The Return of Gritty Rock and Roll
“First the Stones and then the Sex Pistols took rock & roll to the very edge.” EW’93 Guns N’ Roses arrived in the late ‘80s with their debut, Appetite for Destruction, and brought the grit back to rock and roll “after a decade where the genre had been detached and diluted.” CM “It was a dirty, dangerous, and mean record in a time when heavy metal meant nothing but a good time.” AM As guitarist Slash said, “When we had to go up against whatever was going on at the time, there were no gritty rock bands, and we were sort of a break-through rock band, sort of a fluke in a way.” GW
On the surface, Guns N’ Roses may appear to celebrate the same things as their peers – namely, sex, liquor, drugs, and rock & roll.” AM Indeed, this is music “wallowing in a bluesy, metallic hard rock borrowed from Aerosmith, AC/DC, and countless faceless hard rock bands of the early ‘80s.” GW However, GNR were an “L.A. blend of surface glamour and nasty underbelly.” BL
GNR embraced “the wasted rock star lifestyle with such earnest determination that you’d think they invented it.” GW They “played lacerating music that was tough, ugly.” GW “There is a nasty edge to their songs, since Axl Rose doesn’t see much fun in the urban sprawl of L.A. and its parade of heavy metal thugs, cheap women, booze, and crime.” AM Their music was built on a “sleazy sound that adds grit to already grim tales…[which made] Rose’s misogyny, fear, and anger hard to dismiss as merely an artistic statement; this is music that sounds lived-in.” AM “Listen to Axl Rose screaming ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ on this seminal explosion of punk-tinged hard rock. The whole world is on the edge, Axl seems to say, and there’s no escape.” EW’93 It was “a reminder of what rock and roll sounds like when delivered from the gut.” CS
Best Selling Debut in History
“The best rock debut ever” EW’12 is a mix of “exquisite pain, uncorked rage and pure rebellion meet[ing] in a full metal racket.” UT “Regardless of the lineup changes or the drama that came in the years following its release, Appetite for Destruction remains absolutely flawless. It’s the type of record every rock and roll band should aspire — or at least attempt — to create.” CQ
Initially radio and MTV didn’t embrace it, but label honcho David Geffen finally convinced the video music channel to give the band a chance. “Once music fans got a look at Guns N’ Roses, they liked what they saw: five tough dudes who weren’t all gussied up like Cinderella” GW but made “raw, hard-driving, classic-sounding rock and roll.” GW It was “metallic enough for metalheads but melodic enough for the chicks. Glam Metal kids weren’t embarrassed to be seen with it, yet Bob Seger fans could drink beer to it.” GW “Whether it’s at a sports arena; at some teenager’s house party in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; or at a hipster dive bar in Brooklyn…people still can’t get enough of this album.” CQ It became the world’s best-selling debut album, CQ racking up more than 30 million sales worldwide.
The Band
The Los Angeles-based group formed in 1985, comprised of lead singer Axl Rose, guitarists Slash (Saul Hudson) and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steve Adler. David Geffen signed the group to Geffen in March 1986 “after building a reputation for furious performances” CS and “a long courting period with a number of A&R representatitves.” CS
They released the Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide EP before getting to work on their debut, Appetite for Destruction. The band’s sound is marked by “Axl’s wails about the awesome terribleness of life in the L.A. gutter.” EW’12 He “was a small town kid who didn’t deal well with authority and he channeled his rage into a condemnation of his surroundings.” CM
“But as good as Rose’s lyrics and screeching vocals are, they wouldn’t be nearly as effective without the twin-guitar interplay of Slash and Izzy Stradlin, who spit out riffs and solos better than any band since the Rolling Stones.” AM “Slash was the archetypal lead guitarist, and his solos have a dazzling brevity and just enough grit to offset the flamboyance, while Stradlin was a Keith Richards devotee who held the line.” CM “That’s what makes Appetite for Destruction the best metal record of the late '80s” AM and Guns N’ Roses the “hardest-rocking outfit since Aerosmith.” BL
The Songs
Here’s thoughts on individual songs.
“Welcome to the Jungle”
“The charging Welcome to the Jungle” AM was the song which broke GNR. It was a “paean to the city’s seedy underbelly inspired by a homeless man who once screamed at a teenage Axl, ‘You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby. You’re gonna die!’” CS
After the album stalled at sales of about 200,000 copies, David Geffen decided MTV’s avoidance of the band’s videos was to blame. He convinced them to give “Jungle” a chance and after it aired at 5 a.m. on a Sunday, it became MTV’s most-requested video within 24 hours. The song would eventually reach the top-ten on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was re-released after the success of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
“Sweet Child O’ Mine”
This was the song that lifted the band to #1 status. On Sweet Child O’ Mine, Rose showed the band wasn’t just about being fast and loud. He showed he also was vulnerable. AM It was unique as power ballads went – it rocked out even as it went straight for the heart.
“Paradise City”
“Welcome to the Jungle” and the “turbo ‘70s boogie of Paradise City” CM showed that there was still a place in the top ten of the pop charts for rockers. These were gritty tales in which Rose was “conveying the fears and horrors of the decaying inner city.” AM
Other Songs
The classics—'Welcome to the Jungle,’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Paradise City’ – are classics for a reason, as they represent crystalline, anthemic benchmarks of hard rock.” PM But non-singles like Rocket Queen and “the tragic authenticity on the likes of My Michelle” CM “are brilliant and catchy.” PM There are also other cuts like “the propulsive Nighttrain,” CM“the high octane” CM ode to heroin Mr. Brownstone, and “the frenzied You’re Crazy.” CM
Notes:
In 2018, deluxe and super deluxe versions of the album were released which were two and four discs respectively. The bonus material includes B-sides, EP’s, and recording sessions for the album.
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