'Cause Yesterdays Got Nothin' For Me...
Written: Sep 27 '02 (Updated Feb 26 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Yesterdays, great guitars, lyrics, vocals...classic GNR!
Cons: Only two songs. Cassette Single format is rather limiting.
The Bottom Line: You probably can't find this Yesterdays by Guns N' Roses single...it's stashed in the music collections of people like me.
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| lambchops's Full Review: Yesterdays [Single] by Guns N' Roses |
Guns N' Roses will, above all other things, be remembered for creating some of the best rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band released in the matter of just six or so years five albums. Four of those five had a number of high points (I'm excluding the most recent The Spaghetti Incident? for obvious reasons).
Formed in 1985, the band quickly gained respect from fans and soon earned a major label deal with Geffen. The apparently divine combination of Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (guitar), Izzy Stradlin (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Steven Alder (drums) churned out 1987s Appetite For Destruction and soon managed to take over the rock and roll world. The five-star album spawned no fewer than four hits including the classic Sweet Child O' Mine.
What really separated the band from the scads of other rock and metal in their era was that they didn't prescribe to the common notion that it was cool to be pretty and appealing to the ladies. Rather, Guns N' Roses was loud, violent, opinionated, unrelenting, pained, visceral, and dangerous. Oh yeah...and they got tons of mainstream radio airplay and found support even on MTV.
The years passed and GNR released their highly anticipated sophomore effort G N' R Lies. It paled in comparison to the first album, but still was rewarding enough to spawn the hit ballad Patience. The five band members regrouped and in 1991 attempted a musical coup d'itat. In one fell swoop, they released two albums...each wonderful in its own right but together an absolutely amazing effort.
Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II each had their high points. The first of the two had Dont Cry, Live and Let Die and one of the most memorable of all GNR tracks November Rain. While many people fawn over this album, I personally am partial to the second.
Use Your Illusion II is brilliant. In my humble opinion it also nears (if not surpassing) the greatness of Appetite for Destruction. With songs like Civil War, Breakdown, You Could Be Mine, Estranged, Knockin' On Heaven's Door and Yesterdays it's a hard rockin' can't miss deal. So that's where we come to the subject of my opinion this fine day.
I purchased Yesterdays in 1992 as a cassette single and featuring on the other side November Rain (a song that is musically brilliant, but by far not my favorite from GNR). I suppose what most appeals to me about the track is the tight blend of rock into an almost-ballad of a song. The words are fascinating, the images breathtaking. Rose obviously has no particular love for days gone by and would rather just get on with life than rehash painful old memories. Yesterdays ranks among my favorite songs from this destined rock and roll hall of fame band.
'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Some things could be better
If we'd all just let them be
As I already mentioned, the b-side to Yesterdays isn't a b-side at all. November Rain is an epic tune. I vividly remember the song and video both being overplayed on radio and MTV. I remember Slash's intricate guitar solos. Originally from the first of the Use Your Illusion twinner albums, the song is ridiculously long and ridiculously overwrought. Yeah, it sounds good but I think it's a bit on the self indulgent side. Kind of like GNR looked at one another and decided to see what they could get away with. Well, they did it with style and some substance.
And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blamed
Anyway, this is a worthwhile single. I probably paid $2 for it, so I got my money out of it. I love Yesterdays as a song and am able to tolerate November Rain. All I wish is that it was a Maxi-CD with maybe a few live or alternate versions to chew on. Highly recommended, though not widely available.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Recommended:
Yes
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lambchops
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Member: Shelly T.
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