#62 Guns N’ Roses, 'Appetite for Destruction' (1987)
Previously #62
No, that’s not a typo. Out of 500 albums it was bound to happen; an album so consistent that it moved neither up nor down, but kept its spot because this band moves for no one. This band won’t be told what to do. This band does as they want. This band is GnFnR. Incubated within the LA club scene, ‘Appetite For Destruction’ burst through the gates to… no acclaim. Opening with ‘Welcome To The Jungle,’ the song was quickly developed based on a riff that Slash had written in his mother’s basement paired with lyrics that Axl Rose wrote while visiting New York with a friend. The two had stepped out of a bus and encountered a homeless man who said to them "You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die!" The songs were mostly written while working their way around the L.A. club circuit. In fact, a lot of the songs written during that period would feature on later record (imagine having such good material that a song like ‘November Rain’ gets bumped for a later release). Paul Stanley from KISS was initially considered to produce, but was rejected due to the fact that he wanted to change Steven Adler’s drum set up more than he wanted. And then Mutt Lange was the next consideration, but the label didn’t want to spend the money on a famous producer (he produced AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black [#84], amongst others). They settled on Mike Clink. Most of the band recorded their parts quickly except for, surprise surprise, Axl Rose who, due to his perfectionism, recorded. One. Line. At. A. Time.
This is a perfect rock ‘n roll record. ‘Welcome To The Jungle,’ ‘Nightrain,’ ‘Mr. Brownstone,’ ‘Paradise City,’ ‘My Michelle’ and the song with one of the greatest and most iconic guitar riffs of all time, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’ As I said, no one cared about it on release, but after relentless touring and off the back of growing radio support for ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’ the album subsequently blew up. It shot to the top of the Billboard charts and entered the history books as the biggest-selling debut album of all time. It’s the 11th best-selling album in the US and to date has sold in excess of 30 million copies. No matter what you think of any of the members of this band, they are the real deal and this album is a solid hard rock classic. Put it on loud and “watch it bring you to your sha-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-knees, knees” iiii]; )'
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