Appetite for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction
Studio album by Guns N' Roses
Released	July 21, 1987 December 9, 2008 (reissue)
Recorded	Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; Take One Studio, Burbank, California; Can Am Studio, Tarzana, California[1]
Genre	Hard rock, [2]
Length	53:50
Label	Geffen Interscope (reissue)
Producer	Mike Clink
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone (No Review) link RS Album Guide link
Guns N' Roses chronology
Appetite for Destruction (1987) G N' R Lies (1988)
The original cover

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Released in 1987 (see 1987 in music), it was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart. As of September 2008, the album has been certified diamond (plus 18x platinum) by the RIAA,^[3] accumulating worldwide sales in excess of thirty-three million as of October 2008.^[4] The album still remains the fastest-selling debut album in history.^[5]

Origins

Axl Rose stated in 1988 that many of the songs featured on the album had been written while the band had been performing on the Los Angeles club circuit, and a number of songs that would be featured on later Guns N' Roses albums were considered for Appetite for Destruction, such as "Back Off Bitch," "You Could Be Mine" and "Don't Cry".^[6]

While the songwriting credits are credited to all five band members, many of the songs began as solo tracks that individual band members wrote separate from the band, only to be completed later. These songs include "It's So Easy" (McKagan) and "Think About You" (Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/Adler song that was written from their earlier band Road Crew, whereas "Anything Goes", written by Hollywood Rose and included in their compilation album The Roots of Guns N' Roses, was later re-written for Appetite.

Other songs on the album reflect the band's reaction to the debauchery of the L.A. rock and roll underground, like "Welcome to the Jungle" (Rose wrote the lyrics while in Seattle about when he encountered a man on the sidewalks of Los Angeles shortly after arriving there from Indiana).^[7] Some of the songs focus on the band members' younger years, like "Out ta Get Me", which focuses on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana.^[8] The band also based songs off of their assorted female companions, reflected in the songs "Sweet Child o' Mine," "Think About You," "My Michelle," "You're Crazy," and "Rocket Queen."

Song information

Out ta Get Me

This is the fourth track on the album.

Its lyrics focus on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana. Slash describes it as being written even more quickly than "Welcome to the Jungle", which means it was written in under three hours.^[8] The song was covered by Marq Torien of hair metal band BulletBoys^[9].

You're Crazy

"You're Crazy" is the tenth track on the album. It was originally written as an acoustic song, but was revamped for Appetite for Destruction^[10] (this version is one of the fastest songs in the band's catalog). The slower, acoustic version was later recorded for G N' R Lies; this version has also been performed live with electric guitars (as heard on their live album).

A working title for the song was "Fucking Crazy".^[10]

Anything Goes

"Anything Goes" is the next-to-last track on the album. It was one of the earliest-written songs by the band, having been written in 1981.^[11] It was originally named "My Way, Your Way."^[12]

Packaging

The album's original cover art, based on the Robert Williams' painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, the label compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with an image depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (designed by Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Duff McKagan, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Steven Adler, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John. The original cover was supposed to be on the 2008 re-pressing of the vinyl, though the record label replaced it with the "Skulls" art at the last minute.^[13] The re-pressing of the vinyl, though, is the first Guns N' Roses release to have the Parental Advisory label printed on the artwork; previously, like on the CD, this was a sticker on the cellophane wrap and later (on the CD and cassette releases) on the case itself.

Achievements

• In 1989 Rolling Stone ranked Appetite for Destruction as the 20th best album of the 1980s.
• The same magazine later ranked it at sixty-one on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[14]
• In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.^[15]
• In 2004, Q magazine also named Appetite for Destruction as one of the greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever.^[16]
• In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.^[17]

• In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Appetite for Destruction 59th on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.^[18]
• It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".^[19]
• Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1.^[20]
• In 2004 the album was voted number 1 by fans in Metal Hammer magazine's greatest albums of all time list.
• Rolling Stone devoted their cover to the album's 20th Anniversary, July 2007.^[21]
• The album was ranked 32 on Rock Hall of Fame's 'definitive 200' album list, developed by the NARM, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.^[22]
• Nike dedicated an SB Dunk (shoe design) to the album.

Track listing

All songs credited to Guns N' Roses; "It's So Easy" co-credited to West Arkeen and "Anything Goes" co-credited to Chris Weber.^[23] Actual writers and composers listed.

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Singles

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• List of best-selling albums in Argentina

References

• Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2. 
• Davis, Stephen (2008). Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-592-40377-6. 

Notes