Jump to content

Appetite for Destruction: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
[pending revision][pending revision]
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 7: Line 7:
| Released = [[July 21]], [[1987]]
| Released = [[July 21]], [[1987]]
| Recorded = Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; Take One Studio, Burbank, California; Can Am Studio, Tarzana, California<ref name="GNR source">{{cite web|url= http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd.htm |title="Appetite for Destruction" |publisher=''GN'R Source.com'' |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref>
| Recorded = Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; Take One Studio, Burbank, California; Can Am Studio, Tarzana, California<ref name="GNR source">{{cite web|url= http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd.htm |title="Appetite for Destruction" |publisher=''GN'R Source.com'' |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref>
| Genre = [[Hard rock]] |
| Genre = [[Hard rock]]/[[Heavy metal]] |
| Length = 53:43
| Length = 53:43
| Label = [[Geffen Records|Geffen]]
| Label = [[Geffen Records|Geffen]]

Revision as of 15:23, 11 May 2008

For other uses, see Appetite for Destruction (disambiguation).
Untitled

Appetite for Destruction is the 1987 debut album from Los Angeles-based hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which combined elements of heavy metal, punk rock, hard rock, and blues-rock. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200, and is certified 15x platinum by the RIAA.[2] Worldwide sales are 28 million. This album is ranked the fourth best-selling debut album in the United States.[3]

Origins

While the songwriting credits are indiscriminately credited to all five band members, many of the songs began as solo tracks that individual band members wrote in the pre-Guns N' Roses era, only to be completed by the band. These songs include "It's So Easy" and "Nightrain" (McKagan), "Mr. Brownstone", "Anything Goes", and "Think About You" (Stradlin). "Paradise City" and "Rocket Queen" were unfinished Rose/McKagan and Rose/Stradlin demos respectively that the band wrote in their early career.

Other songs on the album reflect the band's reaction to the debauchery of the L.A. rock and roll underground, such as "Welcome to the Jungle" (Rose wrote the lyrics while in Seattle)[4] and "Out ta Get Me", as well as their assorted female companions, reflected in the songs "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Think About You", "My Michelle", "You're Crazy", and "Rocket Queen".

Legacy

The album is among the best selling albums in history; over 18 million copies were sold in the United States alone, and more than 28 million worldwide. The Album reached the no.1 spot after 61 weeks in the United States billboard charts.

Cover art

The album's original cover, based on the Robert Williams 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 band members (designed by William White, originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band:

The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John (photographer).

Achievements

  • In 1989 Rolling Stone ranked Appetite for Destruction as the 27th 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.[5]
  • In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.[6]
  • In 2003, VH1 named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.[7]
  • It was ranked 18 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".[8]
  • Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1.[9]
  • In 2004 the album was voted number 1 by fans in Metal Hammer magazine's greatest albums of all time list. Rolling Stone recently devoted their cover to the album's 20th Anniversary, July 2007.[10]

Track listing

# Title Length Music by Lyrics by
1 "Welcome to the Jungle" 4:34 Axl Rose, Slash Rose
2 "It's So Easy" 3:22 Duff McKagan, West Arkeen McKagan, Arkeen
3 "Nightrain" 4:28 Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, McKagan Rose, McKagan
4 "Out ta Get Me" 4:23 Rose, Slash, Stradlin Rose, Stradlin
5 "Mr. Brownstone" 3:48 Slash, Stradlin Stradlin
6 "Paradise City" 6:46 Rose, Slash, Stradlin, McKagan Rose, McKagan
7 "My Michelle" 3:39 Rose, Stradlin Rose
8 "Think About You" 3:51 Stradlin Stradlin
9 "Sweet Child o' Mine" 5:56 Rose, Slash, Stradlin Rose
10 "You're Crazy" 3:17 Rose, Slash, Stradlin Rose, Stradlin
11 "Anything Goes" 3:26 Rose, Stradlin, Chris Weber Rose, Stradlin
12 "Rocket Queen" 6:13 Rose, Slash, Stradlin Rose

Personnel

Additional personnel

  • Mike Clink – producer
  • Michael Barbiero – mixing
  • Steve Thompson – mixing
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Victor Deyglio – assistant engineer
  • Dave Reitzas – assistant engineer
  • Micajah Ryan – assistant engineer
  • Julian Stoll – assistant engineer
  • Andy Udoff – assistant engineer
  • Jeff Poe – assistant engineer
  • Robert Williams – paintings
  • Michael Hodgson – art direction, design
  • Robert John – photography
  • Jack Lue – photography
  • Greg Freeman – photography

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1988 The Billboard 200 1
1989

Singles

Year Song Chart Peak position[11]
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

References

  1. ^ ""Appetite for Destruction"". GN'R Source.com. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Diamond Awards". RIAA. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  3. ^ "Featured artist - Guns N' Roses". Billboard 200. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Ellin, Doug (2007-07-27). ""Welcome to the Jungle"". TV.com. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |acceessdate= ignored (help)
  5. ^ ""Appetite for Destruction - Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"". Rolling Stone. 2003-11-03. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "In our Lifetime #2". Q magazine. 2001-10-01. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "VH1 Ranks 100 Best Rock Albums". The Associated Press. 2001-01-04. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Barger, Al (2005-07-03). "Spin magazine's 100 Greatest Albums 1985-2005". Blog Critics magazine. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Guns N' Roses news:". Here Today Gone to Hell. 2004-03-04. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Hiatt, Brian (2007-07-27). "How Guns N' Roses Mixed Drugs, Punk, and Classic Rock to Make 'Appetite for Destruction'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Artist Chart History - Guns N' Roses - Singles". Billboard 200. Retrieved 2007-11-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
August 6 - August 12 1988
September 24 - October 14 1988
February 11 - February 17 1989 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Appetite_for_Destruction&oldid=211671409"