Appetite for Destruction

There's not a better hard rock album. GnR distilled everything good from 70s/80s rock and channelled it through a world-historical dose of cocaine and ego to put out a record that nobody can top - all written and recorded in like a month or something. So many all-time great riffs, licks, solos, and hooks - incredible songwriting. Slash comes in like a squal - blasting constant leads and squealing pinch harmonics all over the place (even while the verse is going on). His playing is blistering but also that much more melodic and memorable than the 80s shredders and the sound is so huge. The rhythm section is rock solid - Duff Mckagan's punk background means the energy never drops. Axl's range is all over the place, starting with a gruff growl and ending up with a glass-shattering scream. He has a really playful articulation, stretching out words or rampaging through them with almost a rapper's cadence - pure rock charisma. This, not grunge, killed hair metal - why bother with anything else once you've heard this?

Nah, couldn't finish this. Just dreadful.

Absolute massive rock album, GNR are still dineing out on this debut, it’s that good they still can.

Not my taste but I can see the appeal

So boring. This is the exact kind of "classic" rock that I just don't get the appeal of at ALL.

Let's start with the obvious - Axl Rose is a trainwreck. The lyrics are disturbing and no one should ever try to imitate the lifestyle they model. But man this album kicks ass. It was a kick in the teeth when it came out and is still a pretty strong album. Welcome to the Jungle is an awesome song right from those iconic first notes. Slash is on fire throughout the album. Paradise City and Sweet Child O' Mine were overplayed ad nauseum but are both great songs. I have to give it a 4 for two reasons: One, I just can't give a 5 to their lyrics (even though let's face it that's part of what gives GNR their edge) and two, the non-hits are pretty cliche 80s hard rock songs (e.g., It's So Easy, Night Train), even if they rock harder than most.

Damn, I really am gonna become THAT uncle; first I enjoy Iron Maiden, and now I think this was pretty good too. I do have a few problems with this album to keep it from that five star, though. First, some songs do tend to blend together, especially in the middle. Axl Rose's voice, while impressive in range, can get a little annoying when he is doing his higher range, and finally Paradise City. Just in general a bad song in my opinion. So, just a pretty good album with some issues, which I suppose is exactly what I expect from late 80's hard rock. Slash's guitar playing is crazy for a (famous) debut such as this. Sure, the hits from this album are annoying now, but it's still crazy the amount of songs from this one album that get that treatment. Even the big boys don't get that

GNR sound like the unintended consequences of a coke fueled orgy hosted by Aerosmith, and attended by AC/DC, Def Leppard, and a bunch of groupies.

I have heard this album so many times. I had a roommate in college that would literally only play GnR and Smashing Pumpkins. I got real tired of both of them after a full year of it.

But it's been a few years since I heard this all the way though. And it's really good. Some mega hits of course, amazing that so many big hits were on a debut album.

It may be a while before I listen to it again, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Do you know where you are? You're in 90s rock nostalgia baby! Okay okay, it was late 80s, but who's counting?! Still rocks! 🤘

Absolute classic. Night Train my favorite. 5/5

Its funny to me how much this album now sounds like electrified honky-tonk to me. In any case, it was still thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. The radio anthems that are nearly impossible to not sing along with, still hold strong, but the rest of the album is a solidly stable collection of tracks as well, that doesn't really leave much room for complaint - assuming you can get into the style at all.

The production of the album is vocals and guitars forward and it's pretty obvious why (Axle, Slash and Duff - I mean, come on!). In contrast, the rhythm section could basically be any studio artists out there and I'm not sure it would feel any different.

All around, a good one to revisit.

Recuerdo cuando un compañero trajo este vinilo (este no, el de la portada original que luego censuraron) y fue un shock. En esa época de cierto éxito del Heavy-Metal de melenas cardadas y portadas espectaculares. Sin embargo, encontré un sonido diferente en este disco. Aquello era más Rock que Heavy y tenía canciones realmente buenas. Empezar con "Welcome to the jungle" y meter ahí un tema como "Sweet child o'mine".