411 GN’R Roundtable: Appetite For Destruction

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 11.19.2008

The 411 staff gets ready for the release of Chinese Democracy by looking back at each of Guns N’ Roses’ studio albums, starting with the beginning…


On November 23rd, Guns N' Roses releases Chinese Democracy, their an album literally fourteen years in the making. Anticipation for this album among the GN'R faithful, haters and just plain curious has reached a fever pitch over the last two years thanks to new leaks, Axl's on again/off again comments and, finally, the news that the album would finally be released as a Best Buy exclusive. Even on the eve, some have to wonder if it's even REALLY going to happen after all this time.

But why all the hype for a band who hasn‘t released an album in a decade and a half - whose last album wasn‘t even that good and who is completely different now save for one member? Well, 411 has decided to find out and tell you all about it. How? By taking a look back at GN'R's other five studio sets, from the iconic hard rock of 1987's Appetite For Destruction to the strangeness of the all-covers Spaghetti Incident. Because to understand the future, you need look no further than the past. Or some shit like that. Now welcome to the jungle!

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PART ONE: APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

In 1985, there was a band trying to make their way on the L.A. club scene by the name of Hollywood Rose, featuring a core lineup of guitarist Izzy Stradlin and young singer Axl Rose. That year, during a transitional period in the band's line-up, Hollywood Rose joined their modest star power with another local young group, L.A. Guns, and the name Guns N' Roses was born.

Unfortunately for fans of L.A. rock history, the joining of what would be two huge 80's bands was not long for this world. Guitarist Tracii Guns left the group before playing a single show to reform L.A. Guns. To replace him, Rose and Stradlin turned to an axe shredder named Slash, who had spent a brief tenure in Hollywood Rose. This version of the band only played one show before bassist Ole Bleich also called it quits, making room for new guy Duff McKagan. Finally, just before the group decided to play some gigs outside LA, the final L.A. Guns alum - drummer Rob Garnder - also made a quick exit. Taking his place would be Steve Adler upon recommendation from Slash. And thus the classic line-up of Guns N' Roses was born as the band toured from Sacramento, California to Seattle, eyes set on taking over the world.

It didn't take long for a Geffen Records executive to discover the band thanks to a healthy buzz over their loud and energetic live show taking over the mid-80's Sunset Strip. Ballsy even then, frontman Axl demanded a $75,000 advance to sign with Geffen. He got it. In 1986, the band released their debut EP, Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide, through a small Geffen imprint Uzi Suicide. The record was limited to only 10,000 copies and intended to keep GN'R's name out there as they holed up in the studio to work on their debut full length. In a sense, it was just out there to whet the band's small but hungry L.A. audience's appetite.

Appetite For Destruction hit street in mid-summer of 1987, led by the single "Welcome To The Jungle". Despite the band's buzz and hard driving rock, Appetite pretty much sat on the shelves for almost a year without moving much. It wasn't until MTV started playing the song's video (and only in the early hours - and at the request of David Geffen himself), that the record began to catch fire. But when it hit, it hit very hard.

Thanks to heavy radio play and nonstop touring, by the close of 1988, Appetite has garnered an incredible 6x platinum certification and three Top 10 hits in the #1 "Sweet Child O' Mine", a re-released "Jungle" and "Paradise City". In 1988, Guns N' Roses broke out in a very big way.

So today, the 411 Music staff has decided to take a moment and look at just what that landmark set meant to them.



Do You Have This Album?

Jesse Coy: Yes, I do. I would guess I got it about a year after it came out. Back then, the lines were drawn between thrash and poser music, and then along comes this band. What are they? I remember seeing some shots of the band sort of glammy, Axl's hair doing funky hairspray maneuvers. They had songs about chicks at times, and that whole partying rock life style... a little. But there was something different about them. It was more hard rock rather than pop metal. It could certainly be a Rolling Stones attitude, or maybe even a slightly Motorhead attitude. I would contend that these guys, and this album, sort of bridged the poser and thrash gulf that existed at the time. They were somewhere in the middle. The band was everywhere, too, and I liked the singles that I heard. So my guess is that it was through a CD club that I got both this album and their follow-up, Lies.

Tom Santoro: I bought Appetite For Destruction in the summer of 1988. I bought it on cassette and would play it as often as a 14 year old with an over protective mom could play it. One day my mom heard the lines "your daddy works in porno..." From "My Michelle" coming from my room and she confiscated it. Bummer. I then had my friend copy his cassette tape and only played it when my parents were not home.

Jeff Modzelewski: I honestly don't remember when I got this album. I actually heard the Illusion albums first, although I obviously knew a few of the Appetite songs already. I probably got the album around 1992, when I was 13.

Peter Smith: Yes. I have owned multiple copies of this one. My first copy was a cassette tape that was left behind by my brother when I was seven years old. That would have been in 1988. It was actually a shared copy that my sister and I listened to. The copy I use most now is a CD version, which I purchased when I was in seventh grade. That would have been around 1995.

< b>Michael Adler: I do own it, and oddly enough I don't remember when or how I got it. Well I would imagine I purchased it, probably about two or three years ago.

Leo Rivera: Of course I do, what kind of question is that. Any metal fan past, present or future should own Appetite, it is one of the greatest albums of all time and if you haven't heard it yet then you my friend are living under a rock. I first bought this album in 1995, its been on my rotation ever since.


What Tracks Do You Love?

Jesse Coy: "Welcome to the Jungle" is an awesome track and an awesome opener. "Paradise City" is an ultimate summertime, party, feel good track. And then "Nightrain," I have a fondness for that because I've drank many a bottle of that cheap stuff long ago (and not so long ago). Toward the end, "Rocket Queen" is also a pretty good, BIG ROCK track, to wrap things up.

Tom Santoro: I was introduced to Axl, Slash, Duff and Co. with "Welcome to the Jungle", so of course that is my absolute favorite. It was so aggressive I did not even know what to do with myself. It was everything a suburban teen boy could ask for. "Sweet Child O' Mine" has one of the catchiest guitar hooks in music history making it easily one of my favorites. But my absolute favorite is "My Michelle". I like the lyrics and the story it tells.

Jeff Modzelewski: I really think this album has plenty of highs and lows. My favorites are "Your Crazy," "It's So Easy," and "Mr. Brownstone."

Peter Smith: All of them. I love this whole record from front to back. It seems that through my history with the record, I have had different favorites. When I was seven, my favorite was "Paradise City" without a doubt. I would rewind that song over and over again singing along with that irresistible chorus. Today, I would say the songs that stand out to me the most are "Its So Easy", "Nightrain", and "Sweet Child O'Mine". The first two are a delicious mix of dirt, sleaze, and profanity. Now with regard to the latter, I am not a guitar geek. So solos generally are not what stand out to me. I appreciate a good solo, but it is usually just a nice compliment to the rest of the song for me. "Sweet Child O' Mine" is different. The song is good, but the solo takes this song to another level. I find myself waiting eagerly in anticipation for it. It builds and builds and then climaxes into perfection. I cannot help but feel a rush of adrenaline when it hits that peak. It is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting.  

Michael Adler: "Welcome to the Jungle" of course. It's overplayed, but it's still great. "It's So Easy" is my favorite song on the whole album. It's a gloriously politically incorrect guide to being a rock star and how to completely objectify women. "Nightrain" and "Out Ta Get Me" make an excellent pair. "Mr. Brownstone" isn't about architecture and is easily another classic. "My Michelle" has the great line, "Your daddy works in porno..." "Sweet Child O' Mine" might be the most beautiful rock song written in the 20th Century, and features brilliant guitar work from Slash. I missed a train once to see "Paradise City" live once, but I won't hold it against yet one more stand out track from the album.

Leo Rivera: "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Welcome To The Jungle", "It's So Easy", "Nightrain", "Rocket Queen", "My Michelle", "Paradise City".


What Tracks Do You Skip?

Jesse Coy: This is an album that when I play it, I find it to be well balanced, and there really aren't tracks I particularly dislike or skip.

Tom Santoro: It is hard to skip any one song. They are all solid. Nowadays, I skip the hits because I hear them so much on classic rock radio stations, sporting events, weddings, etc. I guess I could do without "Rocket Queen", if you held a gun to my head to pick one. It is long and a little extraneous.

Jeff Modzelewski: The lows of the album are "Anything Goes," "Out Ta Get Me," and "Nightrain." The only one that I'd probably skip is "Out Ta Get Me."

Peter Smith: None. It is that simple.

Michael Adler: Everything after "Sweet Child O' Mine" is kind of boring. The album starts blending together. Yawnfest compared to the intensity that comes before.

Leo Rivera: There's not much wrong with this album to be honest with you, it don't get more near perfection than this. But even in great albums like this you are bound to find weak links. Again it's not that these songs were bad they just weren't timeless like the aforementioned classics on top. "Think About You" and "You're Crazy" sound like they belong stuck where they came from...1987.. (not that that's a bad thing but if you play that stuff now it sounds dated). That's about the only bad thing I have to say about this album.



Final Thoughts

Jesse Coy: I like this one because it really made me reevaluate how I was looking at music. There's a big difference between bands like Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister compared to the pop metal, and that's what I'll call it as opposed to glam, that began surfacing in the mid to late 80's with bands like Winger, Bon Jovi, Slaughter, Cinderella, Poison, Firehouse, and so on and so forth. Even Motley Crue... they stood on the divide. Shout of the Devil was a very cool album, but then what the hell happened? So Appetite for Destruction was the catalyst that caused me to reexamine bands, and the reason why Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Kiss, and early Motley Crue reside in my music collection.

Tom Santoro: Most people mark the death of the glam rock/hair metal scene with the opening riff to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but if you were to examine it more closely the start of it's death may be the release of Appetite For Destruction. It is more real than anything released at the time. It had many stories about Los Angeles' dark underbelly from the perspective of a small town boy entering the chaos (and living it). As opposed to the pop aerosol infused party songs from their contemporaries, Guns N' Roses came out and punched you in the face.

Jeff Modzelewski: I'm a fan of Appetite, but I do think that it's overrated. It was an influential album, a dirty album, and a dangerous album. It has plenty of highlights and influential songs, and the "bad" songs are simply mediocre instead of terrible. I could listen to this album the whole way through, though I'd probably rather not.

Peter Smith: Appetite for Destruction is one of my favorite records of all time. It is perhaps one of the greatest driving records of all time too as every song has an energy that eagerly transfers straight to the listener's body (I've listened to this many times on long road trips). From Axl's incomparable shrieks to Slash's squealing guitars, everything about this record screams attitude. Simply put, Appetite for Destruction is a hard rock classic. Take that one to heart…yowza!

Michael Adler: I don't know why, but I love Axl Rose's spoken word bits. The best part of "Mr. Brownstone" is when Axl proclaims "Yowza." at the end of the song. "Take that one to heart," is a close second at the end of "Out Ta Get Me." Otherwise, I don't think I can add anything that's probably been said about this album a million times over. It's an epic milestone in rock history.

Leo Rivera: What can you say about this album or this band that hasn't already been said before? Appetite For Destruction single-handedly saved heavy metal from becoming a full blown joke in the late 80's (no thanks to bands like Poison, White Snake and White Lion...yuuck). It was also the best selling debut album for not just a band but for an artist period for well over a decade. But perhaps more importantly it took Gun's N' Roses from being a gritty punk rock band cutting its teeth in the oversaturated Sunset Strip scene to the Stratosphere and going to the Rock ‘n' Roll Promised Land. Of course we all know how that ride ended....Thanks a lot Axl.

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Join us tomorrow as we take a look at Guns N' Roses' oft-overlooked follow-up - GN‘R Lies!