Japanese only SHM pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head.
SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. Universal. 2009.Had Use Your Illusion II been combined with Use Your Illusion I, keeping only the best material while dropping the filler, it would have been one of the best rock albums ever recorded.
Instead, great songs like "Civil War," "14 Years," "Estranged," and "So Fine" compete with the inexcusable "Get in the Ring" and the well-intentioned but off-target cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." There's no point to the second version of "Don't Cry," either. On the other hand, when Guns N' Roses were good, they were very, very good, and some of the material on this album is unsurpassable. --Genevieve Williams
Personally, I think UYI II has a lot more to offer than UYI I. Estranged, Locomotive, Pretty Tied Up, Civil War, the revised version of Don't Cry, Breakdown... it's perfection.