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Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction, 10/10

Artist - Guns N Roses
Album - Appetite For Destruction
Year - 1987
Lyrics - Click here.
Buy - Amazon

Members -
W. Axl Rose - all lead vocals, backing vocals, synth and percussion
Slash - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Izzy Stradlin - rhythm, lead guitars, backing vocals and percussion
Duff "Rose" McKagan - bass guitar and backing vocals
Steven Adler - drums

Track List -
1 - Welcome To The Jungle (4:31) (Lyrics)
2 - It's So Easy (3:21) (Lyrics)
3 - Nightrain (4:26) (Lyrics)
4 - Out Ta Get Me (4:20) (Lyrics)
5 - Mr. Brownstone (3:46) (Lyrics)
6 - Paradise City (6:46) (Lyrics)
7 - My Michelle (3:39) (Lyrics)
8 - Think About You (3:50) (Lyrics)
9 - Sweet Child O' Mine (5:55) (Lyrics)
10 - You're Crazy (3:25) (Lyrics)
11 - Anything Goes (3:25) (Lyrics)
12 - Rocket Queen (6:13) (Lyrics)

Album Cover -


Review -

This album, for many people, changed there views on not only rock, but music as a whole. It came in a period where rock as we know it was still in its baby years, and really needed something loud, proud and outta control. Cue Guns And Roses.

The band's personal lives it is argued are more prominent than anything they ever musically created, but strip away the crunching guitar and bass riffs, the pounding drums, the hypnotising guitar solos, and Axl's soothing voice, and you will find songs seeped in privatisation. From the detailing of heroin abuse, which all save Axl suffered from (Mr Brownstone "He wont leave me alone", "I used ta do a little but a little wouldn't do, so the little got more and more"), alocohol abuse (Nightrain, "Wake up late honey put on your clothes, take your credit card down to the liquor store. Well thats one for you and two for me by tonight, I'll be loaded light a freight train"), and just general drug (mis)use (Welcome To The Jungle "We are the people that can find, whatever you may need, if you've got the money we've got your disease", "You can taste the bright lights but you wont get them for free", "Welcome to the jungle, watch it bring to your knees"). And seeped over it all are gallons of broken hearts (Sweet Child O Mine "Now and then when I see that face it takes me away to that special place, and if I stared too long I'd probably break down and cry").

But the morality of the lyric choice aside, this is an extremely well written and performed piece of musical art. Welcome To The Jungle starts off in the most perfect way, with a guitar intro. The momeny Axl announces the first words "Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games" you know you are listening to something very different. And by the time "sh-na-na-na-knees, knees" hits, you are enthrawled. Wrapping around the guitars and drums like a snake around his prey, Axl begs you to join in, and before long you are either air guitaring to the first solo of the day, or singing along desperately trying to reach every corner that Axl's voice jumps to, or simply tapping your foot along. Then the soft bit appears, and a realisation "When your high you, never ever wanna come down", building back up to the second solo! This is clearly and album for vocalists and guitarists alike, and one song in it is obvious why Slash is held in such high regards in the musical world.

It's So Easy is a very sleazy piece of work about women pleasing him. The guitar and Axl take second place to Izzy and Steven, but Axl still pops in for the high chorus. One listen to this song reminds you why The Darkness are too over the top with high voices and insanely boring guitar solos. A perfect song to show that Guns And Roses has more to offer than solos and charisma. A solo appears just before the best lyrics on the album (in my opinion) "You get nothing for nothing and thats what you do". Nightrain pounds right by you like, well a train. There's nothin exceptional about it, other than Axl attempting to sound rather Western, but is still a mile between it and the majority of 'rock' songs since. The best thing about the song? The lyrics . Next!

Outta Get Me, drums a pounding, guitar a solo-ing, and Axl's words drenched in paranoia. A perfect song to play GTA : Vice City to. But as a song, well, it makes you feel sorry for Axl for some reason, his voice sounding like that of a child wrongfully scorned. Mr Brownstone. The first stand out song of the album, and also one of the shortest. Headed with great but undertoned guitar and bass work, Axl's voice dropped down, the whole songs like a whisper compared to the previous four, and it's almost as if they reckon they could hide from 'Mr Brownstone' by keeping quiet. Works well. And then the "I used ta do a little...." bounds in like an impromptu attempt at rap. Well speed talking then. Oh, there goes another solo ^_^.

Paradise City. Arguably the greatest song on the album. And based on pure singing merits, it very well may be. Axl and Izzy never sounded more suited. Slow drum start, slow guitars, a beat thats been copied many times but without Slash solo-ing all over it, it would sound terrible. Intro stops. Song begins. More speed, more confidence, but still a bit too quiet. The hook! If you can call it that. Fast drums supported by guitar! This isnt Guns And Roses. Well whatever it is works well, and the chorus, anthem-esque.

My Michelle. My favourite song. Starts slow like a million others have since, and I can almost here some other woman singing over it. Then the real start starts, loud crunching guitars, pounding drums, Axl comes in his voice filled with more sleaze than the lyrics, and the music wraps around him this time. The whole song seems more like something that was organically born than musically produced by mere mortals. It just fits. There is no chink in this armour.

If you thought after those two behemoths GnR would have to slow down, well your wrong. The speed picks up, the feeling picks up, and the singing speeds up. "Loving that will last forever". This song just sounds like five guys chilling and enjoying life. And a perfect contrast to Sweet Child O Mine. The most well-know GnR song, the most well known guitar riff in history, and arguably the greatest love ballad ever created. I dare anyone to listen to it and not enjoy! (And I also dare anyone to try to learn that damn solo!)

"Where do we go now?". Well onto Your Crazy, which sounds an awful lot like a Metallica song to start with, until Axl's voice reappears. "You dont want my love, you want satisfaction". A harsh contradiction to the sweet wordings of Sweet Child O Mine, but fast, hard hitting, and true. Perfect for anyone who just had a bad break-up, but not soppy.

Only two songs left, but Anything Goes doesnt slow the pace down at all, if anything it speeds things even furthur up. Some Iron Maiden sounding riffs now, a fast and hard song about fast and hard sex. Now the finale, slow but still pounding, Rocket Queen see's us off in proper style, great drumming, excellent guitaring, awesome singing, and great lyrics. And now, ladies and gentlemen, you have just listened to the greatest rock album of all time.

Summary -

10/10 - Superb singing, excellent musicianship, and meaningful but subtley penned lyrics. An album that could have changed your life, but for the first time listener will still serve to open your eyes to the wonder of rock, and in particular, the beauty of guitars.


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