So many rock fans say that GnR have made one classic and relevant album - Appetite for Destruction and they generally look down on Use Your Illuision (I and II) albums.
Why are those albums not more highly regarded? What was WRONG with them from a musical point?
Well, it depends how you define "rock fans". To me, "rock fans" seems pretty general, and I picture those "I like everything" kinds of people. If so, Appetite had the biggest hits, so there's that.
And Appetite IS classic and relevant.
But who exactly looks down on the Illusion albums? Look, they are not the "moment in time" album that Appetite is, but they are both phenomenal pieces of music. They are also in a slightly different style too. The songs are much bigger, complex than the classic barroom rock that Appetite is.
And just because you can sift through the double album and make a great single album doesn't detract from the strength of each of them.
Those albums were huge. The band toured for over 3 years straight on them. Now one may associate that era with the douchiness of Axel, so that may taint how they view the band, but musically those albums are great.