Appetite for Destruction

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Appetite for Destruction
Studio album by Guns N' Roses
Released July 21, 1987
Recorded

August–December 1986 at Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, CA; Take One Studio, Burbank, CA; and Can Am Studio, Tarzana, CA

Final overdubs and album mixing at Mediasound Studios, NYC
Original mastering at Sterling Sound, NYC
Genre Heavy metal, hard rock
Length 53:51
Label Geffen
Producer Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses chronology
Appetite for Destruction
(1987)		 G N' R Lies
(1988)
Singles from Appetite for Destruction
  1. "It's So Easy"
    Released: June 15, 1987 (1987-06-15)
  2. "Welcome to the Jungle"
    Released: October 3, 1987 (1987-10-03)
  3. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
    Released: August 17, 1988 (1988-08-17)
  4. "Paradise City"
    Released: November 30, 1988 (1988-11-30)
  5. "Nightrain"
    Released: July 29, 1989 (1989-07-29)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars1
Sputnikmusic 4.5/52

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on July 21, 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart. As of September 2008, the album has been certified 18 times Platinum by the RIAA,3 accumulating worldwide sales of more than 35 million copies4 The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,5 and also ranks as the highest-selling debut album of all time.

Contents

Origins

Axl Rose stated 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", "November Rain" and "Don't Cry". It is said that the reason for not putting "November Rain" was because they had already agreed to put "Sweet Child 'O Mine" and thus already had a ballad on the album (however, both Use Your Illusion albums would contain more than one ballad).67

While Kiss's Paul Stanley was considered for producing the album, he was rejected after insisting on changes to Steven Adler's drum setup and the songs. Robert John "Mutt" Lange was also considered, but he proved too expensive to hire. Mike Clink, who had produced several Triumph records, was eventually chosen instead.8 After some weeks of rehearsal, the band entered Daryl Dragon's Rumbo Recorders in January 1987. Two weeks were spent laying down basic tracks, with Clink splicing together the best takes with his razor blade. Clink worked eighteen-hour days for the next month, with Slash overdubbing in the afternoon and evening, and Rose cutting vocals until the sun came up. Slash struggled to find a guitar sound before coming up with a Gibson Les Paul copy plugged into a Marshall amplifier. He spent hours with Clink paring down and structuring his solos. The total budget for the album was about $370,000.7

Many of the songs on Appetite For Destruction 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" (Duff McKagan) and "Think About You" (Izzy Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/McKagan/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.

Most of the songs on the album reflect the band's personal experiences and daily life, such as "Welcome to the Jungle", some of the lyrics of which Rose wrote after he encountered a man near the highways of Manhattan in 1980 shortly after arriving there from Indiana,9 and "Mr. Brownstone", which is about the band's problems with heroin. Lyrics to 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.10 The band also based song lyrics on some of their female friends, reflected in the songs "Sweet Child o' Mine", "My Michelle, "You're Crazy", and "Rocket Queen".

Song information

"Welcome to the Jungle"

Main article: Welcome to the Jungle

It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987 and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number sixty-seven on the UK Singles Chart[Citation needed]. In the United Kingdom, "Welcome to the Jungle" was backed with a live cover of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie"[Citation needed], while in the United States the B-side was "Mr. Brownstone" from Appetite for Destruction[Citation needed]. In 2009 it was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.[Citation needed]

"Nightrain"

This song refers to a brand of cheap wine that some Guns N' Roses members had pretty much abused at a time.11

"Out ta Get Me"

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.10

"Paradise City"

Main article: Paradise City

Slash states in his autobiography that the song was written in the back of a rental van as they were on their way back from playing a gig in San Francisco with the band Rock N Riders. He states that the band was in the back of the van, drinking and playing acoustic guitars when he came up with the intro. Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin started playing along. Slash started humming a melody when Axl Rose sang, "Take me down to the Paradise City", where Slash then chimed in with "Where the girls are fat and have big titties." Axl didn't like these lyrics, as he wanted the song to be radio-friendly. The rest of the band agreed and the line was changed to "Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty."

"My Michelle"

Main article: My Michelle

The song is about a friend of the band, a girl named Michelle Young who is thanked in the 'Appetite For Destruction' cover sleeve. According to Axl, he and Young were in a car together when "Your Song" by Elton John came on the radio and Young 'happened' to mention that she had always wanted someone to write a song about her. The song is brutally honest[Citation needed], which Slash thought she would hate, but she liked the song.

"Sweet Child O' Mine"

Main article: Sweet Child O' Mine

Ninth track on the album and third single. Released on August 18, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.

The lyrics of the song are written about Axl's girlfriend (at the time) Erin Everly[Citation needed]. The famous guitar lick at the beginning of the song was simply one of Slash's warm-up routines, as he stated in his autobiography. Slash thought of the intro as a joke and nothing special[Citation needed], although the other members of the band did[Citation needed]. As Slash began playing the lick, Izzy began strumming simple chords to it[Citation needed]. Meanwhile, upstairs Axl heard it and wrote lyrics to it[Citation needed]. Shortly after that night, Rose brought the lyrics to the rest of the band and it was turned into a full song[Citation needed].

"You're Crazy"

It was originally written as an acoustic song, but was revamped for Appetite for Destruction12 (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".12

"Anything Goes"

It was one of the earliest-written songs by the band, having been written in 1981 and had been performed in an earlier incarnation with Hollywood Rose. It was originally named "My Way, Your Way".13

"Rocket Queen"

Main article: Rocket Queen

The song Rocket Queen was, according to Axl Rose in an interview with Hit Parader 1988, written about a girl called Barbi Von Grief who said she was going to have a band called Rocket Queen and travel to outer space playing shows on other planets and eventually rule the universe. It is the closing song on Appetite For Destruction.

Album cover

The original cover art for the album

The album's original cover art, based on 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; Steven Adler, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John, Marc Canter, Jack Lue, Leonard McCardie, and Greg Freeman. 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.14 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.

In albums which were issued on double sided media (vinyl records and audio cassettes) the two sides were not conventionally labeled "A" and "B", but "G" and "R". Tracks 1–6 which compose side "G" all deal with drugs and hard life in the big city ("Guns" side). The remaining tracks, which compose side "R", all deal with love, sex and relationships ("Roses" side).

In an interview with That Metal Show in 2011, Axl stated his original idea for the cover art was to be the photo of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding, which was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1986, but Geffen refused it saying it was "in bad taste"15

Legacy and achievements

Appetite for Destruction debuted at position 182 on the Billboard 200 on August 29, 1987.16 The album reached number one on the chart on September 24, 1988, 50 weeks after its first appearance.17 It spent four weeks at the top of the chart,18 and a total of 147 weeks on the Billboard 200.16

  • In 1989 Rolling Stone ranked Appetite for Destruction as the 27th best album of the 1980s.19
  • The same magazine later ranked it at sixty-two on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.20
  • In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.21
  • In 2004, Q magazine also named Appetite for Destruction as one of the greatest Classic rock Albums Ever.22
  • In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.23
  • In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Appetite for Destruction 59th on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.24
  • It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005".25
  • In 2006, Kerrang! ranked the album #1 on the list of best rock albums.26
  • 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.27
  • In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #10 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".28
  • In 2006, the album was placed No. 2 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.29
  • Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes Appetite for Destruction at number 4, just after Kyuss' Blues for the Red Sun and before Jane's Addiction's Nothing's Shocking, in his classification of the best metal albums of all times.30
  • In 2011, Australian radio station Triple M listed Appetite For Destruction #1 in their list of the 250 most life changing albums.
  • In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #37 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".31
  • In 2012, Clash added the album to its Classic Albums Hall of Fame .32

Track listing

All songs credited to Guns N' Roses, except where noted.

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Welcome to the Jungle"     4:34
2. "It's So Easy"   Guns N' Roses, West Arkeen 3:23
3. "Nightrain"     4:29
4. "Out ta Get Me"     4:25
5. "Mr. Brownstone"     3:49
6. "Paradise City"     6:46
7. "My Michelle"     3:40
8. "Think About You"     3:52
9. "Sweet Child o' Mine"     5:55
10. "You're Crazy"     3:17
11. "Anything Goes"   Guns N' Roses, Chris Weber 3:26
12. "Rocket Queen"     6:13
Total length:
 53:52

Personnel

Guns N' Roses

Production

  • Mike Clink – production & engineering
  • Steve Thompson – mixing
  • Michael Barbiero – mixing
  • George Marino – LP & cassette mastering
  • Barry Diament – CD mastering
  • Dave Reitzas, Micajah Ryan, Andy Udoff, Jeff Poe, Julian Stoll, & Victor "the fuckin' engineer" Deyglio – engineering assistance
  • Robert Williams – "Appetite For Destruction" painting
  • Michael Hodgson – art direction & design
  • Robert John, Jack Lue, Greg Freeman, Marc Canter, & Leonard McCardie – photography
  • Tom Zutaut – A&R coordination
  • Teresa Ensenat – A&R coordination
  • Stravinski Brothers/Alan Niven – career affairs
  • Boulevard Management – business affairs
  • Bill White Jr. – cross tattoo design
  • Andy Engell – cross tattoo redrawing
  • Robert Benedetti – tattoos (at Sunset Strip Tattoo)

Chart positions

Album
Year Chart Position
1988 Billboard 200 1
1989
Singles
Year Song Chart Peak position33
1988 "Sweet Child O' Mine" Billboard Hot 100 1
Mainstream Rock Tracks 6
"Welcome to the Jungle" Billboard Hot 100 7
Mainstream Rock Tracks 24
"Nightrain" Billboard Hot 100 93
1989 Mainstream Rock Tracks 13
"Paradise City" Billboard Hot 100 5
Mainstream Rock Tracks 2

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)34 6× Platinum 360,000x
Austria (IFPI Austria)35 Platinum 50,000x
Brazil (ABPD)36 Platinum 250,000*
Canada (Music Canada)37 Diamond 1,000,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)38 Gold 25,00038
France (SNEP)39 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)40 Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)41 Gold 50,000*
Mexico (AMPROFON)42 Gold 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)43 Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)44 Platinum 50,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)45 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)46 18× Platinum 18,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ^ "Review". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  2. ^ "Review". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  3. ^ "Search Results". Recording Industry Association of America. December 19, 1990. Retrieved December 19, 2008. 
  4. ^ Smith, Sara (2012-11-18). "'American Masters' highlights David Geffen's influence but only hints at a dark side". The Kansas City Star. 
  5. ^ 1001 Albums You Must Hear
  6. ^ "''Axl/Slash Interview'', 1988". Hem.passagen.se. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  7. ^ a b Hiatt, Brian title=The Making of 'Appetite for Destruction' (August 2007). Rolling Stone Australia (1032) http://web.archive.org/web/20090302022602/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/15690883 |archiveurl= missing title (help). Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
  8. ^ McKagan, Duff & Mohr, Tim (2011). It's So Easy (and other Lies). Simon & Schuster. pp. 118, 120. 
  9. ^ Ellin, Doug (July 27, 2007). "Welcome to the Jungle". TV.com. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  10. ^ a b Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. New York: Harper Entertainment. p. 109.
  11. ^ "Appetite For Destruction on SlashParadise". www.slashparadise.com. November 9, 2012. 
  12. ^ a b "Song info at GNRSource.com (archived copy, current version unavailable as site undergoes reconstruction)". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  13. ^ (Davis 2008, p. 166), "Crash into "Anything Goes," originally titled "My Way Your Way" by Hollywood Rose, written by Izzy and Chris Webber."
  14. ^ "Album cover info at". Musicstack.com. February 9, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  15. ^ http://loudwire.com/that-metal-show-recap-axl-rose-talks-lateness-slash-original-appetite-cover/
  16. ^ a b "Billboard 200: Week of August 29, 1987 Biggest Jump". 
  17. ^ Bronson, Fred (1996-08-31). "WEA's Greatest Hits". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media): 38. 
  18. ^ Slash (2008), p.257
  19. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rstone.html
  20. ^ "Appetite for Destruction – Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. November 3, 2003. Archived from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  21. ^ "In our Lifetime #2". Q magazine. October 1, 2001. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  22. ^ "Rocklist.net...Q & Mojo Magazine Special Editions Vol.1". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  23. ^ "VH1 Ranks 100 Best Rock Albums". Associated Press. January 4, 2001. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  24. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchforkmedia.com. November 20, 2002. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  25. ^ Barger, Al (July 3, 2005). "Spin magazine's 100 Greatest Albums 1985–2005". Blog Critics magazine. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  26. ^ "Guns N' Roses news:". Here Today Gone to Hell. March 4, 2004. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  27. ^ [1]dead link
  28. ^ Q August 2006, Issue 241
  29. ^ "Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Albums Of All Time". Rate Your Music. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  30. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Best heavy-metal albums of all time". Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
  31. ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308/page_7
  32. ^ http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/classic-albums-guns-n-roses-appetite-for-destruction
  33. ^ "Artist Chart History – Guns N' Roses – Singles". Billboard 200. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2007. 
  34. ^ "Argentinian album certifications – Guns – Appetite For D". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. 
  35. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction" (in German). IFPI Austria.  Enter Guns N' Roses in the field Interpret. Enter Appetite For Destruction in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  36. ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. 
  37. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Guns 'N Roses – Appetite For Destruction". Music Canada. 
  38. ^ a b "Finnish album certifications – Guns N'Roses – Appetite For Destruction" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. 
  39. ^ "French album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 
  40. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Guns N' Roses; 'Appetite For Destruction')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. 
  41. ^ "Italian album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite for Destruction" (PDF) (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 
  42. ^ "Mexican album certifications – Guns N'roses – Appettite For Destruccion" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. 
  43. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. 
  44. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Guns N' Roses; 'Appetite For Destruction')". Hung Medien. 
  45. ^ "British album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction". British Phonographic Industry.  Enter Appetite For Destruction in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  46. ^ "American album certifications – Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Bibliography

External links

Preceded by
Hysteria by Def Leppard
Hysteria by Def Leppard		 Billboard 200 number-one album
6–12 August 1988
24 September – 14 October 1988		 Succeeded by
Hysteria by Def Leppard
New Jersey by Bon Jovi