Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction (1987)

The 1980s really was not a great era of music for the most part, at least prior to the release of this album. All sorts of strange trends came and went, and nothing sounded really good. Surely out there, there was something decent to listen to?

Guns N’ Roses bucked that trend in a big way. This album, their debut album, puts anything Billie Eilish sings about today to shame.

Let’s have a listen and observe this album, track by track.

Welcome To The Jungle begins this musical journey. It’s a loud, heavy and rocking piece about life in suburban Los Angeles, where the band originated from. It sounds very heavy and the playing by the band is fantastic. Guitarist Slash does excellently here, it’s a great listen.

It’s So Easy is up next. It’s a good and catchy listen. It’s not sung by Axl Rose for the most part, which makes it sound rather more interesting to listen to, for that reason. The explicit lyrics really kick ass here. A good and consistent listen so far this album is.

The next song is Nightrain which has some awesome lyrics and great guitar parts. It’s largely about getting wasted, but there’s nothing bad about that. Good to hear some bad attitude on a rock and roll record. Most hair metal bands of the time would struggle to match Guns N’ Roses in this respect. Good song.

Following up is Out Ta Get Me sounds like the ultimate song to paranoia, in this sort of genre anyway. It rails against authoritarianism in one’s personal life, with an awesome musical backdrop. The band here works fantastically as a unit, and as a group to fear as well.

Mr. Brownstone is next. It’s a reference to Heroin usage and addiction. It refers to the drug as a real demon, which is likely true. The songwriting, playing and song nature come into full effect here. Guns N’ Roses do well here, an interesting and twisted listen.

Paradise City refers to an idealistic sort of fantasy city where everything is perfect, at least to the band. Slash’s playing here is really quite good, being a fairly underrated guitarist. These guys know how to rock, and this song is no exception. The outro is frenetic, being very fast and furious. Nice.

Next is My Michelle. This song sounds a lot darker in tonality and playing, along with the lyrics and subject matter. It’s another full-on rock and roll piece, and even though it is not a hit single, it still sounds brilliant. Good stuff from these five guys.

After that, we have Think About You. It’s about lusting after a girl, and it almost sounds semi-romantic, ironically. The instrumentation on this song is really very good, many textures are here sonically to explore. Another quality listen.

Sweet Child O’ Mine is the most well-known Guns N’ Roses song to date. It kicks off with some bluesy riffs from Slash and has more love based themes around it. It progresses along very nicely, a great song to listen to, even today. It’s an epic listen and has a great guitar solo in it as well.

You’re Crazy is next up. It’s extremely explicit in its lyrics, have a listen to the chorus of this piece to be convinced how that is. Otherwise, it’s a good listen and a worthy addition to this album. It is about love vs sexual desire, which is a good interpretation of a relationship.

Next is Anything Goes. It sounds almost funky in a strange way this one. It is more sex, drugs, and rock and roll sort of philosophy, particularly the sex talk here. Although this album seems repetitive in its themes, it is anything but musically. Interesting.

The last track here is Rocket Queen. It starts off with pounding drums and guitars but continues into a dirty sort of rock song. Oh yeah, the female sex sounds? They’re real just so you know. An interesting listen and a good way to complete the album.

This album is a cut above much of the other music of the 1980s. It is also a quality listen for all here who like the excessive sort of lifestyle of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll sort of thing. Worth hearing, not bad at all. Guns N’ Roses may have become superstars, but this still represents the best of the band today beyond any material that they have released since then.

Awesome.

8/10