Guns N' Roses had the biggest selling debut of all time with the filth and fury of this annihilative metallic blues rock monstrosity. The band was started in Los Angeles by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin from the band Hollywood Rose and Tracii Guns, Ole Beich, and Rob Gardner of L.A. Guns. They combined the names of their former bands to create Guns N' Roses; but the original lineup didn't last long. All of the former members of L.A. Guns were eventually replaced to create the classic lineup that recorded 'Appetite for Destruction' for Geffen Records: Axl Rose on lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, and whistle; Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, co-lead guitar, and percussion; Slash on lead guitar, co-rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, and talkbox; Duff McKagan on bass and backing vocals; Steven Adler on drums.
Slash had played with Stradlin in Hollywood Rose and with McKagan and Adler in Road Crew. McKagan admits: “From listening to Slash, I realized I could be a shredder and be melodic—I could be technical and greasy at the same time and approach pop songs like a punk."
Paul Stanley was supposed to produce the album; but after he tried to change the songs he was replaced by engineer Mike Clink. Basic tracks were recorded at Daryl Dragon's Rumbo Recorders with overdubs done at Take One Studio and Can Am Studio.
Stradlin says: "It could be said that we have a pretty nasty history. The thing is, I don't give a fuck about the image that everyone buys. It's all been blown out of proportion, the 'bad-boy' thing, how much we drink, how much drugs we do or don't do. It's boring. While everyone's talkin' about what we did or supposedly did yesterday, we're already working today on the music they're gonna hear tomorrow.”
Adler opines: "To me it’s just a rock ‘n’ roll band but it’s a rock ‘n’ roll band that I have gotten so much love and respect from all around the world. In every language you can imagine I’ve had people say ‘Appetite For Destruction’ is the soundtrack to their lives. I don’t think you could say something nicer to an entertainer or performer — can’t get more respectful."
Rose considers: "I thought about trying to sell more records than Boston's first album. I always thought that and never let up. Everything was directed at trying to achieve the sales without sacrificing the credibility of our music. We worked real hard to sell this many records. The album wasn't just a fluke. Maybe 'Appetite' will be the only good album we make, but it wasn't just a fluke...This is music, this is art. It's definitely a good business, but that should be second to the art, not first. I was figuring it out, and I'm like the president of a company that's worth between $125 million and a quarter billion dollars. If you add up record sales based on the low figure and a certain price for T-shirts and royalties and publishing, you come up with at least $125 million, which I get less than two percent of. I like being successful. I was always starving. On the other side. When it came to people with money, it was always 'The rich? Fuck them!' But I left one group and joined another. I escaped from one group where I was looked down on for being a poor kid that doesn't know shit, and now I'm like, a rich, successful asshole. I don't like that. I'm still just me, and with a lot of people's help, the group was able to become a huge financial success. None of us were the popular kids in school - we were all outcasts who got together and pooled our talents."
Slash reflects: "I don't physically put 'Appetite For Destruction' in and listen to it, but I hear it on the radio or at sporting events or wherever else it pops up, and it's great. I dig everything about it. When I hear 'Appetite', it sounds like exactly what it was. It sounds like a record made by an angry bunch of kids. It's still really good. There are good songs on it, and great fucking lyrics. Then there are some good guitar sounds, and some pretty decent playing. For me, the original Guns N' Roses is the embodiment of a certain kind of chemistry that really couldn't be duplicated."
'Appetite for Destruction' went to thirty-two in Sweden; sixteen in Germany; eleven in Ireland; seven in Australia and Switzerland; five in the Netherlands and the UK; three in Austria and Canada; and number one in the US. It has sold over twenty-eight million copies worldwide.
http://www.gunsnroses.com/
The lyrics for 'Sweet Child o' Mine' was inspired by Rose's girlfriend at the time Erin Everly, whose father was Don Everly of The Everly Brothers. McKagan recalls: "The thing about 'Sweet Child o' Mine,' it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothing, it'll be filler on the record.' And except that vocal-wise, it's very sweet and sincere, Slash was just fuckin' around when he first wrote that lick." The video was a huge success on MTV. It features the band rehearsing at the Huntington Ballroom with some of the band members' girlfriends at the time: Erin Everly, Duff's girlfriend Mandy from the Lame Flames, and Adler's girlfriend Cheryl. Izzy Stradlin's dog was there too. The single charted at twenty-seven in Sweden; twenty in the Netherlands; fifteen in Switzerland; eleven in Australia and Austria; six on the US mainstream rock tracks chart and in the UK; five in New Zealand; four in Ireland; and became their only number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Slash says that 'Paradise City' was written in the back of a van as they were returning from a gig. The single hit forty-eight in Australia; seven in Switzerland; six in the UK; five in the US; four in the Netherlands; three in Sweden; two on the US mainstream rock tracks chart and New Zealand; and number one in Ireland.
'Welcome to the Jungle' won an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video. It went to forty-one in Australia; twenty-four on the US mainstream rock tracks chart and in the UK; fourteen in Ireland; seven in the US; and six in New Zealand.
'Appetite for Destruction'
full album:
all songs written by Guns N' Roses unless otherwise noted
1. "Welcome to the Jungle" 4:31
2. "It's So Easy" Guns N' Roses, West Arkeen 3:21
3. "Nightrain" 4:26
4. "Out ta Get Me" 4:20
5. "Mr. Brownstone" 3:46
6. "Paradise City" 6:46
7. "My Michelle" 3:39
8. "Think About You" 3:50
9. "Sweet Child o' Mine" 5:55
10. "You're Crazy" 3:16
11. "Anything Goes" Guns N' Roses, Chris Weber 3:25
12. "Rocket Queen" 6:13
banned cover:
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