Appetite for Destruction

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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
Length	53:50
Label	Geffen Interscope (reissue)
Producer	Mike Clink
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone link
Guns N' Roses chronology
Appetite for Destruction (1987) G N' R Lies (1988)
Alternative cover
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,^[2] accumulating worldwide sales in excess of twenty-eight million as of October 2008.^[3] The album still remains the fastest-selling debut album in history.^[4] Appetite for Destruction is considered by many to be one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time.^[5][6]

Contents 1 Origins 2 Album cover 3 Achievements 4 Track listing 5 Personnel 6 Chart positions 6.1 Album 6.2 Singles 7 References

[edit] 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".^[7]

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 an incident in New York City).^[8] 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.^[9] 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."

[edit] Album cover

The album's original cover, based on the Robert Williams’s painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, they compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a cross and skulls of the five current 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. The cover was supposed to be on the 2008 re-pressing of the vinyl, though the record label replaced it with the skulls cover at the last minute. 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.

[edit] 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.^[10]
• In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.^[11]
• In 2004, Q magazine also named Appetite for Destruction as one of the greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever.^[12]
• In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.^[13]

• In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Appetite for Destruction 59th on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.^[14]
• It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".^[15]
• Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1.^[16]
• 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.^[17]
• 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.^[18]

[edit] Track listing

All songs credited to Guns N' Roses; "It's So Easy" co-credited to West Arkeen, "Anything Goes" co-credited to Chris Weber.^[19]

[edit] Personnel

Guns N' Roses Axl Rose – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizers, percussion Slash – lead and acoustic guitars Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitars, backing vocals, percussion Steven Adler – drums

Additional personnel Mike Clink – production Steve Thompson – mixing Michael Barbiero – mixing George Marino – mastering Victor Deyglio – engineering assistance Dave Reitzas – engineering assistance Micajah Ryan – engineering assistance Julian Stoll – engineering assistance

Andy Udoff – engineering assistance Jeff Poe – engineering assistance Robert Williams – paintings Michael Hodgson – art direction, design Robert John – photography Jack Lue – photography Greg Freeman – photography

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Album

Year	Chart	Position
1988	The Billboard 200	1
1989

[edit] Singles

Year	Song	Chart	Peak position[20]
1988	"Sweet Child O' Mine"	Billboard Hot 100	#1
1988	"Sweet Child O' Mine"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#7
1988	"Welcome to the Jungle"	Billboard Hot 100	#7
1988	"Welcome to the Jungle"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#37
1988	"Nightrain"	Billboard Hot 100	#93
1989	"Nightrain"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#26
1989	"Paradise City"	Billboard Hot 100	#5
1989	"Paradise City"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	#14

[edit] References

Preceded by Hysteria by Def Leppard

Billboard 200 number-one album August 6 - August 12, 1988 September 24 - October 14, 1988 February 11 - February 17, 1989

Succeeded by Roll with It by Steve Winwood

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