Appetite for Destruction the First for Guns and Roses and Their Appetite for Controversy

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, during the creation of their debut album the members of Guns N' Roses trashed the house they were renting, ripping toilets out of the floor and throwing them out the windows. "It was so beyond imagining. I couldn't stop laughing," said then-manager Arnold Stiefel. The damage totaled $22,000. That album was one of the fastest selling debut albums ever, Appetite for Destruction.

The first single released from Appetite for Destruction, It's So Easy, did not perform well. The second, Welcome to the Jungle, went to number 7 on Billboard's Top 100. Dominance came when Guns N' Roses hit number one with "Sweet Child of Mine", Axl's tribute to his then girlfriend. Slash, long-time lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses said, "I had a blast making that record, but I just didn't realize how cool it was until way after the fact,"about Appetite for Destruction. Appetite for Destruction was Billboard's 5th hottest album of 1988.

Attention focused on Appetite for Destruction and that attention turned into a big blowup over the album cover. Stores refused carry the image of a girl who had clearly just been raped by a robot. Women's rights groups and parent organizations screamed. People paid attention to Guns and Roses. Appetite for Destruction was sold in a brown paper wrapper but by 1998 re-pressings sported a stylized cross and the offensive picture was on the inner liner. This was far from the end of controversy for Guns and Roses.

Guns and Roses would be around a long time but the medium was on it's way out. "Appetite was also among the last classic rock records to be mastered with vinyl in mind... to be mixed by five people frantically pushing faders at a non-automated mixing board. 'We used classic instruments and classic amps,' says the album's producer and engineer, Mike Clink. 'Our approach was reminiscent of stuff that was done in the Sixties and early Seventies.'" RS MoA I know it was the last album I bought on vinyl, everything was going to CD.

Track List:
Welcome to the Jungle, It's So Easy, Nightrain, Out ta Get Me, Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City,
My Michelle, Think About You, Sweet Child o' Mine, You're Crazy, Anything Goes, Rocket Queen.

"Used ta do a little
But a little wouldn't do
So the little got more and more
I just keep tryin'
Ta get a little better."
Mr Brownstone

Guns and Roses, Appetite for Destruction can be purchased at these online shops:
Amazon.com
Rhino.com
CD Universe
Alibris
Or buy the download at Rhapsody.com

Sources:
Rolling Stone Magazine, 2007, The Making of 'Appetite for Destruction,.' http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/15690883
GnR Source Website, gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd.htm
Sky.com, 2008, http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Guns-N-Roses-To-Release-New-Album---Axl-Rose-Is-The-Only-Original-Remaining-Member/Article/200810415127112