Why is appetite for destruction so good

For a boy growing up in Bible-black Wales, it was the perfect escape. It took me on a booze-soaked, smack-addled, over-sexed tour of the LA underground, a world peopled with pimps and prostitutes, dealers and dope fiends. Raucous and reckless, Appetite for Destruction captured rock'n'roll in its strutting, preposterous glory.

And it was dangerous. The pop metal I had been raised on didn't have this level of aggression. The source of all this anger was Axl Rose; mean and misogynist, furious and feral, he spat out tales of LA low life with vituperative flair. Spite had never sounded so compelling, and I was held hostage to its menacing mood. His voice was eviscerating, somewhere between a punk rock screech and heavy metal howl, effortlessly scaling four octaves from bass baritone to falsetto.

To some, it was like nails down a blackboard; to me he sounded like an avenging angel. But Guns N' Roses were much more than their formidable frontman. There was the two-pronged attack of riff duellists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, and a robust rhythm section in Duff McKagan and Steve Adler — a kick-ass crew delivering a sucker punch of an album.

And they looked incredible — a bunch of backcombed barbarians. It was as if the cast of The Lost Boys had been armed with guitars.

They took a wrecking ball to their hair metal peers, leaving behind a trail of spandex and eyeliner. When Def Leppard asked for some sugar in the name of love, Axl and the boys were taking their credit cards to the liquor store; while Bon Jovi were livin' on a prayer, they were dancing with Mr Brownstone.

Appetite for Destruction ignited my passion for all things heavy. I hunted down bands that had inspired it.

It was the album that began my life as a music fan. Taken as a six-song set, Paradise City becomes our de facto closer, as it has long been in the live arena, and the double-time two-minute closing salvo is Appetite at its most free-wheeling and exhilarating. Okay, the recorded sex towards the end of the track is lame. But Rocket Queen captures every inch of Guns at their finest: the tight, driving rhythm section of Steven Adler and, in his finest hour, Duff McKagan ; irresistible Slash leads backed up with flickknife-sharp melodies from Izzy Stradlin; Axl showing a depth and dexterity in both his vocal and lyrics.

Name a better song on Appetite For Destruction. Words: Sam Coare. Anyway, where were we? Guns N' Roses. Wargasm in The K! From Pink Floyd to Rammstein, these bands have seriously freaked out their fans…. Previous Entry Next Entry. Follow Us. Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube. Appetite for Destruction went on to sell well over 30 million copies and is recognized as one of the best-selling and most popular pieces of music of all time.

One of the first things that Guns N Roses inspired was the resurgence of the Gibson guitar. They had fallen out of favor for a while but the sounds that Slash and Izzy Stradlin created with them saw every guitarist strapping them back on. It was a power ballad that managed to change the opinion and reputation of power ballads by rock and metal bands in the years gone by.