[pauliejay]

Review courtesy of pimp_vince



Band: Guns 'n' Roses
Album: Appetite For Desctruction

1987 (Mobile Fidelity)

Members:

Axl Rose - Lead and Rhythm Vocal
Slash - Lead Guitar
Izzy Stradlin - Rhythm Guitar
Duff McKagan - Bass Guitar
Steven Adler - Drums and Percussion

Notable Tracks:

-Sweet Child O' Mine
-Paradise City
-Welcome to the Jungle
-Mr. Brownstone

While the entire album kicks major ass. Those are the best of the amazing tracks found on this album.

Appetite For Destruction is probably one of the more stunning debuts of it's time. Ranking with the likes of Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sadly, unlike the other two, their sophomore effort paled in comparison to the other artists aforementioned.
The band created a new image for heavy metal, looking just as trashy as Aerosmith and living just as trashily as the Rolling Stones. Guns 'n Roses combined more genres than just heavy metal. Drawing heavily on blues, rock, and sometimes even pop (on the power ballad, Sweet Child O' Mine).
The riff-work of Slash and Stradlin, trading off hooks, fills and solos, is quite a pleasing experience to the ear. The more famous riffs are found in the notable tracks, but in particular the most famous of these is by far, Sweet Child O' Mine.
The lyrical content of the album is sometimes overshadowed by the fact that it is metal, and the guitar work is too sweet to ignore. But Axl Rose's lyrics are a lot deeper than most think (though he's no Bob Dylan!). He deals with a lot of fear and loathing for the inner city (like on Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle). He also does an ode to heroin (to which Slash later became addicted to) on Mr. Brownstone. One could even go so far as to say that Guns 'n Roses were/are the modern contemporaries of the Doors, exploring the negative sides of sex, drugs, rock and roll, and the general party life of L.A.
The album is among the best selling-debuts of all time, in fact it is among the top 30 albums ever released (according to 2001 stats, in U.S. only, worldwide sales are impossible to calculate). Beating other such debuts as Are You Experienced?, Van Halen, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, and even Led Zeppelin (I)
Sadly though, after their sophomore album, Use Your Illusion (I & II) the band started to splinter, with Slash leaving first. The band has regrouped, with a different name. Though Axl Rose continues to remain the sole original member in Guns 'n Roses, he continues to disappoint with his failure to show up for concerts and his sub-par performance.

This album merits a 9.5/10 simply due to the fact they weren't able to deliver the goods on their second album (not that it sucked, it's just that they were never able to match Appetite For Destruction)

[xplizit]

It's a great album. I like Use Your Illusion I&II a lot too though..

Wasn't Slash the last to leave the (original) band ? Axl first kicked off Steven Adler, and then Duff & Izzy quit. And at last, Slash because he didn't want to turn Gn'R into a techo-experimental band, like Axl wanted ?

Think I read something like that..

[pimp_vince]

It's a great album. I like Use Your Illusion I&II a lot too though..

Wasn't Slash the last to leave the (original) band ? Axl first kicked off Steven Adler, and then Duff & Izzy quit. And at last, Slash because he didn't want to turn Gn'R into a techo-experimental band, like Axl wanted ?

Think I read something like that..

oh i read that slash left, but that was a while back...

but it kicks ass that adler, slash, izzy, and duff are back together and looking for a vocalist (apparently).

axl sucks.

[creedluvergurl]

G n' R is a great band! although somthin you didnt mention in the bio that im wondering about. one night i was watching a special on the charles mansion and the manson family, anywho, at the end there was a breif note that G n' R actually adopted a song writen by charles manson. i dont know what song, they didnt say. Does anyone here know what im talkin about, im very curious to know what song, and why they would use lyrics writen by a murderous psychopath.

*~peace and love~*

[metallicac/dc]

they found a vocalist. its scott weiland from STP. their band is velvet revolver.

This post has been edited by metallicac/dc: 20 March 2004 - 12:15 AM

[guitarfreak111]

they found a vocalist. its scott weiland from STP. their band is velvet revolver.

You're Kidding!

[dorio]

I really like 'Sweet Child O mine' That guy was so good, his ego couldnt take it no
more ? (talkin' about axel) Anyway, to come back on topic i hope the others can
do without him. Be it Weiland or whoever, they gotta show him that the show can
go on without him, cauz we know by now he can't do without them. No matter how
hard he tries.

[randomorwhat]

Brilliant album; good review too

[Ir0nXmA1dEn67]

great album so many hits on it my favorite song on it was my michelle

[AxSlinger]

One of my favorite bands and favorite albums of all time. GnR - AfD, definitely an influential album. Good job on the review pimp_vince.

[xplizit]

It's a great album. I like Use Your Illusion I&II a lot too though..

Wasn't Slash the last to leave the (original) band ? Axl first kicked off Steven Adler, and then Duff & Izzy quit. And at last, Slash because he didn't want to turn Gn'R into a techo-experimental band, like Axl wanted ?

Think I read something like that..

oh i read that slash left, but that was a while back...

but it kicks ass that adler, slash, izzy, and duff are back together and looking for a vocalist (apparently).

axl sucks.

Actually it's Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum (the guy who replaced Steven Adler), and Dave Kushner on rhytm guitar. And Scott Weiland on vocals.
The little I've heard from them kicks ass, can't wait for the album release.

[mojomaniac]

Awesome review pimp_vince, but seeing as you were reviewing Appetite, why did your opinion of Use Your Illusion matter when you scored AfD? If you think the album is worth 10 then give it a 10, thats like saying Metallica's first 4 albums are crap because St Anger sucked. It's just not so

Good review otherwise

[xcharlie]

The best hard-rock album ever. A must for a guitar player (unless you hate Slash).

[Mercury@May]

I think this album is really fun. My fav tracks are My Michelle, Sweet Chile O Mine, Welcome To The Jungle, It's So Easy, Paradise City and Outta Get Me. Outta Get Me personafies Axl Rose' paranoia. Wasn't it nice of him to beat up that innocent man for taking a picture of him? This album is aggressive, but emotional and sweet sounding. You always get that with Slash. Is he classically trained? He tends to work in major keys very well. And the work on the end of Paradise City is brilliant. Axl Roses brilliant vocals and lyrics really bring out this album. I do Sweet Child O Mine in one of my bands that last vocals surge is hard. And my voice hasn't broken yet, that man has a deep voice.

[guitarfan19]

awesome album. it holds some of the bands greatest hits and i think it was their best album. They coulld have done alot more work like this if it Axl hadnt tryed to control the band. Sweet Child O Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City will always be some of my favourite songs. Slash is amazing.

[grandrebelmaster]

I've heard that this is an awesome album, and I have the LP at home, but I can't listen to it because it's still in its plastic and I'm not stupid enough to open it.

[xplizit]

This album is aggressive, but emotional and sweet sounding. You always get that with Slash. Is he classically trained? He tends to work in major keys very well. And the work on the end of Paradise City is brilliant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Slash is self-taught. He only had a few lesson, where he learned how to tune and such. As for scales, he doesn't really use them, he just plays what he feels. Most of it ends up in minor pentatonic / blues or harmonic minor though.

[shoe1]

Amazing album, deserves a 10 out of 10, as do the Illusion cd's. They were just as good as Appetite, imo. The only thing was they had some tracks that were better than anything on Appetite (Civil War, Estranged, November Rain) but overall it was about the same as Appetite. Good Review.

-Shoe

[metallicac/dc]

this album gets 15/10. such a badass album. all songs are fun to listen to. if you don't have it, you know what to do

[AcousticSmash]

such a great album by such a great band. too bad axl rose is a stupid prick and the band broke up. it is one of my fav albums that I have 9.99/10 10/10 if ya dont like the 9.99