Appetite for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction
Studio album by Guns N' Roses
Released	July 21, 1987 December 9, 2008 (reissue)
Recorded	Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; Take One Studio, Burbank, California; Can Am Studio, Tarzana, California[1]
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal[2]
Length	53:48
Label	Geffen Interscope (reissue)
Producer	Mike Clink
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link RS Album Guide link
Guns N' Roses chronology
Appetite for Destruction (1987) G N' R Lies (1988)
Original cover
Singles from Appetite for Destruction
"It's So Easy" Released: June 15, 1987 (1987-06-15) "Welcome to the Jungle" Released: October 3, 1987 (1987-10-03) "Sweet Child o' Mine" Released: August 18, 1988 (1988-08-18) "Paradise City" Released: November 30, 1988 (1988-11-30) "Nightrain" Released: July 29, 1989 (1989-07-29)

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Released in 1987 (see 1987 in music), it was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart. As of September 2008, the album has been certified 18x platinum (1.8x diamond) by the RIAA,^[3] accumulating worldwide sales in excess of 28 million as of June 2010.^[4] The album is the best-selling debut album of all-time worldwide, beating Boston's debut album Boston, which has gone 17x platinum.^[5]

In 2006, the album was placed No. 2 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.^[6]

Origins

Axl Rose stated in 1988 that many of the songs featured on the album had been written while the band had been performing on the Los Angeles club circuit, and a number of songs that would be featured on later Guns N' Roses albums were considered for Appetite for Destruction, such as "Back Off Bitch", "You Could Be Mine", "November Rain" and "Don't Cry". It is said that the reason for not putting "November Rain" was because they had already agreed to put "Sweet Child 'O Mine" and that they already had a ballad on the album.^[7]

While the songwriting credits are credited to all five band members, many of the songs began as solo tracks that individual band members wrote separate from the band, only to be completed later. These songs include "It's So Easy" (McKagan) and "Think About You" (Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/Adler song that was written from their earlier band Road Crew, whereas "Anything Goes", written by Hollywood Rose and included in their compilation album The Roots of Guns N' Roses, was later re-written for Appetite.

Other songs on the album reflect the band's reaction to the debauchery of the L.A. rock and roll underground, such as "Welcome to the Jungle" the lyrics of which Rose wrote after he encountered a man on the sidewalks of New York City shortly after arriving there from Indiana.^[8] Lyrics to some of the songs focus on the band members' younger years, like "Out ta Get Me", which focuses on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana.^[9] The band also based song lyrics on their assorted female companions, reflected in the songs "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Think About You", "My Michelle", "You're Crazy", and "Rocket Queen".

Song information

"Welcome to The Jungle"

This is the first song on the album.

It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987 and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number sixty-seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the United Kingdom, "Welcome to the Jungle" was backed with a live cover of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie", while in the United States the B-side was "Mr. Brownstone" from Appetite for Destruction. In 2009 it was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.

"Out ta Get Me"

This is the fourth track on the album.

Its lyrics focus on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana. Slash describes it as being written even more quickly than "Welcome to the Jungle", which means it was written in under three hours.^[9]

"You're Crazy"

"You're Crazy" is the tenth track on the album. It was originally written as an acoustic song, but was revamped for Appetite for Destruction^[10] (this version is one of the fastest songs in the band's catalog). The slower, acoustic version was later recorded for G N' R Lies; this version has also been performed live with electric guitars (as heard on their live album).

A working title for the song was "Fucking Crazy".^[10]

"Anything Goes"

"Anything Goes" is the penultimate track on the album. It was one of the earliest-written songs by the band, having been written in 1981.^[11] It was originally named "My Way, Your Way".^[12]

Packaging

The album's original cover art, based on the Robert Williams' painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, the label compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with an image depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (designed by Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Steven Adler, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John, Marc Canter and Jack Lue. The original cover was supposed to be on the 2008 re-pressing of the vinyl, though the record label replaced it with the "Skulls" art at the last minute.^[13] The re-pressing of the vinyl, though, is the first Guns N' Roses release to have the Parental Advisory label printed on the artwork; previously, like on the CD, this was a sticker on the cellophane wrap and later (on the CD and cassette releases) on the case itself.

In albums which were issued on double sided media (i.e., vinyl records and audio cassettes) the two sides were not conventionally labeled "A" and "B", but "G" and "R". Tracks 1-6 which comprise side "G" all deal with drugs and hard life in the big city ("Guns" side). The remaining tracks, which comprise side "R", all deal with love, sex and relationships ("Roses" side).

Achievements

• In 1989 Rolling Stone ranked Appetite for Destruction as the 20th best album of the 1980s.
• The same magazine later ranked it at sixty-one on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[14]
• In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.^[15]
• In 2004, Q magazine also named Appetite for Destruction as one of the greatest Classic rock Albums Ever.^[16]
• In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.^[17]
• In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Appetite for Destruction 59th on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.^[18]
• It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".^[19]
• Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1 on the hard rock list.^[20]
• In 2004 the album was voted number 1 by fans in Metal Hammer magazine's greatest albums of all time list.
• Rolling Stone devoted their cover to the album's 20th Anniversary, July 2007.^[21]
• The album was ranked 32 on Rock Hall of Fame's 'definitive 200' album list, developed by the NARM, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.^[22]
• Nike dedicated an SB Dunk (shoe design) to the album.
• In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #10 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".^[23]
• Placed at #1 of Play.com's top 100 Metal Albums

Track listing

All songs credited to Guns N' Roses; "It's So Easy" co-credited to West Arkeen and "Anything Goes" co-credited to Chris Weber.^[24] Actual writers and composers listed.

Notes

• The album is rated  M  in New Zealand and it contains violence and offensive language.

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Singles

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• List of best-selling albums in Argentina

Marshall Amplifier's recreation of the sound used on Appetite for Destruction [1]

References

• Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2. 
• Davis, Stephen (2008). Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-592-40377-6. 
• Appetite for Destruction at Allmusic

Notes