"Appetite for Destruction" Ate Me Alive

Summer of 1987 saw a revolution in rock n' roll with the release of, in my opinion, the best hard rock album ever! "Appetite for Destruction" hit the shelves and to this day stands as a hallmark genre busting album. The five men that made up Guns N' Roses at that time have been scattered to the winds, but one thing stands - "Appetite."

I never get tired of listening to this record for the mere fact that every song is great. Every song has soul, heart, anger, sadness, and every other emotion known to man. Tales of ecstasy, drunken debauchery, past loves, drugs, and everything else under the sun were spun into a vinyl epic that lasts a nose short of 54 minutes. Some might say that 53 minutes and 50 seconds is not epic length for a record, but with "Appetite for Destruction" the brevity is the largess. A power packed punch of musical tirades that hit so quickly and squarely no one ever had time to recover.

Starting at zero with "Welcome to the Jungle" we quickly reach mach 1 after the 4 and a half minutes it takes to reach the end of the song. Howls by lead man W. Axl Rose kick off this monstrous song, and lay the ground work for what is to come. Remember those howls and banshee wails (I'm sure you won't forget them) because he injects them in all different ways, at will, throughout the record. The next song, "It's So Easy" is another high powered song that shows you the diversity of the lead man. Axl takes his vocals down a few notches, but raises them back to earplug range by the end. His range is on display in this song, and throughout the entire record.

I speak of Axl Rose quite a bit because he is the front man and much of the musical, as well as physical attitude of the band come from him. His presence is one that cannot be underestimated when considering the success of this band and this record. That said, the next piece of this awesome puzzle lies with the blues based guitaring of one Slash. With every shriek of Axl's voice comes an equally inspiring and bone jarring solo from Slash, and his signature Les Paul guitars. The solos never disappoint. Most people who witnessed the rise of Guns N' Roses probably remember the video for the hit single "Sweet Child O' Mine." In it Slash rips out a fierce solo half way through the nearly 6 minute love letter to then girlfriend of Axl Rose, Erin Everly. The end of the song is basically like a call and response between Axl and Slash. Back and forth the two go, and it is quite amazing to listen to.

I remember some guitarist, in speaking about "Appetite for Destruction," say it didn't have a bad note on it. I have to agree. For all the mayhem this band of rebels caused the music industry, the music is well constructed and executed. I guess you can credit the production, mastering and engineering teams put together by Geffen Records. It couldn't have been easy since these guys weren't your average school boy types who listened and played fare. The volatile nature of the music and the emotional extremism of the lyrics weren't just image touch ups. It was all real. And the band was as insane as the music. That said, sometimes out of such chaos comes great things. This was "Appetite for Destruction."

Not to be undercut by the two lead personalities the other members of the band contributed quite a bit. Izzy Stradlin helped with lyrics and song writing. His rhythm playing was part of a two-guitar attack that really solidified the Guns N' Roses sound. Duff McKagan lays down some mean bass lines in classic hard rock/punk fashion. Nothing overly technical and progressive, but in-your-face driving bass that make songs move. Combined with the drumming of Steve Adler, the rhythm section was solid and unshakable. Slash had ample freedom to play solos from Hell to Heaven, and Axl could scream his brains out because the guys backing them up were good at what they did. I heard Slash say, on some music show, that only those five guys, at that time, could have created "Appetite for Destruction." In my opinion, he was right since there hasn't been another album like it, from Guns N' Roses or anyone else.

I said earlier that "Appetite for Destruction" started at zero with "Jungle" then went to mach 1 by the end of the song. Well the album has 12 songs in total. So can you imagine what kind of intensity they were moving with by "Rocket Queen" (the final song)? I don't want to mistake this album for some fast-as-lightning speed metal record because it wasn't. It was a balanced project that really saw these guys stretch their abilities. "You're Crazy" was fast and furious, but bluesy and soulful as well. "Paradise City" was heavy and headbanging, but had real groove (By the way, is that real crowd noise in the background, or piped in fan noise?). "Night Train" was a driving force with a real classic rock feel. The entire album was like this.

So, the Summer of 1987 was something to remember because rock and roll would never be the same again. "Appetite for Destruction" entered the picture and everything else ceased to exist. Guns N' Roses took no prisoners (even on themselves), and laid waist to the earth, land and sea.

Where to buy this legendary album:

1) www.amazon.com - just type in "Appetite for Destruction" and everything will be okay.
2) www.cduniverse.com - again just type in "Appetite for Destruction" and you'll be on your way.
3) www.bestbuy.com - type "Appetite for Destruction" and scroll through the magic
4) www.tower.com - same as above.
5) Check the ITunes Store from Apple Computers. Type in Guns N' Roses, or "Appetite for Destruction" and choose all you can handle.