Music Monday: Appetite Turns 26
26 Years Old and Still Going Strong
Appetite For Destruction – The highest-selling debut album of all time – turned 26 years old yesterday.
It still fucking rocks. But it didn’t always for me. Read on.
My History With GnR
I knew about the album 26 years ago. There was a rumbling of news that happened just before it was released. I was living in Southern Calif at the time. I had just gotten married and my now ex-wife was more into modern music and 80’s bands [as was I] but I still had a love for hard rock and metal.
I heard a few of the songs once the album came out and really didn’t like them. Her nephew instantly latched onto this album, but each time he played it, I cringed. Yes, sad to say that now, but it’s true. I couldn’t stand the music, the vocals. The guitar was great, but I just gave it a pass.
About 4 years or so after the album came out, a friend of mine sent me a cassette mix tape with Iron Maiden, Autograph and Guns N’ Roses on it. While I played the Iron Maiden and Autograph to death, I would normally skip past the GnR tracks. I could appreciate the guitar work [hard to diss Slash], but still just not getting into the tracks.
Fast forward about 10 years, when my marriage is in the early stages of falling apart and I have branched into more musical tastes. I found Appetite For Destruction at a local record store in a newly remastered Original Master Recording Gold CD. It was $20. Some newer CDs were $20, so I figured I would give it another chance.
Original
A poster for Vegas shows, based on the original cover for Appetite
Brilliance. Each and every fucking note.
What happened in those 10 years to change my mind about this album, I cannot tell you. But I am so glad it did change. Because this album remains in my top 9 of albums that I deem are my favorite.
And now 16 years later, I still crave to listen to it – sometimes start to finish, sometimes a random track at a time.
Who else loves Appetite For Destruction?
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Definitely a top ten with me too.
I remember seeing them at the Santa Monica Civic when they were the opening to the opening act for Ted Nugent. We were about 5 feet away from the stage and most people there didn’t give a crap about them, but even back then you could tell they were going to be huge. Saw them several other times too but never got that close again.
Wow. That’s pretty cool you got to see them in their beginnings and to be that close.
I love this album but haven’t played it in years. My Michelle and Rocket Queen are a couple of my faves.
Rocket Queen was always one of my favorites. Slash does a nice solo as part of this song in his recent tour dates.