Pooge's Album Review #2: Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Why hello there once again fellow interwebs users from around the cosmos! Yes I know the festive season was a while ago, but I hope you all had a kick arse Christmas and New Years wherever you are reading this blog from. Over this time I had the ultimate desire to continue my critically acclaimed (status pending) User Selected Album Review series by writing my second album review as chosen by you, but when you are high on Nonna's lasagne and hangover inducing rum balls you just can't be bothered (if you are of a Southern European and a lightweight with the drink you can emphasise with me).
The second album of my blog series that I will be reviewing will have
all the Triple M radio station esque idolising bogans, stuck in a timewarp rockers and hair
metal heads all making their chiropractors awash with wealth by headbanging with glee, while also giving the devils' horns hand signal to many law abiding civil members of their respective communities. Considered by
critics and the long haired authority hating rockers as one of the most iconic
rock albums of the 1980s by a ginger (yes, GINGER) led hard rock band, I now present my unbiased review of.......
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Coincidentally, this is also the official symbol of the Pirate Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Swindling
Artist: Guns n Roses
Album: Appetite For Destruction
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
Year of Release: 1987
Label: Geffen Records
Ah good old late 1980s Los Angeles, that would have been a great place to grow up as a disenfranchised youth or young adult. Destitute hard rockers of this era were being smacked off their feet by hearing the music of many cheesy, money hungry hair metal and glam acts ad nauseaum, while conversely marketing their androgynous looks and tight jeans to the delight of many fluoro adorned 80s chicks. Glam acts like Poison, Motley Crue and Milli Vanilli (more like a SCAM act, hehehe) were delivering their tiresome lyrics and generic faux macho style of music to the resenting ears of many music purists' Walkmans (remember children, an iPad back then was considered to be a high tech sanitary pad for ladies, and Facebook was a form of corporal punishment in schools).
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| This will teach you for not liking my Bad Luck Brian memes |
Prior to Nirvana blowing the doors open to an early 1990s grunge/alt rock revolution, there appeared to be some room for one band to at least minimise the damage that this insidious glam/faux metal genre was doing to everyone's ears. And that day of reckoning came on July 21st 1987, when Oral Sex (I mean Axl Rose), guitar hero Slash and company released this visceral and guitar laden game changer to the concept of heavy metal and hard rock.
The Gunners begin this all out 12 track crunchfest of the ages by kicking the commercial music radio door down with the ballsy and menacing LA Rock and Roll tribute 'Welcome To The Jungle'. This is arguably one of their hardest hitting tracks they ever recorded when they were a decent band, and in my opinion this is my favourite Guns n Roses track ever. The power chord explosion by Slash and Izzy 31 seconds into the song after the intro chiming really sets the tone for the majority of the album.
The second track 'It's So Easy' sounds a lot like a lost Nirvana B Side that Dave Grohl may have used in a pre Foo Fighters solo EP, and its proto-grunge style coupled with Slash's signature soloing really surprised me coming from a balls and all hard rock band like the 1987 Gunners. They may have thought at the time that Nirvana was an LA nightclub where you could snort all the coke you wanted if you were rich and famous.
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| Ah, so THIS is what a Grammy Award looks like when it's ground up. |
The album continues on with the slightly above average homage to a cheap tasting Californian wine the band would consume with 'Night Train', as well as Rose's homage to his troublesome youth 'Out Ta Get Me', which
thankfully were never released as singles as there are far better tracks on the
album. Slash really is a master of his fret tapping craft, and his larger than
life riffs and melodic guitar solos easily catapult the album as a whole to such lofty heights
that wouldn't have occurred otherwise. While being accompanied by guitarist Izzy's interlocking
rhythm section which is peppered through the album, it's no surprise that rock lovers
drool upon hearing songs as raw and aggressive as these.
'Mr Brownstone' continues the melodic 'fuck you' to societal values and beliefs, and the track's themes of heroin use and excessive hedonism are interspersed with the themes of excess and backstage partying with naked groupies (among other rock related activities). Axl solidifies this growing tolerance to drugs with this insightful lyric, "I used to do a little, but a little I wouldn't do, so the little got more and more. I just keep trying to get a little better, said a little better than before".
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| "Now remember Axl, growing tolerant of drugs like heroin is baaad, mmkay? |
Halfway through this invigorating LP we come to the anthemic 'Paradise City', arguably one of GnR's most popular tunes. Axl and co. invite the avid listener to take him down to Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty with his falsetto rock vocals, and Slash impresses with his chugging lead riffs during the verses and shiny power chords during the chorus. The track then goes into double time about three quarters of the way in, and Slash chugs an even better solo (can this curly haired man do no wrong?)
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| Ummmmm.......I guess he can......... |
It is terrific enduring tracks like PC that make the album grand, and to think that we are only halfway through this album is a testament to the overall production of Appetite thus far. Up next is a rock ballad dedicated to to a close friend of the band name Michelle named, you guessed it, 'My Michelle'.
Musical consistency seems to be the theme of the day with this album, and while some bands can bore the hell out of the listener with their lack of variety, for The Gunners this seems appropriate as they are simply out there to rock out and show their love to their fans. 'Think About You' continues such a way of thinking with its theme of rekindling love to the tune of blaring instruments.
It is here where we get to their signature song which has been played in more pubs then a 1950s pool table, and that song is 'Sweet Child O'
Mine'. If you aspire to be a guitar hero without clicking coloured buttons on a controller, play the first few bars of Slash's intro at your
next social gathering and you will get instant positive reactions, and hot women's
clothing will simply fall off in response (this has not been scientifically
proven as yet). Axl's vocals aren't as falsetto in this one, and this melodramatic ode to
his 5000th ex girlfriend has stood the test of time pretty well, and its message of
love lost made it into a fine single. The outstanding guitar solo after the
bridge will make your face melt with its innovation and perfection. This is clearly one of the stand out tracks on the album, not that there is much of a difference in quality between most of the songs on this album.
'You're Crazy', 'Anything Goes' and the outstanding 'Rocket Queen' finish at the tail end of Appetite, and the dizzying late 1980s feast of excess, love lost, love gained, drug use and all night partying with pretty girls and green grass has sadly come to an end.
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| Did I do that? |
Guns n Roses were able to put the testosterone back into rock and roll with this landmark album, and it was only going to be a few more years before Motley Crue and the like were sent to the Gone But Certainly Forgotten category of music when grunge and alternative rock took over the airwaves. The album's disregard to be taken seriously, as well as its messages of thanks to the envious heavy rock star lifestyle exemplified the carefree mentality of the group. Notably Slash's guitar playing has been acclaimed since the release of this album, and Appetite For Destruction demonstrated the LA group at their best. In my opinion this is a well crafted hard rock album with certain repeatability.
Recommended For: People who want to throw a booze driven 80s theme party, aspiring guitar players and lovers of classic rock radio stations
Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5
