I'm going into this writing knowing there is very little I am going to say that hasn't already been said. "Appetite For Destruction" is considered by many to be the greatest debut album of all time, and sales of the album are a great indication of this fact. It seems in the western civilization that more people like something off of this album more than those who don't like any of it. The first time I heard it, I didn't like it at all.
As a 15-year-old know-it-all in 1987 (I'm old now), and loved hard rock music. I was really into Ozzy Osbourne, Stryper, Motley Crue, and Poison. I had just recently discovered the excellence that was the debut album by Faster Pussycat, a very raw and abrasive album full of hooks.
Hanging out for the day at my girlfriend's house to listen to music, which was (believe it or not) very sweet and innocent, she had a new cassette for me to check out. She really loved Appetite, and thought I would love it too. In my advanced wisdom, music was a competition and confrontational. There was no way in my mind I could take the album for what it was, and I was too busy comparing it to other albums than to actually realize what I was listening to. With sales as an indicator, I was right for the better part of the year. Label support seemed to agree with me.
We were all really fucking wrong
Let's make this very clear before I go much farther: grunge did not kill 80's metal; this album did. This set the bar that other albums of the genre could not reach for whatever reason, and even the band could not follow up with as much quality and execution this album had. The songwriting was not just songs, but were "crafted". Performance wise, everyone was on point, and there has been very little I recall of an entire album that consisted of attitude from beginning to end. When you listen to this album, you fucking know right where these guys are coming from. A few albums have come close, but no album since can truly touch this opus. You can literally smell the smudge, grime, cigarettes, leather, and whiskey when you listen to it.
Brought together by a couple of different Los Angeles bands, vocalist W. Axl Rose, guitarist Izzy Stradlin, and bassist Duff McKagan added guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler (whom Duff had played with before) a group that was as many parts productive as they were destructive. The band was a ticking time bomb of caricatures of personalities fueled by the excesses only the "City Of Angels" could afford for the young, misfit band.
The world was their oyster and they were hellbent to claim it.
From the opening strains of "Welcome To The Jungle" to the sex-crazed moans in "Rocket Queen", this collection recalls times of love, abuse, hope, abandonment, happiness, and sadness. It is an audio roller coaster that takes you through a portrait of their life that lacks in any filler (ironically, lead guitarist Slash thought "Sweet Child O' Mine" was just a filler song when they first wrote it, and it was a HUGE hit, and ultimately saved the album from disappearing with making a very minimal mark). The overall sequence of these songs flow in a way that you are on an alcohol-fueled journey that they are escorting you on.
The songs are chock full of soaring vocals, melodic yet scorching solos, tight rhythms, immaculate hooks, hard-hitting riffs, and transitions within the songs (that are often ignored) that transcends many genre labels and crosses barriers that have very rarely been crossed before or since its release.Almost everyone can connect to something in this collection. My personal favorites have always been "Paradise City", "Rocket Queen", "Out Ta Get Me", and "My Michelle", which I have connected to each in one way or another. Ask someone else their four favorites on this album, and they will differ (I would like to see yours in the comments below) for various reasons.
(Instead of doing a track-by-track critique which has been overdone numerous times, I decided I will do a review of the songs that didn't make the album, and possibilities why they didn't make the album).
To follow this up, the band released a half-live, half-acoustic EP entitled "GNR Lies", then a very ambitious two album collection (which many think should have just been one sole release) called "Use Your Illusions I & II", (along with later released covers album "The Spaghetti Incident?", the live collection "Live Era 87-93", and a release in which Axl Rose was the only sole member "Chinese Democracy", including solo releases and compilations) yet none came close to reaching the landmark proportions this album hit.
Numerous lineup changes along the way has not helped their recreation causes either, as part of what made this work was that the energy the band had together was also what would rip them apart. The drummer, Steven Adler, was the first to go due to his addictions. The rigors of touring, along with the hedonistic circus of their lifestyles, made newly sober guitarist Izzy Stradlin the next to depart. After gaining control of the primary trademarks of the band and completing the Illusions tour, Axl Rose fired the remaining original members, Slash and Duff McKagan, with rumors that the material they were bringing to the next CD not as Axl envisioned them to be.
Only Metallica's self-titled CD, Led Zeppelin's "IV", and AC/DC's "Back In Black" have sold more than "Appetite For Destruction" in the genre of hard rock, and none of these releases were debuts, making this auspicious collection a "once in a lifetime" collaboration.
"You're in the jungle, baby
You're gonna die!"
November Rain -
Later released on Use Your Illusion I, this is a sweeping tale of the pendulum that is relationships soared into many high school proms when it was released, and housewives everywhere claimed their love and obsession to Axl Rose once viewing the video. The song, however, didn't fit the bite that AFD delivered, with "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Think About You" being considered the albums ballads, this piano-tinged epic does not fit the overall vibe.
Shadow Of Your Love -
Having been written prior to Slash and Adler's joining of the group, Axl and Izzy (along with future member of Chinese Democracy-era GNR, Paul Tobias) wrote this song for their band Hollywood Rose, which featured Tracii Guns of LA Guns fame on lead guitar. This "four-on-the-floor" rocker was pretty straight forward, which didn't include many of the trademark transitions AFD displayed. Also, this song's energy was not something that would have helped the collective of songs released and came acrossed written as very basic. Hear for yourself:
It Tastes Good, Don't It -
This song was a challenge to Axl vocally, this rap-infused (!) rocker has the kind of groove that would've easily fit AFD, but without a catchy chorus or hook, along with the juvenile lyrics, it's exclusion was written on first listen. Musically, I wish the song would've been given proper attention as the rhythm hits all the right places:
Goodnight Tonight -
Apparently written to be their set closer, that seems to be the only destiny this song possessed. A very standard fare which featured the title repeated with very little in the way of lyrics. This is just the band having a good time on stage and ending with a crescendo:
Move To The City -
GNR Lies live side featured two original songs that recorded in the studio (along with two covers) that they later added crowd noise to sound as if the band was playing a performance. This songs a very GNR-type groove and riff, and may have fit very well on AFD, but the question would've been where, and while "Paradise City" had synthesizers, the horns on this song would've most likely stood out like a fart in church.
While lyrics for this song were used for the linear notes for AFD, this song was the leadoff single for the Use Your Illusions (next to the last song on II) and was used to promote the movie Terminator 2, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was the very first taste of what GNR was going to earnestly follow up with AFD. I'm speculating this was just a song that was not finished to a point they were happy with or the performance was a bit off and not worth then trouble at the time. It also seems fitting that it was not included as the song seems a bit "slicker" then the others which could've made the overall album seem "gimmicky". Good luck finding the demo played on, however.
Reckless Life -
Another song the pre-GNR band Hollywood Rose used that was written by the band along with sometimes co-writer and former Hollywood Rose bandmate Chris Webber, who helped write AFD's "Anything Goes", along with "Move To The City", and "Shadow Of Your Love". This tune, also from GNR Lies given the "live" treatment, is a blues based super charged rocker that features the band's signature transitions and catchy chorus. I assume the reason for its exclusion was not needing a song that fast and it wasn't as strong as some of the options.
Back Off Bitch -
Originally released (but written well before) its debut as the 5th track on Use Your Illusion I, this song's demo version is in its infant stages and you can hear what direction they were headed towards, but just wasn't there at the time (I'm pretty sure the hand clapping wouldn't have fit on AFD).
Don't Cry -
Released on both versions (with different lyrics) of Use Your Illusions, many are shocked to find out this huge single was written and demoed for AFD. Leaving this song out was done for much the same reasons as "November Rain" in that the album did not need another ballad. Also, record companies, in planning for a second album in advance, will have a band hold back a few songs to earmark as future releases so the band does not lose what it had from releases before. I feel this was one of those songs.
Ain't Goin' Down -
I feel this song could've been the most likely used for AFD had the chorus been a bit stronger. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised this song was never released anywhere as it fits with the overall feel of AFD. Also, this song's studio demo features what may have Axl's first use of his very bassy vocal, used in the backups. The solo breakdown does seem a bit reminiscent of the breakdown in "Think About You", which may have been the reason for it to be omitted. Check out this hidden gem for yourself:
The covers -
GNR demoed several songs written by other artists. Without going into details into each one, AFD did not need a cover to take away from the other songs on the LP. I will list them before and feel free to search them out yourself.
- "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
- "Knockin' On Heavens Door"
- "Mama Kin"
- "Nice Boys"
- "Heartbreak Hotel"
- "Whole Lotta Rosie"
Well, there you have it: my take on what may be the greatest debut album in hard rock history. I am curious what some of you think, so feel free to comment, share, etc.
Until we meet again...
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