Appetite for Destruction is the 1987 debut album by Los Angeles-based hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album combines elements of heavy metal, hard rock, blues-rock and punk.

Appetite for Destruction reached number one on the US Albums Chart, and on September 23, 2008 was certified 18x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America^[1]. The album has accumulated worldwide sales in excess of 28 million.^[2]

Origins

Axl Rose stated in 1988 that many of the songs featured on the album had been written whilst 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, Don't Cry, and November Rain. ^[3].

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" (McKagan), "Anything Goes", and "Think About You" (Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/McKagan song that was written from their earlier band Road Crew.

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 about an incident in New York City)^[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". An Edited version of this album was also released however it left all profanity in the music and only edited the booklet to remove the original Controversial cover art.

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 Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Steven Adler, right skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, left skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John. However, the cover art will appear on the 2008 re-pressing of the vinyl.

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.^[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]
• In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Appetite for Destruction 59th on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s^[8].
• It was ranked 18 in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".^[9]
• Kerrang! magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which Appetite for Destruction was ranked #1.^[10]
• 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.^[11]
• 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. .^[12]

Track listing

Personnel

The band members' musical contributions, as stated in the album's accompanying booklet, are as follows:^[13]

• Axl Rose ? lead vocals, backing vocals, synth
• Slash - lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars
• Izzy Stradlin ? rhythm guitar, backing vocals, percussion
• Duff McKagan ? bass guitar, backing vocals
• Steven Adler ? drums

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

Singles

References

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