''Live Era '87–'93'' is a double

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by the American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

. It was released on November 30, 1999. The record was the first official Guns N' Roses release since ''

"The Spaghetti Incident?" ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is composed of covers of older songs mostly in the punk rock and hard rock genres. ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the only stud ...

'' released 6 years prior in 1993. The album is certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipments of 500,000 copies. The RIAA counts each disc in a double album separately for certification, so the album has actually shipped 250,000 copies.GNR certifications- RIAA
/ref>

Album information

The album was compiled by band associate

Del James Adalberto James Miranda (born February 5, 1964), known professionally as Del James, is an American musician, writer, journalist and artist best known for writing the short story that reportedly inspired the " November Rain" video by hard rock b ...

. The dates and locations of the tracks are not revealed in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

and are referred to simply as being "recorded across the universe between 1987 and 1993." However, the majority are believed to be from the

Use Your Illusion Tour The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 19 ...

of 1991—1993.

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

is alleged to have communicated through intermediaries with former

members

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

and

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...

to select the track list. "The live album was one of the easiest projects we all worked on," Slash noted. "I didn't actually see Axl, but we communicated via the powers that be."Guitar World Presents: Guitar Legends - Slash #76 pg.17 Slash notes that the album is "not pretty and there are a lot of mistakes, but this is Guns N' Roses, not the fucking

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...

. It's as honest as it gets." However, the album features overdubs and retakes, former band manager Doug Goldstein recalled the process: "Basically, all we were doing was calling out fixes. It was the original recorded material but Slash spent most of the time re-dubbing tracks.... Axl did a couple of fixes but from what I remember it certainly wasn't every track. And there were fixes as opposed to redoing the whole thing."

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

and

Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...

, who play on the majority of the tracks, are not credited as band members, but as "additional musicians". Classic-member drummer

Steven Adler Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' R ...

, who plays on only three tracks, and

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...

, who plays on six, are credited as "main band members." Two popular live songs, " Live and Let Die" and "

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

" – both played frequently during the

– are omitted from this release. Songs that were played to a much lesser extent (" Pretty Tied Up" and "Move to the City") are included. The Japanese and

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

versions of the album contain a rare performance of "

Coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

". "

Knockin' on Heaven's Door "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, ...

" was performed and recorded at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and was previously released on the "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" single. "Estranged," "Don't Cry," "November Rain," "Pretty Tied Up", "You Could Be Mine" and "Move To The City" were previously released on the band's ''

Use Your Illusion I ''Use Your Illusion I'' is the third studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart '' Use Your Illusion II''. It was the band's first album to feature dru ...

'' and ''

Use Your Illusion II ''Use Your Illusion II'' is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart '' Use Your Illusion I''. Both albums were released in conjunction wit ...

'' videos. The live audio from " Yesterdays" was included as a B-side on that song's CD single. Two similar covers were released, with the slight difference being either a blue corner or a red corner. The blue corner was the explicit release and the red corner was the clean release.

Track listing

All music and lyrics written by Guns N' Roses, except where noted A live version of "Coma" was released on several versions.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Band members

* W. Axl Rose –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

on "It's Alright" and "November Rain",

whistling Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. Th ...

on "Patience",

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

on "Paradise City",

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

on "Dust N' Bones" *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

on Patience,

talkbox A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

on "Dust N' Bones" and "Rocket Queen",

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

on "Rocket Queen", backing vocals *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Dust N' Bones" (1987–1991) *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, acoustic guitar on Patience, backing vocals *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(1987–1988) *

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur "Dizzy" Reed (born June 18, 1963) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 1990. Aside from lead singer Axl Rose, Reed is ...

– keyboards, piano,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals (1991–1993) *

– drums, percussion, backing vocals (1991–1993) *

– rhythm guitar, co-lead guitar on "Nightrain", acoustic guitar on "Patience", backing vocals (1991–1993)

Backing musicians

Teddy Andreadis Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis (born circa 1962) is an American keyboardist, harmonica player and vocalist, who has worked with many popular musicians, including Carole King, Guns N' Roses, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, Bruce Willis, and the B ...

– backing vocals, harmonica, percussion, keyboards (1992) * Roberta Freeman – backing vocals (1992) *Tracey Amos – backing vocals (1992) *Cece Worrall – horns (1992) *Anne King – horns (1992) *Lisa Maxwell – horns (1992)

Charts

The album reached number 45 in the UK albums chart.

Certifications

References

External links

GNR On Tour's Live Era Source Listing
- John M.'s concert source listing for the album.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Live Era '87-'93 Guns N' Roses live albums 1999 live albums Geffen Records live albums