them, and I remember at the time there was a lot of disappointment after the releases. Still, GnR was in the public eye, what, maybe four years at this point, and the cracks were already showing (Adler gone; Izzy with one foot out the door), then it all caved in shortly after.