gnr appetite
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

gnr vegas poster
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?