Guns N’ Roses ‘Vetoed’ Prog Icon’s Dolby Atmos Remix of 2 Albums

Guns N’ Roses fans who love spatial audio might be delighted to know that the band’s Use Your Illusion albums have been remixed in Dolby Atmos format. But the kicker is that they’re unlikely to be released.

The pair of 1991 LPs were handed over to British prog icon Steven Wilson, who’s been nominated for six Grammy awards in a career with Porcupine Tree, Storm Corrosion and acclaimed solo work and other various projects (Blackfield, Bass Communion, No-Man and others).

Since 2009 he’s been remixing records by a wide range of musicians including Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, the Who, Elton John, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, KISS and others. But in a recent interview with Scars And Guitars (video below) he revealed that his 2022 treatment of Use Your Illusion I and II, a planned part of that year’s reissue set, had been rejected by Axl Rose’s band – save for one single track.

Asked if he’d faced any challenges on the GN’R project, Wilson said: “Well, the challenges were the band didn’t like what I was doing. That came through the record company. … I did it all and then the band basically vetoed it all.

READ MORE: Prog God Steven Wilson Names Three Bands You’d Be Surprised He Loves

“So the only thing that ever came out was my remix of ‘November Rain’, with a real orchestra added. And that was a shame. … I think I worked on about 40 songs, including outtakes, B-sides and God knows what else. And then the band basically turned around and decided they didn’t like it. They didn’t like Atmos – they didn’t like the idea of their music being in spatial audio.”

Wilson described the Illusion material as “amazing” and lamented the fact that “that project is kind of just sitting on my hard drive, unreleased and unheard…it got sort of bogged down in band politics and God knows what else.”

Listen to Steven Wilson’s Remix of “November Rain”

Despite his appreciation for their work, Wilson admitted he wasn’t a lifelong fan of Guns N’ Roses, explaining they’d come along a little too late for him. “I grew up in the [early] ‘80s. … If it was metal, it would have been Metallica…Master of Puppets from ’85 rather than Appetite for Destruction in ’89.”

But he revealed that, if a friend came round to visit, he could usually take them into his studio and play part of a remix project that meant something to them. “I’ll say, ‘What music did you grow up with?’ … I’ve usually got something…which they’ll remember from their childhood [with which] I can blow their mind!”

Watch Steven Wilson on ‘Scars and Guitars’