The Classic Metal Album Reviews:
Title: Appetite for Destruction
Artist: Guns 'n' Roses
Label: Geffen
Release Date: 1987

Rating: 4 Skulls
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    • Reviewed by Solomon:
    My infatuation with Guns 'n' Roses pretty well started and ended with this record. Not to say the Use Your Illusion records were bad, and actually I've never listened to them in their entirety, but by that time I had lost interest and gone on to other things. Looking back, what made GNR so special that they soon became a musical juggernaut, selling records by the ton? Judging from the "Welcome To The Jungle" video, they appear to be a bunch of weirdos: Axl, with his I-just-stuck-my-finger-in-a-socket hairdo and Slash, the "Cousin It" of rock, appear more like extras in a Tim Burton movie than members of a supergroup. When it comes down to it, when I think of "80s rock" and "badass," Motley Crue and Guns 'n' Roses come out as the prime culprits. From Axl's serenades about drugs, sex, and the land "where the grass is green and the girls are pretty," to the raw, snarling guitar riffs spewing from Slash and Izzy's six-strings, Appetite features a rock band that actually plays rock music with the attitude to match. They may have had the poofy hair and leather getups, but this was not Poison. AFD may be metal in a lot of ways, but it has a very "classic" rock feel to it: the bluesy, gut-level aspects of the songwriting puts the band in the pantheon of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith more than that of Iron Maiden or Slayer.

    Appetite is a very strong record with few weak points. There are really no "filler" songs on this collection, with plenty of quality guitar riffs spread throughout the album, from "Out Ta Get Me" to "My Michelle" to "Rocket Queen." Despite the rawness of AFD, the music is not stupid. "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City," and "Rocket Queen," for example, are not oversimplified arrangements. Slash and Izzy are very busy guitar players: you won't find them just bouncing away on the low E or A strings and pounding on power chords the whole time. Despite the guitars' dominating presence, Axl's vocal attack is the band's definitive element. Have you ever heard a guy sing like this? Okay, Janis Joplin had the scratchy pipes, but not only does Axl do the strangled-cat imitation in "Welcome To The Jungle," he immediately does a one-eighty with the whatever-you-want-to-call-it style in "It's So Easy." Funny thing, you'd think Axl's sandpaper screeching would drive you nuts, but it seems natural with the music, even pretty on songs like "Sweet Child O' Mine." This is not the style of music I'm into nowadays, but as far as rock-based metal goes, this record is a milestone.
    4 out of 5

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