Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following year that Appetite for Destruction became a commercial success, after the band had toured and received significant airplay with the singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine". The album peaked number one on the US Billboard 200 and became the seventh best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling debut album. With over 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling albums of all time. Although critics were originally ambivalent toward the album, Appetite for Destruction has since received retrospective acclaim and has been viewed as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2018, it was re-released as a remastered box set to similar acclaim.
I hate this band. They were pumping out metal years after the genre should have been shot and pissed on. I I rented a place on the beach at Lake Simcoe where the per capita Guns & Roses fans may be a Canadian record high. I played this outside as I was firing up some dead animal on the BBQ. I was waiting for a neighbour to saunter over with a spliff glued to his lower lip and say " Fuckin Eh Man"
Appetite for Destruction encompasses one of those conglomerations of genres that include hard rock, glam metal, and arena rock, making up mainstream rock of the 80s and 90s (would compete with "alternative rock" following grunge's popularity). For the years prior to this album, most of albums in this realm were fairly generic and full of filler beyond a couple great hits. The big names were doing ok. Def Leppard and Bon Jovi were doing alright with just a few filler. But Van Halen got a new singer, Motley Crue hadn't come back from their debut yet, Poison relied on just their singles for album sales, and then there are the hundreds of other long haired hard rock bands that would produce one generic hit that would get a ton of Mtv rotation and then the rest of the album would try to sound exactly like that one song. The subjects were drugs, women, money, fame, whatever. Rock star junk. But Guns n Roses changed everything. They made the transition from "glam" to "hard" in mainstream rock. It was less about catchy pop hooks and riffs, and more about cohesive songs where intense emotion and engagement was supported by the vocal style, melodic shifts, and direct or confrontational lyrics. And in this album in particular, Guns n Roses mocks the traditional rock star subjects. "Paradise City" is the perfect example of both of these points. The subject is looking back, not forward, and longs for this nostalgia of a once better time. You can hear it in his voice, his pleas, his cries. I think it's genius how this song incorporates the solos, the faster pace, and stripped-down chorus at the last two minutes to enhance the desperation. Oh and I love how some of these songs just end on a bang like this. So satisfying. The album is full of great tracks. "Welcome to the jungle" is a very fitting opening that is also a very good example of everything I described above, and also eases the audience into what the album will be about. The next few tracks are all superb. Love how every instrument has its moment. No one gets left behind. Some softer songs like "Mr Brownstone" and "Sweet Child O Mine" keep the flow going, diminishing the oversaturation of the hard sound that would otherwise feel repetitive. The latter song in particular has one of my favorite guitar melodies of all time. If you play me any two second incerpt of this song, I'll immediately know the song and how the rest of the melody goes. The track ends with another great track, "Rocket Queen." Love that shift in melody and subject in the second half of the song. Weaknesses? Yeah, I said the softer ballad-like songs help diminish the feeling the repetition, but yeah when you have so many hard songs back to back, it becomes a little exhausting. And besides the two I talked about, the second side is full of duds. "My Michelle" is ok but the other three are pretty generic and don't offer much if anything to the album. Do these two points detract from a perfect score? No, honestly I don't. The first point is intrinsic with hard rock and metal albums in general, and grows after several listens. And the second point, all albums have some fillers, and it's not like they're horrible or anything. This album is highly influential and innovative, and one of the best hard rock of the 80s and 90s has to offer.
This is a tough one to rate. On the one hand, it is insanity to think that a debut album could contain this many hits. It is up there with Boston's debut in that regard. I feel that it almost deserves 5 stars simply for that. On the other hand, I am so sick of these songs. You cannot turn on a radio station without hearing at least one of these songs once a day. 40 years later and we are still absolutely inundated with Sweet Child O Mine. I can't see myself listening to the entire album on purpose again, so I cannot give it 5.
One of the best rock albums of all time, even if a couple of tunes from it are way too overplayed on rock radio (paradise city, sweet child o mine) it's still just amazing. I'm more of a use your illusion kinda guy, but this is still getting a 5/5.
Not listened in probably 20+ years. Was expecting it to feel dated and to not enjoy the main hits. Great fun, great riffs. Managed to get a few headbangs in with the kids. Happy days
Love it
Welcome To The Jungle has to be one of the best album opening tracks of all time. Totally sets the mood for a great album. I'm definitely not the world's biggest GnR fan, but I do like this album. It is also hugely influential. 9/10
As a kid the intro to Welcome to the Jungle blew me away and for 54 minutes the album doesn’t let up. Through to the closer Rocket Queen Appetite delivers some of the iconic rock songs of all time. In an age when Rock and Roll still ruled the world, there were new kings in town.
Fierce. Ferocious. The album that put the Metal in Hair Metal. From the opening notes of Welcome to the Jungle, you know you’re in for something special. The band hammers away at track after track of brutal, real hard rock. Slash is peak Slash, and Axl has never been more Axl.
Hard to think of a better debut album. True shredder!
Only really knew the hits off of this album and wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the rest. But it’s a really fun album. Does what it says on the tin really. And although Sweet Child O’ Mine is now synonymous with nights out in Walkabout bars, it was good to hear it in the context of the album and still has one of the best guitar solos of all time.
The definite GNR album. I had no idea this was their debut. It's got the best of the best tracks on here too, as if it's a greatest hits. I wonder how a band or artist would feel when their first album is their best? This, obviously, rocks. There weren't too many deep cuts that I saved, but it's an enjoyable experience bolstered by the heavy hitters. I don't know if they had much depth or longevity though--I really only know the big three tracks. But I'm glad we got them all in one go; I'd be shocked if there was another GNR album on this list. Favorite tracks: Sweet Child of Mine, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle, My Michelle, Mr. Brownstone. Album art: This one's a classic too, definitely iconic for the band. The cross seems mildly sacrilegious, but it's also on the cover of the album that contains their holy trinity of hits, so who knows. The skulls for each band member are really cool though. 4/5
For me, Guns and Roses stand above other guitar driven bands in the 80s. The musicianship is better, the songwriting is better, and overall they are much better at avoiding some of the hair metal cliches that would not age well. While this album contains some filler, it also contains some of the best known rock songs of all time. It is gritty while maintaining a sensitive undertone and that vulnerability and confidence set it apart from your run of the mill 80s rock albums.
For me, Guns & Roses falls into the same category as bands like AC/DC and Aerosmith. These are basic, meat and potatoes rock 'n roll bands that revel in obviousness and basic hooks. But from the very opening bars of Appetite for Destruction, the competence of Axl Rose and company is never in question. The band is extremely tight, as if they had been playing these songs in bars for the previous five years. The antics of Slash and Izzy Stradlin wouldn't make titans like Eddie Van Halen or Rhandy Rhodes lose any sleep, but their snarling leads never lack conviction and they're concise and tasty. You could say the same thing about the songcraft. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Appetite for Destruction is a consistent, perfectly realized, rock record of limited ambition. Personally, it bores me to tears, but there's no denying that it's accomplished.
Axl Rose's vocals doesn't do this any favors but there are still solid rock songs scattered throughout
So there are a lot of really dated and, frankly, cheesy tracks on this album. But it also has Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child O' Mine which are such absolute monsters that you can't not give the album as a whole a 5.
Pretty average. The songwriting doesn't impress me too much, especially lyrically, but it does have an undeniable energy and some good riffs and detours. Nothing that excites me too much though, and I feel like a lot of the sound of this album had already been done before.
Genre: Hard Rock 3/5 Guns n' Roses, a group that simultaneously conjures up images of strip clubs as well as BBQs and television commercials, released their best album they ever made, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987. Utilizing tried-and-true hard rock arrangements and instrumentation, GnR made a few HOT singles, 3 of the best songs the decade has to offer (Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child o' Mine). However, the rest of the album plays out about as you'd expect, raunchy and energetic, but not very interesting. The 3 singles from this album, though, are all great tracks. Overplayed in their own right, as they've become cultural touchstones, but they are undeniable hard rock classics. Axl Rose's voice is in peak condition here, and Slash's lead guitar playing is as good as it ever was. But songs like My Michelle or You're Crazy are total duds, reminiscent of filler you'd find in a lot of 80s rock and roll albums (Def Leppard, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy), but way worse and way more bland. Give 'em credit for 3 great tunes, and the rest is generally skippable. Not bad.
Welcome to the Jungle is one of the best opening tracks to an album. All the hits like Sweet Child of Mine, Paradise City, and WttJ are true classics. It's So Easy was easily my most disliked track. Sounded like a different band.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll...and little else...really that's it
Sure. If I was planning an 80s themed pool party I’d play this. But I can’t fully endorse hair metal in general when I know they were such misogynistic assholes. (The Motley Crew movie is my evidence)
What great singles, and what forgettable deep cuts. This is an album that I always think more fondly of until I actually go and listen to it, and find out all over again how boring and repetitive many of the songs get. It's a shame considering how good Duff and Slash are, but at least I get to listen to the genuinely amazing songs from here on their own.
It was ok.
I'm glad that's over. I don't do nearly enough coke to enjoy Butt Rock. I'll take AC/DC or Black Sabbath any day before G&R.
A lot of the time, when I dislike an album, I question who it was made for. This time, I know exactly who this album is for and that somehow made it worse
Ew, gross. I'm forced to hear this garbage every day on the butt rock radio station at work that a bitter old white trash coworker forces everyone to listen to. GnR is easily the worst of the hair metal bands, which is the worst genre of popular music of the last 70 years. This is worthless. This is one of the two worst albums I've had to listen to for this project so far.
Fun album. In my view this sound is the gold standard for hard rock as a genre. So many tracks with well-deserved classic status on this.
One of the best debut albums of all time. One of the best hard rock albums of all time with many iconic songs that almost everyone on the planet knows.
Classic hard rock album. I think there’s a couple duds, but this was really a moment in rock, and even the songs I’m not crazy about have some kick ass-ity to em
Good guitar band
Seminal rock album some absolute tunes, Axel Rose is still a prick
I can't express enough how this album is awesome, a genre-changing moment when it was released. Although today i'm not a big fan of GnR and even listening to this album bores me to hell, I can't ignore the genius behind it. I don't know if any other band can rival a first album like this.
I'd never actually listened to the whole album, but knew a few singles I knew I'd love. Solid album, some songs I wasn't too fond of, others I found I rather enjoy. Great choice!
Testament to GNRs success that I knew most of this album just from the hits, but liked hearing some new things by them from this album.
One of the greatest rock albums of all time. Big guitar sounds, every song is great
peak classic rock
Echt tolles Album, und das Talent des Sängers (ist doch Alice Cooper, oder?) ist offensichtlich Bisher das beste Album.
Not listening, have heard it enough. It’s perfect, quintessential 80’s metal.
When they had it together, GNR were amazing. Great album.
I love this album. Always have. Always will. One of the first albums I remember being able to listen to start to finish.
Very Guns and Roses. The most guns that ever roses. Reminds me of when I was 17 and GnR were my band. :D
What's to say? It's AMAZING
Fantástico
Love this album... hard to find a bad song on the whole thing. GNR at their peak and an album I need to put into the rotation.
This is all good stuff
Hell yeah
pour les gun's sensiblement le meme commentaire mais j'ai déja joué leur version de knock on the heaven door en show et c'est un peu plus
Funny that my mom said she "hates GNR" then when Sweet Child of Mine came on, she's saying "OMG who performs this - I love this song!" :')
Doesn't get more 5 than this
5/5
Ace
Great album, plays like a greatest hits album, awesome listening to it
Classic
Très content d’avoir découvert ce petit band Underground! Non sans farce, j’ai vraiment aimé l’album au complet, surtout les 4-5 premières chansons. J’ai découvert des tounes moins connues une fois Welcome to the Jungle terminée. Bref, c’est un 5!
the best-selling debut album of all time for a reason!
One of the Best
<3
<3
It's so easy (to give this 5 stars)
Probably my most listened to album of all time. I’ve never tired of it, still sounds fresh, all killer and no filler - a game changing album for me musically - I could rave on for hours about it - the easiest five stars I will ever dish out on this
Stone cold classic
Remains edgy and sounds fantastic 30 years later.
The singles, which are all bangers, aren't even the best songs on this record. It's really fucking spectacular.
Best album yet. An album to actually listen to before you die. Some of the others I would rather die than listen 🤣
A timeless classic
Brilliant
So many classics: Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child O'mine'. Classic album. Easily a mid to high 4, bordering a 5. Rounded up to 5.
What a great hard rock album!! Thoroughly enjoyed the tracks - some I knew but most were new to me
Amazing.
Not the first nor last band to release a debut album, that they then never manage to top. 'Appetite...' is all stellar, sleazy hardrock tunes. Honed through .years of shows and recorded by an obviously hungry band. With riffs, licks and leads to conquer the world, there was never real competion to GnR Fave track; Mr. Brownstone, with the rest of the tracks coming in close second
As a statement of intent, it doesn't get any better than this.
incredible rocket queen is the best song imo
One of the all-time great hard rock albums
Classic album. One of the best rock albums of all time easily. Arguable one of the best debut albums from any band ever. There’s not a bad track on the entire album.
I've listened to this album front to back probably several hundred times. I have vivid memories of when this album was released. I remember my cousin and I going to The Wherehouse and him asking me "Have you heard the Guns N Roses album?" I had no idea what he was talking about. Fast forward a week and it was all I was listening to. Well, that and "Electric" by The Cult, which came out a couple months prior. Those two cassette tapes were constantly playing in my Walkman.
Absolute banger. Every song is good
Ending the 80s with a bang! I remember listening to this in my room with headphones so my parents wouldn't hear what I was listening to.
Great album 9/10
I had forgotten what a perfect rock album this is.
Is there any doubt?
damn voelt als een best of album met al die hits denk dat welcome to the jungle mijn favoriet is. Ik geef het de classic status omdat dit voor mij wel echt de definitie van een rock en roll album. één klein minpuntje is dat ze soms wel de nummers wat te lang rekken; ik moet niet vijftig keer horen dat je op de nachttrein zit.
The greatest debut album from any rock band.
So many classics and a few forgotten gems
Perfect
What can you say? I have listened to this album literally hundreds of times in my life and I can guarantee that I'll listen to it more. Classic hard rock album. One of the best.
Discazo
Classic/10
Saved Prior: Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine Unsaved: 12. Anything Goes 11. You're Crazy (a lot of reviews mentioned that the version on G N' R Lies is better. They would be right.) 10. Rocket Queen Cutting Edge: 9. Out Ta Get Me Saved: 8. My Michelle 7. It's So Easy 6. Paradise City 5. Think About You 4. Nightrain 3. Sweet Child O' Mine 2. Mr. Brownstone 1. Welcome To The Jungle (maybe the greatest album opener of all time in my book. Baba O'Riley and this one) Overall Notes: A shot of pure adrenaline. Out and out classic. Side A of this album may be the greatest side of classic rock ever.
Rabia. Rock en estado puro. Voz inconfundible y guitarras míticas. Auténtico disco de cabecera
Great album with a bunch of known songs. Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child O'Mine. 9/10.
Absolute classic. Night Train my favorite. 5/5
If I'm going to give 5 stars to Guns N' Roses it has to be for this album... so here it goes...
Great album. Heard many times.
It was amazing.
10/10
+ 10 for the linear art and the boob I got to see as a 10 year old. I didnt understand all the stuff going on in the photo at the time. I just saw a boob. 5 - Nothing hits harder than Welcome to the Jungle as an opening track.
Sehr gut
Absolutely storming
Настоящая святая библия. Окажись я на необитаемом острове, я бы взял только этот альбом и ничего больше.
I pretty much ignored this album when it came out. At the time I didn’t think I liked hard rock. Somewhere became then and now I became a fan of the genre and several songs on this album, but never went back to listen to this. I’m glad to have this come up! I went into this loving “Paradise City” and “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child Of Mine.” So going in to this listen I’m already on board with a quarter of the album. Glad I finally got around to listening to the rest. There are a lot more songs on this for me. “It’s So Easy,” the first new-to-me GNR song I’ve heard in decades, had me at the first chorus. So much talent in this band... The vocal performance in “Mr. Brownstone” shows real versatility. I love the different sound. “My Michelle” was a pretty sweet (for them) love song leading into “Sweet Child of Mine” - a song that I’ve never tired of hearing. APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION is sex, drugs and rock and roll and I like it! This listen was long overdue.