Reviews (page 2 of 14)
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First one star rating. "Welcome to the Jungle" is okay, but not even that's a redeeming quality to save it from a low score. The rest of the album just sounds really generic, and many of the tracks are so overplayed on the radio that I just get sick of them.
I first heard Rocket Queen about 25 years ago and I got to say but it might be the best song on the record.. it holds up and that says a lot because there's a lot of bangers here.
I get it's cool to shit on them now, and everyone has heard Sweet Child of Mine enough for a lifetime already, but you know why you've heard it so much? Because it's a killer song and this album is full of them! The performances are sooo good, the rhythm section is so tight but then there's a looseness that the guitars and vocals bring when they play off it and it just sounds like a big old fucking party. It's not clever, or fancy or reinventing the wheel but it's just a big old slice of kick ass rock and/or roll. Even the longer songs have interesting enough arrangements that they don't drag on too much and although a lot of the songs are fairly similar they're up tempo enough not to get stale. Fuck the haters, it's a victim of it's own success and a stone cold classic
Once again, much better than I expected. I understand why these bands are so acclaimed by the critic, several songs unknown to me were actually great. Rocket queen... Sh**, what a way to end an album. 4,5/5.
Começa com uma pedrada já. Saudades da banda. Admirei muito mais essa música quando toquei e ouvi os parceiros da banda tocarem, cada parte muito criativa. Só música foda, tinha umas que fazia tempo que não ouvia. O massa é que tu ouve eles tocando e te transporta pra uma época, um estilo de vida, tu começa imaginar eles vivendo loucamente tudo que tem pra viver. Rock n Roll puro, vida na gandaia, drogas huahhuaa. Mano, a cada música que vinha eu ficava de cara... todas as épicas no mesmo álbum... Os caras fizeram um pacto, pqp.
I can still clearly remember hearing “Appetite for Destruction” for the first time when I was 11 or 12: that was the moment that changed my life—at least when it came to anything related to music. Guns N’ Roses sounded completely different from anything I’d heard before: complex and virtuosic, yet at the same time raw and rebellious—and in my opinion, there’s never been a combination like that, either before or since, that came anywhere close to that level. Since then, I’ve played every note of that album, and yet I still discover new details time and again. On the surface, of course, you notice Axl’s unusual voice and Slash’s solos, but it really gets interesting when you dig a little deeper: Slash impresses far more with his riffs, and the wild asynchronies with Duff’s bass create the ghost notes for a truly unique groove monster (note e.g., the different accents by bass and guitar in the "Rocket Queen" Main Riff); but in my view, what’s most underrated about this band to this day is their masterful use of harmonic complexities and key changes. There’s a lot more that could be said on this topic, but my point is: despite their enormous commercial success, Guns N’ Roses are probably one of the most underrated bands in rock history, and it’s actually a shame that the “Use Your Illusion” albums (which explore the unique harmonic ideas far beyond what's shown here) didn’t make it onto this list. Obviously off the scale, but I couldn’t find a way to rate it higher than five stars.
Rocket Queen is a great closing track. I know this album quite well
Exceptional album. Pure rock n´roll, very different from that rock era. It is the only Guns n' Roses album I enjoy.
This is a classic that doesn't follow any rules and does what it wants. Classics like Rocket Queen and It's So Easy still hold up and that sound is unlike anything you've ever heard. The band has never done anything as good as this and sadly never will.
This is a super formative album for me. This is all over the map style-wise and they hit on pretty much every sound they try.
Note: it's more then likely a 4.5 but my personal connections bump it up since you can't have .5's Appetite For Destruction is an album that leaves an impact. It hits hard and goes fast. All the songs are absolute bangers and it has copious amounts of hits. Listen to this album numerous times over the past 5 years and it still hasn't grown stale. Fav Songs Welcome To The Jungle Paradise City Rocket Queen Is it Top 1001 Worthy (is it essential)? 100% yes, one of the greatest debut albums of all time and quite possibly the best album in the 80's hair metal scene that has stood the test of time
Very good
Every song was incredibly strong, couldnt pick a fave!
Classic. This is the 80s hard rock album by which all others were measured for a long time (& maybe still are). It took the genre to the next level. The record was inescapable too. It was on everyone’s car stereo when I was in high school. All the time. And it’s actually held up. Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, My Michelle, and of course Sweet Child O’ Mine are highlights. But this album never lets up front to back. This is one that’s clearly deserving of status on this list.
I'm hard pressed to give Appetite For Destruction anything but a 5 for Sweet Child O Mine alone. I think the biggest criticism I can make of this album is that it all sounds pretty similar. Outside of the radio songs, I wouldn't be able to pick the rest apart. But ya know, they are fun high energy songs and every single one of them has at least one good guitar solo.
All killer no filler
For an album to get a 5, I think all the following should be present: - Display of exceptional musicianship - Long-lasting influence, memorable songs - Emotional effect This album is fit for this. While Guns N' Roses might not be my favourite band of all time, the achievement is undeniable. This debut record sounds great. It is also played very tightly and is well-arranged. The vocal performance is extraordinary. Last but not least, it has a huge selection of songs that stand the test of time.
Noisy.
Absolute banger of an album! So many great songs on this album. From Nighttrain, Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City. Great writing and performing from the band as well.
Much like Slippery When Wet, which I got a few days ago, Appetite For Destruction is an album that many people seem to have really mixed feelings about. Three of the songs on this album, Welcome To The Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child O’ Mine are overplayed on most radio stations. But just because they’re overplayed doesn’t make them worse. I regularly listen to songs off of this album and I am going to give it 5 stars.
So buckin' futch.
Аксель что тут сказать он маньяк он дурак
Amazing album, one of the best intro songs to an album ever. Great first few songs, it's a perfect balance of hard guitar solos and catchy almost pop-passing choruses. I understand why Guns N Roses are considered so legendary now. Much harder lyrics than I expected. While not super explicit, I feel like the allusion to drug usage is much more pronounced than I thought it would be. I liked the vast majority, if not all the songs. 10/10 album.
Too album
nyt on musiikkia. Welcome to jungle on kyllä aivan uskomaton kappale. 100% yks kaikkien aikojen rokkibiiseistä. Melkein jokainen kappali listalla on aivan kirkkainta timanttia. Ensin albumi alkaa welcome to the jungle josta suoraan its so easy. Albumi todellakin oli entuudestaan tuttu, mutta moni biisi oli täysin uusia itselle. Tuntui, että albumi vaan parani mitä enemmän kuuntelee. Lopussa vasta sweet child of mine. Huhhuh, harva albumi ansaitsee täydet 5/5 mutta tämä on yksi niistä harvoista
Discazo por donde lo mires
Iconic debut album. Nightrain and Mr. Brownstone might be my favorite GnR tracks
The fact that a band with a singer with that voice makes some of the hardest rocking songs of the 80's still blows my mind. When I picture a rockstar in my head I see Slash. These guys are iconic.
Now this is the music that feels like home to me. A spectacular album, no weak songs, only killers.
One of the very first albums that started my obsession with music. Obviously it's been overplayed to death but it remains an absolute classic. Rocket queen still hits as hard as it ever did.
Immediate, obvious 5.
Not the smartest hard-rock album, not the deepest, but one of the most electrifying debuts ever made. Artistically: savage and massively effective. Historically: enormous. Pure listening pleasure: extremely high.
First full run through. Fantastic
Tämä levy on mun alltime top3:ssa. Tätä on tullut kuunneltua tuhansia kertoja. Todella kova levy, eikä yhtään huonoa raitaa. Klassikko 6/5!
Easily one of the top 10 of all time, if not top 6
10 - g n mfing r!
One of the best all time.
Starts strong and continues stronger. Hit after hit, banger after banger. Hard to believe this was mid-late 80s! Phenominal. Great songwriting, slash's guitar just jumps out at you, some of the best most cleanest licks you've ever heard put to track. So good.
Ughhh so so excited for this. Welcome to the jungle, a perfect opener. Always fun, such a great listen. It’s so easy just keeps the energy going. That slight drop in the middle and then straight back to it was great. Then that guitar solo, amazing. Nightrain is just genuinely so good. It’s a track I hadn’t heard before I did this listen, and it’s now going to go into my rotation. Out ta get me was a vibe. I enjoyed how Mr Brownstone takes a bit of a different approach than some of the other tracks did. Any day when I get to listen to Paradise City is a good day, nuff said. My Michelle had a way to it that just felt like it was meant to be heard live. Sweet child of mine, perfect. No notes. You’re crazy, great. Anything Goes, so much fun. Rocket Queen was a great way to close. Summed up everything this album was. 5/5 ⭐️ 137/1089
Excellence at its finest
Elite
insane debut
5/5
Thursday, 14 May, 2026 Genre defining. Rips your face off from the first note and Axl gutter scream (“Oh my god!”). What an album.
Insane debut album holy moly. It's the album that made GNR burn so brightly so quickly. If this album was only 4 of these songs it would still be a 5. T3: Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City
Takes me back this one. It’s just a banger
The world's greatest cliche
“One of the best debut albums ever.” -Lonathan Quinn Teyler-James III
Incredible
I liked this more than I thought I would.
Duh! One of the greatest debuts of all time and one of the most formative "forbidden" albums from my childhood.
When I was in middle school, there was a kid who used to urge us to listen to all these obscure metal bands that he would find, sometimes ordering them out of the back of magazines. So many of them were so bad that eventually we just started ignoring his recommendations. I distinctly remember laughing at him when he told us about this band Guns N' Roses and raved about their debut album. This would have been in 1987, before they had even hit MTV. I sometimes wish I could go back and apologize to that kid. He got this one right.
El primer disco que me compré en mi vida
¡Un álbum, variados climas! crudo de origen, hooks inolvidables y esos riff de Slash para cantarlos son de lujo! Disco que mantiene su identidad y no suena repetitivo. con esas guitarras construye tensión y release!!
Iconic
Might be the most 80s album that ever 80s.
5 stars. No notes. Well….. as a rock and roll experience? As a 13 year old? A 23 year old?? An angry young man??? Yeah, 11/10 As a rock purist it is arguably one of the absolute best debuts ever. 10/10 As a 50year old feminist leaning father of 2….. ummmmm …… a little harder to hear now. There’s some stuff lyrically that is downright wrong and unacceptable. However, I’ll rate it based on historical sensibilities minus half a star for Axl and his blatant misogyny. Bonus point: I’m not sure there is another bass player in rock that is as undervalued as Duff McKagan. 9/10
I don’t know if this is just because of my age my mom, my brother and myself combined, but it’s just awesome! His voice is different than everyone’s and so many of the songs are catchy, but not in a pop way.
Classic hard rock album! Everything’s there riffs,guitar solos
Fucking legendary. Hair metal at its best. "Sweet Child O' Mine" might be overplayed, but I still think it's one of the greatest guitar solos of all time -- in the convo for #1. Slash is exceptional the whole album, and even though Axl Rose is a tool-fucker who burned out his voice in a couple years, he's exceptional and unbelievable here. 53 straight minutes of pedal-to-the-metal bangers. I have nothing bad to say.
wether you like them or not, I think almost everybody heard this band and seen this album art. That is in it self a really good reason for it to be on this list. It has had a huge cultural impact. Personally growing up on classic rock this is a really good album to me that i never took time and listen through. The hits are legendary but even the tracks i haven't heard seems solid.
One of the great debut albums of all time. They transcended the awful genre of hair metal to produce one of the best ever rock/metal albums ever. Every song is a classic. If you don't like this album, you've never been a teenager (or at least a white male suburbanite teenager). My one major beef with this album though is why was the ending guitar solo in Paradise City so low in the mix? Best Tracks: Welcome to the Jungle; Nighttrain; Paradise City
Rock and roll legends. Loved listening to them in the car with my Dad growing up.
Great album that deserves all the accolades it has gotten over the years. It smokes from beginning to end. Too bad everything after this album pretty well sucked from them. I was 14 when this came out and it kinda bubbled under the surface for awhile. Then they went on tour opening for Mötley Crüe and stole the show. I was witness to that in Huntsville, Alabama. GnR was enough Hollywood Strip to appeal to the hair metal crowd, but grimy and heavy enough to appeal to the thrash crowd. They really had an authenticity to them that won lots of people over from diverse musical interests. 4.5/5 rounded to 5.
Guns N' Roses' debut album is carried by cool-ass guitar from Slash, awesome, harsh vocals from Axl Rose, and everything in between. Overall a really good listen.
One of my favourite albums . Listened to a lot of GnR as a child and this is certainly their best.
Uno de los álbumes debut más poderosos de la historia. El sueño de cualquier banda de rock debería ser sonar tan urgente, pulcro y logrado como este disco. Es la biblia del hard rock. Tomen y beban todos de él. Poderoso, implacable, salvaje, y con una de las intros más perfectas de todos los tiempos. Un 10/10 sin lugar a dudas.
Absolutely awesome. A classic for a reason.
I have a lot of great memories of Guns N' Roses, mostly from the early 90s. They used to play "Welcome to the Jungle" in my sport class. Pretty much every song on this album is great. I couldn't help but think that GnR was a bridge between hair metal and grunge rock (which was my favorite genre as a high schooler). So, I googled it, and it seems that there are articles written about this subject. Especially for a debut, this album is really good overall.
Fun throughout; high energy. In addition to the ones I knew, liked Brownstone, Out to Get Me, and Think About You.
great album .. good remember of my teen years
Iconic. Unforgettable. Undeniable. Unbelievable. It was dangerous and it was memorable. They were L.A.'s bad boys but they could write songs, man. A truly perfect record from the opening note to the closing fade-out.
Это абсолютное золото и классика глэм-рока. Максимальная атмосфера крутости и 80-х, секс драгс энд рокнролл как говорится. Легендарный альбом, таких больше не делают.
cried while thinking about my dad. danced and sung too.
+++
No. 157 From start to finish pure energy and aggressive sound, with some of the most iconic riffs you have ever heard.
🤘🏻
Front to back, best Hair Metal album of all time
This album likely informed my basic knowledge of rock growing up with how much the mega hits occurred in various times. It continues to be an excellent rock album including all the songs I had never heard before, its clean and a constant enjoyment to go through. Between Izzy and Slash creating guitar riffs that live on in my head forever and Axl's vocals that wrap it all up in a sense memory of times with friends and places that are now long passed it holds a special place for me.
10
It was always going to be difficult to not give this album a perfect score. With the first song being welcome to the jungle, and later songs including night train and paradise city and sweet child of mine. This album is just non stop chaos in a good way, and the songs are so great. 10/10
Stellar debut from Guns'n'Roses, still one of the best hard rock albums of all time. It has it all, with just a dash of 80s glam influences. More focused than the (great as well) two Use Your Illusions.
this album is so f*cking good, one of my real introductions into actively listening to rock music, saw guns n’ roses in perth australia in 2016 it was so awesome
Could argue that this is more of a 4.5 but I’m in a good mood today apparently
One of the top premieres , and top hard rock albums in history of rock n roll
Makkelijke 5
What a classic. Welcome to the Jungle might be one of the best album openers ever. Perfectly sets the tone for what’s an overall fantastic hard rock album full of great guitar throughout. Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child O’ Mine are all absolute all timers. Slash is awesome and Axl Rose surprisingly doesn’t get annoying on this album; his voice fits the music well. I don’t want to be the person who gives out 5 stars to albums based on three songs alone… but those three? Okay fine I’ve talked myself into it.
Ok, every knows Appetite for Destruction is an all-time great. It was (and still is) played absolutely everywhere. Not surprised to see this here, and I haven't given it a spin in a long long time, so I'm excited to give it another run through. The one thing that hurts this album is the overexposure everyone's had to it. I know a lot of these songs like the back of my hand. That said, it's just good classic hard rock, if a little bit dad-rock at this point. Sure I'm sick of some of it, but to be fair they're still good songs. Standouts this time around that aren't the absolute hits are: "It's So Easy" "Mr. Brownstone" and "My Michelle" - I hateee the lyrics but the chorus is stupid catchy. Sure the lyrics are a little cringy and gross these days, but this is a pretty great and influential rock album. Slash's guitar work is iconic, and Axl is, well, Axl. It's a front to back listen and I got a lot of time with this one in my youth. I think it's gotta be a 5.
One of a handful of albums I remember exactly where I was first time I heard it. Every song is a banger
You wanted the best? Well they couldn't fuckin' make it. So here's what you get. From Hollywood. Guns N Roses.
10 stars
Oof, huge album today. Wow. haven't listened to this album before, but Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child O'Mine on one album is crazy, and it's their debut album. Obviously GNR have had a very successful, long career, but it has to be weird peaking on your debut album, and even weirder as your career goes on. Like they're never getting away from these three songs. Hard to say why their initial reception wasn't good. Wiki says it's because sex and drugs were taboo topics but I can't imagine it. Drug use was HUGE in the 80's, or maybe it was just the late 80's with the Wall Street boom? Hard to say, I wasn't there, but looking back now, it just feels like GNR fit right in with all the other "controversial" rock groups. Good album, classic "dad rock" as they say but it's just undeniable how good The Big Three singles are on this album. Anyone reviewing this can say what they want about "dad rock" but they will 100% rock out to Sweet Child o Mine when it comes on. Unfortunately, the other songs on this album just don't live up to the rest, but they're not bad, they just aren't so deeply ingrained in our culture.
YO CRECI CON ESTA MÚSICA Y HASTA LA FECHA ME SIGUE PARECIENDO EXCELENTE
There is nothing more I can Say about this record that hace been said before. It's a Master piece!
Great album with a lot of energy!
5 stars for sweet child o mine
Solid from beginning to end with no weak spots. Also, Welcome to the Jungle is perhaps one of the most fitting/iconic opening tracks on any album.
Gotta give some love to Guns N' Roses, this album was on constant rotation growing up. It brings a lot of nostalgic energy that I love. A quality example of what Rock should ve
Welcome To The Jungle - 4/5 It's So Easy - 4.5/5 Nightrain - 4/5 Out Ta Get Me - 4.5/5 Mr. Brownstone - 4.5/5 Paradise City - 5/5 My Michelle - 5/5 Think About You - 4.5/5 Sweet Child O' Mine - 5/5 You're Crazy - 4/5 Anything Goes - 4.5/5 Rocket Queen - 3/5
This album basically looked at hair metal and said "you're all cosplayers, this is what sleaze really looks like." People think of grunge as what killed hair metal, but Appetite for Destruction struck the first blow. The lowest point here is probably "Think About You" but the rest are represent the best of 80s metal. Not an album I listen to much, but it's impossible to deny how great it is. 5/5
A banger.
One of the greatest rock albums of all time.
Great album with classic songs
Absolute banger
The album that introduced alot of people to GnR . Fun straight forward over indulgent rock with iconic hits. Fun to listen to again!
I bought this on vinyl back in ’87, with the original banned cover, and honestly, nothing since has quite matched that first needle drop. Appetite for Destruction still feels like a feral animal of a record—dangerous, swaggering, and absolutely alive. The opening one‑two punch of “Welcome to the Jungle” and “It’s So Easy” is still enough to jolt your nervous system, and Slash’s guitar work across the whole album remains untouchably iconic. Listening now, decades on, I can’t ignore that some lyrics carry the same kind of misogynistic edge that’s put me off certain hip‑hop albums. It’s part of the era and part of the band’s posture, but definitely a blemish through a modern lens. Still, the musical impact is undeniable. The riffs, the attitude, the sheer velocity of it all—this is hard rock at full power. Flawed? Yes. Essential? Absolutely. And for me, even with its rough edges, it’s still a five‑star record all day long.
5 stars - This was one of two CDs I bought with my first official ever paycheck (the other was the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Soundtrack, yeah I know two totally different albums). I absolutely love this album and think it is one of the greatest ever made. Complete from top to bottom with no bad songs on it.
So so so good
That opening guitar on the first song is legendary. Perfect album no further notes.
Banger after banger after banger. Fantastic album. It’s a no skip for me. Guitar shredding never sounded better. I’ll never get bored of Sweet Child O’ Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City. But the deep cuts like Nightrain and You’re Crazy are great too. Loved it
I'm not a fan of GnR, but this is one of the greatest debuts and classic rock albums of all time. The performances are top notch and the songs stand the test of time. As far as I'm concerned, they never rose to this level again. 5/5
A really good rock album by guns and roses quite a few banging hits in the album and and songs you could listen to again and again
The anthems of a generation. The precursor to grunge. The best parts of hair band rock. Interesting arrangements and musicianship. Easily more than half of these songs are legitimately great and a front to back listen is required. 5
This album somehow sets itself apart from the 80s and yet helped define the 80s. An album like this really bridged a gap between 80s hair/pop metal and the more down to earth so-called "grunge" rock that would follow. It was still a bit of that 80s metal. I mean, just look at Axl's teased-to-the-ceiling hair on the Welcome To The Jungle video. But they quickly abandoned that look which helped set them apart. The other thing was songwriting. The songs were somehow more complicated yet catchier than anything else on the radio. It was dirty, it was wildly raw in production and attitude. Axl's vocals were unique and Slash's status as a guitar hero were solidified. (Again to illustrate the point, Rocket Queen has a recording of the drummer's girlfriend fucking the singer. And they put it on the album. You can't make that shit up) Speaking of Rocket Queen: the last two and a half minutes of that song is better than 90% of the pop that was being pedaled at the time. This is easily a 4 star album, but its place in music both historically and culturally places it higher.
My favourite album of all time. Most bands would be happy having this many huge songs in their entire career, these guys did it in their debut album. Sen-fucking-sational. The most 5* album ever.
Banger
Pure kunst. Een klassieker, nooit vergeten te mogen worden.
This album changed my life. It's release when I was about sixteen opened up a whole new world of music to me, which opened up a whole new world of gigs and parties and people and jobs and life. I can remember the first time I saw the video for Paradise City on TV, and the second half of it, where it goes black and white, blew my mind and I knew right then 'Yep, that's for me.' So you see I am extremely biased when I give this album a giant 5, but if I try to be objective I'd be hard pressed to find any reason it wouldn't be a 5 for most people. It's great, start to finish and really did change the musical landscape for a lot of teens in the later 80s. I love it.
AfD wastes absolutely no time in showcasing Axl Rose’s vocals, with a fry scream you’d almost mistake for some sort of vocoded instrument. The drumbeat is repetitive and simple in Welcome to The Jungle but Slash’s constant pentatonic fills add so much complexity to the silence between beats you’d hardly notice it. Lovely natural vibrato in the solo and great use of octave chords. Not sure if those are pinch or natural harmonics at the end of the solo but adds a real far-out dreamy effect before jumping into the final chorus. Great walk down and fade out to the first track. This one really sets the tone for the album. It’s So Easy has a fast but tension filled build-up that leads into an absolutely ridiculous breakdown. Bass is really understated in the breakdown because it’s following the same rhythm as the guitar but you can still feel it. There’s so many layers to the tracks on this album and It’s so Easy is no exception, intro, pre-chorus, and chorus could almost feel like completely different riff sections from different songs but they’ve somehow been blended perfectly. It’s So Easy has a short first solo in Slash’s characteristic pentatonic style but the second solo is really where his ability to play around the boxes really shows, humbly however, as it’s really there to complement Axl’s vocals over the top. Nightrain kicks off with some great staccatoed octave chords before going into a very crunchy blues riff with some great Low E bends by the sounds of it. Very bassy bends anyways wherever they’re played. Axl’s vocal switch between the verse and the chorus is phenomenal. Completely effortless switch between low and high octaves. The solo in Nightrain, particularly the start, has a fairly unforgiving guitar tone, relatively clean compared to Slash’s usual style, showcasing his control over the dynamics and clarity of his notes. Lovely run of pinch harmonics towards the middle of this solo. Extensive use of them throughout actually. Out Ta Get Me builds layers progressively but quickly throughout the intro if you’re using a stereo headset. Only in a GnR song would the intro solo feel understated but it is. There’s real clear layering of the guitar playing the main rhythm in the verses/pre-chorus with some minor note changes between guitar. Real understated tone in the guitar solo almost pushing it behind the rhythm in certain places, less so in the second half of the solo as Slash moves high up the fretboard. Not sure if this is double tracked or just the use of an octaver but there’s 100% some sort of track duplication going on here. Works great on the stereo output. Mr Brownstone starts with great use of percussives on the guitar tone back up the drums before kicking in to one of the bassiest riffs on the album, giving off a real jazz-blues fusion with the main breakdown. Axl’s tempo increase on the vocals in the chorus provides a bit of relief from the sluggish bass of the breakdown. Lovely use of wah in the solo of this one. Slash loves to hit notes in these solos in such a way that it lays perfectly on top of the rhythm (guitar or drums that is). Outro licks also perfectly track to Axl’s vocals. Paradise City offers quite a changeup in guitar, with the first hint of strummed open chords being used on this track. Of course immediately backed up with power chords reminding us that this is a hard rock song and GnR haven’t forgotten their place. Disgustingly dirty breakdown before the first verse. Such a harsh harsh contrast from the open chords at the beginning. I mean disgusting in the BEST way. It’s just such an aggressive contrast. The bridge has a fun moment where the backing instruments fall away leaving a bit of an exposed alternating guitar riff, I quite like that. Outro solo is pretty iconic, again though, shockingly understated behind the vocals, especially considering its technical complexity. One of the most technically impressive solos on the album, just an absolutely ridiculous run of arpeggios and box work. Darker turn with the intro to My Michelle, with an almost acoustic feel to it. Doesn’t give away at all that it’s the build up to an extremely bass heavy intro breakdown. I genuinely cannot get enough of the double tracking of guitar in this album. It just makes everything sound SO full. Again just a disgusting breakdown. You can’t help but screw your face up when you hear it. Love the octaves jumping around behind the main melody in the chorus. Fun jump into a major(?) progression in the bridge before going straight back into a pentatonic solo. Think About You feels a little bit more ballad-y than previous tracks on the album, providing a needed teaser before the experience of Sweet Child of Mine. Honestly probably one of the weaker tracks on this record. I do enjoy the almost Warrant-feel to the main chorus, the guitar particularly. The solo section is definitely one of the more boring ones Slash produces for this album, a little bit too boxy to be interesting or unique to be honest. Yeah really a crazy Warrant feel to this track for me, especially the outro too? Reminds me almost of Uncle Tom’s Cabin? One of the most recognisable guitar intros of any song starting off isolated before introducing the backing rhythm. A true ballad this time round. It’s easy to see why this song became one of their more mainstream hits. Axl is given the opportunity to showcase his extreme vocal range and Slash is able to show a splash of his talent. It’s well known this was Slash’s least favourite track on the record and it’s easy to see why, it doesn’t afford him any room to perform his almost improvisational box work for fills and licks, opting instead for slow repetitive lead sections. He is however given a bit of a reprieve with the solo, although that being said it’s definitely one of the slower ones on the record, but probably has a bit more of a soulful character and still gives him the odd opportunity to walk up a scale. Real throwback to WttJ’s natural vibrato in the lead with this one. Slash’s second solo returns a lot more to his own style even if it is short, but nicely wraps up their #1 performer on the album. You’re Crazy is such a change from the previous track that it’s honestly hard to adjust to it. It’s also a bit more repetitive than earlier tracks with a bit less layering which makes it even harder to pay attention to. There’s not really a huge amount to say about this song other than you sort of snap back into it after the first solo begins. Definitely feels like one of their shorter tracks in the album despite its length just on the basis of its simplicity. Anything Goes gives Axl another chance to show off his long drawn out screams in the intro. This one has another great build up in the intro before being followed with a breakdown, albeit, slightly more understated compared to the breakdowns in previous tracks. Crazy use of a talkbox on this. There’s some sections where you’re seeing a really fun question/answer effect between the talkbox’ed and non-talkbox’ed guitar tracks. Rocket Queen has probably my favourite riff on this album in the intro. Low E string and A string hopping around the first and second frets isn’t just extremely bassy but also so fun to play, there’s a real groovy feel to it. Understated fills in the background of the verses provide a nice contrast to the bass of the main riff. There’s the story of how Axl apparently had sex in the recording booth for this track however given how well the ad-libs tie in with the main melody I’d honestly call bullshit on this and assume it was recorded after the fact intentionally. Love the vocal outro on this track, really feels like a closer to the album. All in all a phenomenal record with absolutely zero skips. Choosing the best of this album is extremely difficult with so many of the tracks vying for top spot. If one HAD to be chosen I’d verve marginally on Rocket Queen overall but My Michelle could potentially beat it on the basis of its aggressive breakdown. If I were to pick the weakest of this album it would have to be You’re Crazy but in all fairness this could hugely be affected by the fact it’s directly after Sweet Child of Mine. Amazing album overall. 5/5 stars.
10/10
Album full of all time classics
This album was the death knell for hair metal, liberating everyone from too much hair spray and an overabundance of neon. It's a greasy, straight ahead rock and roll album, but it's got punk attitude and the band plays with a Faces like swagger. The whole album is worth the listen, there's nothing that disappoints. And sonically, there's not many albums like this one. The bass is so incredible throughout. Easy 5 stars!
Fun
Helemaal een vibe
i really enjoyed listening to this album, my favourites are my Michelle and rocket queen
I guess i was 16 when this album happened. Friends were obsessed. It was loud and arrogant and drunken. Several huge hits and i still think the first half of sweet child is lyrical and reffing genius. Some of the filler has dated but for sheer rock and roll arrogance...
Franchement, bon album et je pense lui mettre 5 même si il mérite pas vraiment cette note. Pour le coup j'ai vraiment bien aimé mon écoute, avec des morceaux absolument mythiques de l'histoire du rock, des phases de guitares vraiment impressionnantes et des changements assez troublants dans la voix d'Axl Rose que je trouve cool pour toujours renouveller les sonorités. Après, est ce qu'il mérite 5 étoiles ? Sincèrement je ne pense pas. C'est un premier album, et le disque pue l'Amérique de Trump, la transpiration sous les aisselles, et l'odeur de l'essence d'un garage en tôle. C'est vrai qu'il est pas parfait, mais en tant qu'auditeur, ce qui est vraiment ressorti en écoutant, c'est un 5 étoiles, et je pense que c'est le plus important.
Childhood fav
No hace falta que lo escuche, es mi disco favorito y mi banda favorita.
Stuffed to the brim with outstanding performances - it's a classic
Es un disco que rompió TODO y hoy, casi 40 años después sigue sonando como algo nuevo, algo que no se escucha en otro lado. Me acompañó muchas mañanas previas a rendir en el colegio, en mí adolescencia en mis viajes a la universidad, y algún que otro viajecito en auto. Un álbum versátil e inmortal.
rahhhhhh
Greatest rock album of the 80s and probably the greatest debut album for a band as well.
Five stars without hesitation. Appetite for Destruction is stacked with songs that still hit just as hard today as they did in the late ’80s. From the grit and punch of “Welcome to the Jungle” to the swagger of “Paradise City,” it’s jam packed with energy, memorable hooks, and lots of attitude. And the second that opening riff of Sweet Child o’ Mine kicks in? Instant air guitar. Every time. This is the album that launched Guns N’ Roses into long-term rock dominance. Raw, loud, unforgettable — a debut that didn’t just arrive, it exploded. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5.0 (53:52, 12 tracks Debut, 1987) Hard Rock Can't overemphasize how much the album meant to me. In 1987 I was getting bored with Dark Wave and looking for a new sound. Most of my friends were listening to Hair Metal but it was too pop and glam for me. When this album broke it had zero radio play (87) but I wore it out on cassette (literally, bought it twice before I bought it on CD after making the transition, have bought the CD 3 times due to scratching then theft. G n R got their monies worth from me on this album). Most of the album's themes reflect the band's personal experiences and daily life, including their youth. The cover of the album depicts a Celtic cross and skulls representing each of the five band members: Izzy Stradlin as the top skull, Steven Adler as the left skull, Axl Rose as the center skull, Duff McKagan as the right skull, and Slash as the bottom skull. Appetite for Destruction initially received little mainstream attention, and it was not until the following year that the album 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 went on to reach number one. Eventually certified 18× platinum, making it among the top 10 best-selling albums in the United States, as well as the best-selling debut album in the country. Guns N' Roses' first recordings were for a planned EP in March 1985, shortly after the band formed, with "Don't Cry", a cover of "Heartbreak Hotel", "Think About You" and "Anything Goes". However, plans for the release fell through, as original guitarist Tracii Guns left. A then Bill Rose (later Axl) had joined L. A. Guns when their lead singer went to jail, to form Guns and Roses (Traci Guns being replaced by Slash.) Shortly afterward, the classic lineup of Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Steven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin was finalized. After heavy touring of the Los Angeles club scene, the group signed with Geffen Records in March 1986. In December of that year, the group released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, which was designed to keep interest in the band alive while the group withdrew from the club scene to work in the studio. Axl stated many of the songs on the album were written while the band was performing on the Los Angeles club circuit, and a number of songs that were ultimately featured on later Guns N' Roses albums were considered for Appetite for Destruction, such as "Back Off Bitch", "You Could Be Mine", "November Rain", and "Don't Cry". It is said that the reason for not putting "November Rain" on Appetite for Destruction was that the band had already agreed to put "Sweet Child o' Mine" on the album, and thus already had a "ballad" on the track list. Producer Spencer Proffer was hired to record "Nightrain" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to test his chemistry with the band. The band eventually recorded nine songs with Proffer during these sessions, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Cry", "Welcome to the Jungle", and "Shadow of Your Love". The band initially considered Paul Stanley of Kiss to produce, but he was rejected after he wanted to change Adler's drum set more than Adler wanted. Robert John "Mutt" Lange was also considered, but was too expensive. Ultimately, Mike Clink (who had produced several Triumph records) was chosen. Slash struggled to find a guitar sound, before coming up with a Gibson Les Paul copy equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups and plugged into a Marshall amplifier. He spent hours with Clink paring down and structuring his solos. The total budget for the album was about $370,000. According to drummer Steven Adler, the percussion was done in just six days, but Rose's vocals took much longer, as he insisted on doing them one line at a time, and Rose's perfectionism drove the rest of the band away from the studio as he worked. Many of the songs on Appetite For Destruction began as solo tracks that individual band members began separately from the band, only to be completed later. These songs include "It's So Easy" (Duff McKagan) and "Think About You" (Izzy Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/McKagan/Adler song from their earlier band Road Crew, and "Anything Goes", written by Hollywood Rose and included on their compilation album The Roots of Guns N' Roses, was re-written for Appetite. Most of the songs reflect the band's personal experiences and daily life, such as "Welcome to the Jungle", some of the lyrics of which Rose wrote after he encountered a man in New York shortly after arriving there from Indiana in 1980, and "Mr. Brownstone", which is about the band's problems with heroin. Lyrics to some of the songs focus on the band members' younger years, like "Out ta Get Me", which focuses on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana. The album's original cover art was based on Robert Williams' painting Appetite for Destruction. It depicted a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, some Geffen executives compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with an image depicting a Celtic cross and skulls representing each of the five band members (top skull: Izzy Stradlin, left skull: Steven Adler, center skull: Axl Rose, right skull: Duff McKagan, and bottom skull: Slash). In a 2016 interview, Billy White Jr., explained: "The cross and skulls that looked like the band was Axl's idea, the rest was me. The knot work in the cross was a reference to Thin Lizzy, a band Axl and I both loved." The original cover was supposed to be on the 2008 vinyl reissue of the album, though executives replaced it with the "skulls" art at the last minute. The band stated the original artwork was "a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system that's raping and polluting our environment." In albums which were issued on double sided media (vinyl records and audio cassettes), the two sides were labeled "G" and "R", rather than the conventional "A" and "B". Tracks 1–6, which compose side "G", all deal with drugs and hard life in the big city ("Guns" side). The remaining tracks, which compose side "R", all deal with love, sex, and relationships ("Roses" side). In an interview with That Metal Show in 2011, Rose stated his initial idea was for the cover art to be the photo of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding that was on the cover of Time magazine in 1986, but Geffen rejected the idea, saying it was "in bad taste". Slash recalled: "We thought we'd made a record that might do as well as, say, Motörhead. It was totally uncommercial. It took a year for it to even get on the charts. No one wanted to know about it." The album was not well received by contemporary American critics, many of whom complained that its massive success with consumers was fostered by the taboo of "sex, drugs and rock & roll" during the 1980s, when much of the cultural atmosphere in the US became informed by the Reagan-Bush Administration, the AIDS crisis, and the popularity of MTV. In a retrospective review for The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Ann Powers wrote that Guns N' Roses "produced a unique mix of different rock values", such as "speed and musicianship, flash and dirt", on an album that "changed hard rock's sensibilities at the time." Stephen Thomas Erlewine also viewed the album as a "turning point for hard rock", and felt Rose's singing and songwriting were enhanced by Slash and Stradlin's dual guitar playing, which helped make Appetite for Destruction "the best metal record of the late '80s". According to Jimmy Martin of The Quietus, the album, which he called "the greatest hard rock record of the 80s", has an "unrefined, punk quality" that marked a "shift away" from the hair metal bands commercialized by MTV. Rolling Stone ranked the album as #62 on Rolling Stone's updated list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" 1.“Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses is a gritty portrayal of the dark side of Los Angeles, depicting the city as a predatory environment where survival is a constant struggle. The song's most famous line—"You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby, you're gonna die!"—was inspired by a real encounter. While getting off a bus in New York City, a homeless man yelled these words at Axl Rose and a friend, likely trying to intimidate the young runaways. The song was one of the first collaborations of the classic lineup. Slash provided the iconic opening riff, while bassist Duff McKagan contributed a breakdown section from a 1978 punk song he wrote called "The Fake". The "Concrete Jungle" serves as a metaphor for the Hollywood streets, where newcomers seeking fame are often met with danger, drugs, and moral decay instead. "Ya learn to live like an animal" reflect the need to adapt to a "predatory" environment where rational thought is often replaced by primal instincts. The song highlights that "everything has its price". Verses describe the temptation of "fun and games" (sex, drugs, and fame) while warning that these vices will eventually "bring you down". "My Serpentine" refers to Axl Rose's signature "snake dance," which he adopted from Richard Black of the band Shark Island. Radio stations originally did not want to play "Welcome to the Jungle", and MTV did not want to air the song's music video. However, after several months of lobbying the network, Geffen general manager Al Coury convinced MTV to play the video just once a night for three nights. "Welcome to the Jungle" became the most requested video on the network, and Coury pitched this success to radio stations, whom he sent promo copies of "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine". 2. It's So Easy" by Guns N' Roses is a gritty, nihilistic account of the band's lifestyle in Los Angeles before they became world-famous. It focuses on the emptiness and boredom that comes when everything—specifically sex and survival—becomes too easy to obtain without effort. According to bassist Duff McKagan, the song describes a specific period when the band had no money but was surrounded by "hangers-on" and groupies who would provide for all their needs. Drummer Steven Adler noted that as they grew popular, finding a partner became "almost too easy". They could simply "shove a fishing net out the window" of a club and find someone. The refrain "but nothin' seems to please me" reflects the hollow feeling of having every desire met without any struggle or challenge. The lyrics also detail a dangerous, thrill-seeking lifestyle "I drink and drive / Everything's in sight" were literal reflections of their behavior. Axl Rose later admitted it was a "careless" time where they felt "real cool" because they were "lucky to be here" and consistently got away with their actions. "Ya get nothin' for nothin' if that's what you do" serves as a cynical commentary on the transactional nature of their relationships at the time. Originally written by Duff McKagan and their friend West Arkeen as an acoustic, "hippie ya-ya" country-style track. Slash later reworked it into the aggressive, punk-influenced rock song found on Appetite for Destruction. Axl's Deep Vocal: Axl Rose intentionally sang in a lower, more menacing register to match the "evil" and "dark" attitude of the lyrics. Duff McKagan later titled his 2011 autobiography It's So Easy (and other lies) after the song, using it to frame his personal journey through addiction and recovery. 3. "Nightrain" is a high-octane tribute to Night Train Express, an infamous brand of cheap, fortified wine that the band consumed heavily during their early days in Los Angeles. During the mid-80s, the band was "flat-broke" and living in a communal rehearsal space. At roughly $1.29 a bottle, Night Train was the most affordable way to get drunk. Axl Rose often introduced the song live by warning that Night Train would "f--k you up twice as bad" as other cheap brands like Thunderbird. Spelled as a portmanteau ("Nightrain") rather than the brand's two-word name to create a unique identity for the track. The lyrics were born one night while the band was walking down Palm Avenue in West Hollywood, sharing a bottle of the wine. One shouted, "I'm on the night train!", and the rest of the band joined in. Axl Rose began improvising the rest of the lines—like "Bottoms up!" and "Fill my cup!"—on the spot. Slash describes the song as an "anthem" and his personal favorite to perform live because the rhythm in the verses always made him "go crazy". 4. "Out Ta Get Me" is a defiant anthem about paranoia and the feeling of being targeted by authority figures, specifically the police and the legal system. The song is deeply rooted in Axl Rose’s youth in Lafayette, Indiana. Before moving to L.A., Axl was frequently arrested for minor offenses like public intoxication and battery. Local police allegedly told him they were going to "get him" if he didn't leave town. The lyric "I'm an innocent victim / And that's the story of my life" was Axl’s way of expressing that he felt unfairly picked on by small-town authorities who saw him as a troublemaker. "They're out ta get me / They won't leave me alone" captures the claustrophobic feeling of being constantly watched and judged. Slash wrote the primary guitar riff, which the band felt perfectly captured the "angry and aggressive" energy of Axl's lyrics. It became a staple of their early live shows because it allowed the band to bond with their audience over a shared disdain for "the man" and authority. 5. "Mr. Brownstone" is a candid, cautionary tale about the band’s burgeoning heroin addiction during their early years in Los Angeles. "Brownstone" was a common street slang term for brown heroin. By personifying the drug as "Mr. Brownstone," the band created a character that represented their dealer and the addiction itself. "I get up around seven / Get outta bed around nine" followed by "I used to do a little, but a little wouldn't do / So the little got more and more" perfectly describe the escalating tolerance and the lethargy associated with opioid use. They famously scribbled the lyrics on the back of a pizza box (specifically a grocery bag or pizza box depending on the interview) while waiting for their dealer to arrive. It was a literal documentation of their daily struggle to function. "He's been knockin' / He won't leave me alone" also serves as a double entendre. While it refers to the drug, it also alluded to the pressure from record executives who were trying to sign the band while they were high and unreliable. "Mr. Brownstone" is notably self-aware and cynical, portraying the addiction as a boring, repetitive cycle that interfered with their music. Despite the dark subject matter, the song features one of Slash’s most famous Bo Diddley-inspired "shuffling" riffs. Ironically, the song was written before their addictions became life-threatening; later in the band's career, it became a point of tension as members struggled to stay sober. Youwza! 6. "Paradise City" is the band's anthem about escapism, contrasting the gritty reality of their lives in Los Angeles with a nostalgic, idealized vision of "home." While "Welcome to the Jungle" describe the "hell" of the L.A. streets, "Paradise City" represents the yearning to be somewhere else. For Axl Rose, the "green grass" and "pretty girls" often referred to a romanticized version of his hometown in Indiana, or simply a place of peace away from the chaos of the city. "Take me down to the Paradise City" suggest a place where things are easier, cleaner, and more vibrant than the "concrete jungle" they were currently living in. The song was written in the back of a rented van while the band was returning from a gig in San Francisco. Slash started playing the opening riff, and Axl began singing the famous chorus line. In the original jam, Slash wanted the second half of the chorus to be "Where the girls are fat and they've got big titties." The rest of the band overruled him, opting for the more radio-friendly "Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty." Lines like "Strapped in the chair of the city's gas chamber" and "Payin' any price just to get by" reflect the same themes of desperation found throughout the Appetite for Destruction album. The song acknowledges that the "Paradise City" might just be a dream or a "mirage" that they are chasing. Because of its massive, anthemic sound and fast-paced "double-time" ending, it has been the band's traditional final song at almost every concert since 1987. 7. "My Michelle" is one of the band's most brutally honest tracks, written about a real-life friend of the band, Michelle Young. Michelle Young was a "tough" girl from the L.A. scene who was close with the band. One night, while she was in a car with Axl Rose, the Elton John song "Your Song" came on the radio. She remarked that she wished someone would write a song about her. Axl initially tried to write a "sweet" and romanticized song, but it didn't feel authentic to her life. He scrapped it and wrote the stark, gritty truth about her instead. When Axl showed her the lyrics (which detailed her drug use and her mother's death), he was worried she’d be angry. Instead, she loved the honesty, saying it was a relief to have someone tell the truth about her situation. "Your daddy works in porno / Now that Mommy's not around" was a literal reference to her father's job in the adult film industry and her mother's passing. "Everyone's out to get you / You're only out to get your next fix" reflect the cycle of drug dependency she was trapped in at the time. Despite the dark content, the song is ultimately about the strong bond between Michelle and the band, acknowledging her as a survivor of the Hollywood streets. The song starts with a clean, eerie guitar intro by Slash before exploding into an aggressive riff, mirroring the transition from the "romantic" idea of a tribute song to the harsh reality of the lyrics. Michelle Young eventually moved out of L.A. and got clean, frequently credited the song with being a "wake-up call" for her. 8. "Think About You" buried at #8 is one of the few overtly romantic songs on Appetite for Destruction, while it sounds like a straightforward love song, there has long been debate over whether the "you" refers to a woman or heroin. Axl Rose has stated it is a love song The song was primarily written by Izzy Stradlin, who was the band’s most frequent songwriter for their "lighter" or more melodic tracks. Because Izzy was struggling with drug use at the time, some fans interpret lyrics like "I get so high" and "I'm diamond blue" as double entendres for the "romance" of addiction. This is one of the oldest songs on the album, dating back to the band's predecessor group, Hollywood Rose. It represents a bridge between their earlier, more glam-influenced sound and the heavier rock they eventually perfected. Unless about heroine, compared to the predatory nature of "Welcome to the Jungle" or the darkness of "Mr. Brownstone," this track shows a more vulnerable side of the band. It features a "rolling" guitar rhythm and a fast tempo, creating a sense of urgency that matches the feeling of "obsessive" love. 9. Sweet Child O' Mine" is the band’s most successful power ballad, written as a tribute to Axl Rose's then-girlfriend (and later wife), Erin Everly. Axl wrote the lyrics as a poem for Erin, the daughter of Don Everly (of The Everly Brothers). It captures the "purity" and comfort he felt with her amidst the chaos of the band's lifestyle. "Reminds me of childhood memories" and "Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky" describe the rare sense of innocence she brought out in him. The iconic opening riff started as a "joke." Slash was sitting in the band's house playing a repetitive, "circus-like" melody as a technical finger exercise. While Slash hated the riff and thought it was "silly," Izzy Stradlin began playing chords behind it, and Axl immediately started singing over it from the other room. For years, Slash was vocal about his dislike for the song because it was "too sappy" and didn't fit the band's "tough" image, though he eventually embraced its legendary status. The famous "breakdown" at the end of the song happened by accident. While recording the demo, the band didn't know how to end the track. Axl started saying to himself, "Where do we go? Where do we go now?" Producer Spencer Proffer suggested he just sing those words, creating one of the most famous outros in rock history. It was the band's only Number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video features Erin Everly herself, along with the other band members' girlfriends at the time, emphasizing the "family" feel of the track. 10. You're Crazy" is a high-energy blast of frustration directed at a woman whose erratic behavior and "mind games" became too much for the band to handle. The song is a blunt, aggressive "breakup" anthem. It captures the moment a partner’s "eccentricities" cross the line into genuine instability. "You've been known to shake it / But I'm the one who's shakin' now" suggest that while the woman was fun or provocative, she eventually pushed the narrator to a breaking point. Axl Rose uses the song to call out dishonesty and manipulation, with the refrain "You're f--kin' crazy" serving as his final, exasperated verdict on the situation. "You're Crazy" is unique because the band released two very different versions of it: On Appetite for Destruction, it is a lightning-fast, punk-metal track. It’s played at a breakneck speed that mirrors the "manic" energy of the person the song is about. On the 1988 album GNR Lies, the band released the song in its original acoustic form. This version is slower, bluesier, and more soulful, allowing the "pain" and "exhaustion" in the lyrics to stand out more than the anger. Like "Think About You," this was an early staple of the band's live set. They originally wrote it as an acoustic track but "sped it up" for their debut album to fit the aggressive "wall of sound" they were creating at the time. 11. Anything Goes" is the most sexually explicit track on Appetite for Destruction, serving as a raw celebration of the hedonistic and "no-limits" lifestyle the band led in the mid-80s. The song is a literal description of a wild, drug-fueled night where social norms and boundaries are ignored. "Experimentation" and "fantasies," with the recurring theme that as long as it's consensual and high-energy, "anything goes." It captures the specific atmosphere of the Sunset Strip scene, where excess was encouraged and the nights were defined by a "anything can happen" mentality. Hollywood Rose Era: This song dates back to 1981, written by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin for their previous band, Hollywood Rose. The original 1981 version was much slower and more "bluesy." By the time it was recorded for Appetite in 1987, the band had injected it with a much faster, more "industrial" and aggressive tempo to match the rest of the album's energy. Axl uses his signature "raspy" scream to convey a sense of urgency and chaos. The song is notable for Slash’s use of the "Talk Box" guitar effect, which gives the instrument a "vocal" quality, similar to the style used by Joe Walsh or Peter Frampton, but with a much dirtier, "GNR" twist. 12. "Rocket Queen" is the grand finale of Appetite for Destruction, serving as a two-part epic that transitions from gritty, sexual aggression to a surprisingly soulful expression of loyalty. The song was written about Barbi Von Greif, a 30-year-old "queen of the underground scene" in L.A. who had mentored a young Axl Rose. Barbi had a band called "Rocket Queen," and Axl wrote the song as a tribute to her influence on his life. Axl described her as someone who was "keeping him alive" at the time. The song reflects his complicated feelings for her—part lust, part deep respect. The song is notorious for the moaning sounds heard during the bridge. To add "authenticity" to the track, Axl invited Adriana Smith (who was the on-and-off girlfriend of drummer Steven Adler) into the studio. They had sex in the vocal booth while engineers recorded the audio. Axl wanted to create a "spontaneous" and "shocking" moment that captured the raw, dangerous energy of the band's reality. The song is unique for its dramatic shift in tone halfway through: Part 1 (The Grunge): The first half is a "sleazy," funk-driven rocker with predatory lyrics about sex and power. Part 2 (The Redemption): Around the 3:30 mark, the music shifts into a melodic, uplifting anthem. The lyrics change from "I'm gonna f--k you" to "I'll be there for you." This second half is Axl’s "thank you" to Barbi. It offers a rare moment of hope on a very dark album, ending with the promise: "No one ever told me that it's okay to believe in you / But I do." The song is anchored by a "galloping" bass line from Duff McKagan and a "swampy" guitar riff from Slash. It is widely considered by critics and fans to be the most musically sophisticated track on the album. Singles Appetite for Destruction: "It's So Easy" with "Mr. Brownstone", "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Paradise City", and "Nightrain". "Sweet Child o' Mine" would reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, while "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" would also reach the top 10 on the Hot 100. I love this album so much, it’s hard to pick a favorite song but I’m going with Nightrain then Mr. Brownstone, not their biggest hits but such great writing. 'G' side No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. *"Welcome to the Jungle" 4:31 2. *"It's So Easy" 3:21 3. **"Nightrain" 4:26 4. *"Out ta Get Me" 4:20 5. **"Mr. Brownstone" 3:46 6. *"Paradise City" 6:46 'R' side 7. "My Michelle" 3:39 8. "Think About You" 3:50 9. *"Sweet Child o' Mine" 5:55 10. "You're Crazy" 3:16 11. "Anything Goes" 3:25 12. "Rocket Queen" 6:13 Total length: 53:52 The box set received universal critical acclaim, with Metacritic scoring it 95 out of 100, based on nine reviews. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Boxed Set, the band's first nomination since 1993 (it lost to Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic). Deluxe edition All tracks are written by Guns N' Roses, except where noted. Disc 1: Appetite for Destruction Remastered 1. "Welcome to the Jungle" 4:33 2. "It's So Easy" 3:22 3. "Nightrain" 4:28 4. "Out ta Get Me" 4:23 5. "Mr. Brownstone" 3:48 6. "Paradise City" 6:45 7. "My Michelle" 3:39 8. "Think About You" 3:51 9. "Sweet Child o' Mine" 5:56 10. "You're Crazy" 3:17 11. "Anything Goes" 3:26 12. "Rocket Queen" 6:13 Total length: 53:41 Disc 2: B-sides, EPs N' More 1. "Reckless Life" 3:21 2. "Nice Boys" (Rose Tattoo cover) 3:02 3. "Move to the City" (Live) 3:34 4. "Mama Kin" (Aerosmith cover) 3:41 5. "Shadow of Your Love" (Live) 3:03 6. "Welcome to the Jungle" (1986 Sound City Sessions) 4:59 7. "Nightrain" (1986 Sound City Sessions) 4:49 8. "Out ta Get Me" (1986 Sound City Sessions) 4:01 9. "Paradise City" (1986 Sound City Sessions) 5:34 10. "My Michelle" (1986 Sound City Sessions) 4:21 11. "Shadow of Your Love" 3:05 12. "It's So Easy" (Live at the Marquee Club London, 1987) 3:54 13. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover; live at the Marquee Club London, 1987) Bob Dylan 4:59 14. "Whole Lotta Rosie" (AC/DC cover; live at the Marquee Club London, 1987) Angus YoungMalcolm YoungBon Scott 4:06 15. "You're Crazy" (Acoustic Version) 4:25 16. "Patience" 5:54 17. "Used to Love Her" 3:13 18. "Move to the City" (1988 Acoustic Version) 3:26 Total length: 1:13:27 Guns N' Roses W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer on "Paradise City", percussion Slash – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, talk box Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals, percussion Duff "Rose" McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Steven Adler – drums Production Mike Clink – production, engineering
- 1 nummer toegevoegd aan MMMM - 2 nummers al toegevoegd aan MMMM
Should we deduct points for Axel’s occasionally offensive lyrics, not to mention the inside cover art? If not, then we’re lookin’ at a bonafide 5-star 80’s metal/ hard rock banger.
It's raucous fun from start to finish.
You can’t throw a rock without a radio station playing one of these songs. Full of classics, albeit overplayed by media, still a defining album of hair metal and 80s rock.
En av 80-tallets beste rockeplater. Så mye gull.
9/10 Toppen av kjøttbonerock! Finnes det et debutalbum med flere hits? Hadde de sløyfa Anything Goes og You’re Crazy, ville det blitt 10/10.
Last gasp of 80s hair metal, but a really great gasp.
Debüt vom Allerfeinsten. Laut, kraftvoll, breitbeinig! Macht dem Genre alle Ehre!
An about banger of an album!!! I already knew some of the iconic songs, but never had listened to the whole thing. Incredible, I loved so much, the guitar solos, the screaming vocals. You just have to listen to this full blast, the louder the better!! It's definitely going to my favorites, 5 ⭐️
Bangers
117/1001 Hard to hear some of these songs with fresh ears. They are so overplayed. Not an album I play often but there are no skips here for me. No ballads either. An all out rocker. A debut no less. An iconic cover and a wild alternative cover by Robert Williams. There’s so much more here than just the singles. A perfect album? Now that I really think about it. 10/10
Favourite album of my youth. Hit after hit, grimy, unclean lyrics mixed with some of best rock guitar I've heard that somehow is radio friendly and not suitable for minors. So many absolute bangers, some filthy lyrics and powerful vocals (albeit in a nasally range).
Amazing this is their first album. Yes there are some filler tracks but the rest is so transcendant, so genuinely sleazy and killer and fun, that I can't in good conscience give it anything but five out of five.
Nice start to my project! Fond memories of this whole album on repeat when it was released.
9/10 Excellent production, surprised that I haven't listened to this album before.
axl is a tard but man i love this band
Fire rock
Classic
Fuck yeah. Sometimes I’m a self admitted pretentious asshole when it comes to reviewing these records. This is not my time period or genre, but I don’t know how you listen to this album and not find yourself turning the volume up to 10. Is every song perfect? Definitely not. But the pacing of the record is great, the hits are all time classics, and overall just a great listen. 5/5
This album, chef’s kiss!
No skips
Didn’t expect to like this one so much. Talk about rock and roll turned up to 11.
Guns 'n' Roses (along with Motley Crue and a few select others) were among the 80's hair bands that proved that you could still have big hair and makeup and be badass. This album especially showcases their harder edge with nary a ballad to bring it down. The closest thing they gave us to a ballad on this record was "Sweet Child o'Mine" and even that is a stretch. They lost a little bit of that edge on subsequent releases. Who knows if it was record company pressure, trying to keep up with their contemporaries, or what...but this is by far and away their strongest effort. It's a shame that they are one of "those" bands that never lived up to their debut, but what a debut it was. The whole album is like a greatest hits collection as far as I'm concerned. This is one of the albums that I would play for an alien race if they didn't blow us up immediately (honestly I wouldn't blame them) to say "this is rock n' roll".
Här radas det upp klassiker. Dessutom är både Axls röst och Slash gitarr ikoniska. En klassiker - femma!
Listened to this while playing Cthulhu: Death May Die. I died. The elder ones usually have that effect on people. I did not expect to like this album as much as I did. I am actually shocked that I am compelled to give this a 5. Maybe it was the epic showdown against Cthulhu, maybe it was the killer soundtrack. I can't say for sure.
This is definitely one of the best rock albums ever made (if not the best). I love GNR and I love this album even more. They were in their peak, Steven Adler was still the drummer and they will still getting along (kinda). Every single song is amazing, seriously no skips. This album is a masterpiece
An easy 5
One of my all-time favourites. I especially loved getting reacquainted with Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle. Rocket Queen is still my favourite.
Literally amazing. Go IU. When people say white people have no motion peep this. Sweet child o mine … my fucking god. SIX (GOD) BOW!
Fuck yeah! Axl Rose’s voice is just so good at expressing emotion. His voice and Slash’s guitar elevates this to classic status beyond the genre.
This is nostalgia and raw energy rolled into one brilliant album. Fantastic ‘hit’ tracks but also a consistently brilliant collection of songs that feel impactful & memorable. The guitar work from Slash is second to none with endless great riffs, and the vocals from Axl are iconic & very of it’s time. It’s probably a 9/10 album but I’ve nudged it to a 10/10 for the pure nostalgic feel of it, taking me back to my childhood learning to play guitar.
GNR opened the door that Nirvana blew open, exposing glam rock as terrible music that is a huge waste of time. They may have started as a hair band, but quickly showed they were badasses with actual musical talent.
i love it
Having never heard this entire album — or the entirety of any of the massive hits it birthed — I found myself captivated by their unique sound, and found the seedy subject matter to fit very well within it. It's easy to trace lines from them into the future and see how deep and wide their influence on all genres of music has been. As with many records on this list, it can be hard to contextualize and understand the impact of groundbreaking music from a distant future. But this one is self-evident: these musicians and their music were iconic straight out of the gate, and the success they've sustained on the back of this record alone is well-deserved. And what an album name.
Hell yeah fuck yeah all the yeahs!! So damn good!! I wish I could rate this with MORE stars - it's that amazing. Decades later, it still stands the test of time and then some. And while I like to pick a "standout" song that isn't the most popular, it is really really difficult to not choose Panama City. I mean, come on, who doesn't rock the fuck out to that? And Sweet Child of Mine? CLASSIC. Anyway, I obviously loved this and these guys were absolute kings of their day - talented, passionate and life-changing. Standout (that is not Panama City or Sweet Child of Mine or Welcome to the Jungle): Rocket Queen :)
HELL YEAHHHH, 10/10 love it , I already knew this album but it was nice listening to it
SO GOOD; BEEN NEEDING THIS ONE 10/10
Listen, I've listened to this record a thousand times. I can review it without another listen. But I did anyway! It remains a banger. Not a single bad track (though certainly some are better than others). Are GNR doing anything particularly special or original in this? No, not really, but they're playing some heavy blues rock exceedingly well, and I'll probably give this another thousand listens before I die.
I was not fond of this album when it came out. My opinion changed during the years. Do not forget that this is not the original cover art. That is even better than this one. NINGHTRAIN! 4.5 points, lets say 5.
Classic !
5. This album is one of the best debut albums ever made. Even before the band took off, that was already a fact. Ok, some of the songs became a little over-played but as a whole it is still a brilliant rock album. The band are a pale shadow of the band heard here, which is a shame, but they are obviously considerably older. That said, everything that followed Appetite ranged from patchy and poor (both Use Your Illusion albums) to downright awful (Chinese Democracy). Hearing this again though reminds you what they were at the time though, and it is still fucking magnificent.
I’ve been thinking about what a 5 star album is, and it needs to be something I would go back to continually. Which I have done for nearly 40 years, needs to be exemplary in its field- and this is genuinely in a field of its own and it needs to have a personal impact and this is the album that got me into music… yeah it’s misogynistic in places and Axl is an awful man but this is an album that captures life on the fringes of society and does it with the hugest choruses and finest solos. Platinum stuff
Colección de temazos
This brought me back to 8th grade. I had this album on repeat!
7/10 decent album, love the vibes - basically good music but it gets a little bit repetetitve for me
Geiler Sound, geile Gitarre, geile Solos – einfach ein überragender Vibe und geile Musik. Für mich wahrscheinlich das Album mit den besten Intros überhaupt. 🥇: Welcome To The Jungle 🥈: Paradise City 🥉: Rocket Queen HM: Nightrain, You're Crazy, Think About You, Out Ta Get Me Eigenes Rating: 9,8/10
new york classic
Legendary
The monster debut album from GnR, who would for a short while there become the biggest rock band on the planet. This is all dirty riffs, drugs, Jack Daniels and shagging groupies but before the excess of the Use Your Illusion albums four years later. It's easy to see how this stood out among the 'cock rock' hair bands of the time, they had the attitude and the songs and gained a huge following before grunge came along and did the same. Some of this has clearly inspired the likes of early Alice in Chains when you listen to it, but they draw their influences here from AC/DC, Aerosmith, Motley Crue and the New York Dolls. Later on, Axl Rose would make no secret of his love for the likes of Queen and Elton John and they took a different turn. Everybody knows Welcome to the Jungle (all-time great intro to an all-time great opener on a great album), Paradise City and the majestic Sweet Child O' Mine but the adrenaline of Night Train and Out ta Get Me, the ode to heroin that is Mr Brown stone and the underrated My Michelle more than hold their own here before Rocket Queen ends in style. This album has enough diversity to make it interesting but does not abandon its core theme. One of the best rock albums of the era, easy 5 stars.
Flora und Schießeisen
Loveeee guns n roses
GnR's debut set a bar that the band never achieved again. In an era of emerging hip hop, dying new wave, hair band tomfoolery, and soulless techno (which I loved anyway), Appetite for Destruction was a breath of fresh air. It was old school hard and yet, foreshadowed the alt rock of the next decade. GnR's best music, especially Paradise City, Sweet Child O' Mine, and the lead off Welcome to the Jungle, are full of good old-fashioned rock and roll energy without the prissiness of the hair bands. Appetite for Destruction turned GnR into superstars. Unfortunately, the pressure of being rock gods was more than the band, especially lead singer Axl Rose, could handle. They continued to pump out a few more albums, none of which could match their debut. For a moment though, they were amazing and this album is that moment.
Fast, loud, fun - everything you want from 80s hair metal. These guys set the standard.
Great Album
Hard to not give this 5 stars. Even the (few) non hit songs on here are great. Has to still be one of the best debut albums of all time. Highlights: "Welcome to the Jungle", "Mr. Brownstone", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine"
Absolute classic
Fantastic album. Have heard many times before.
En no skip trip. Helt perfekt hårdrocksplatta. Full pott så det skriker om’et.
Sånt jävla tryck! Är inget större fan, men här har dom skapat något fantastiskt.
It's kinda of funny, but I've never really considered Guns N' Roses a hair metal band. I know, genre labels can be pretty arbitrary, but I'unno. They just never felt like they belonged, y'know? For one, they all have long hair, but they never did it up like any of the other big hair metal bands of the time. They sure as heck didn't wear any make-up or tight leather, either. And beyond aesthetics, hair metal tends to largely be pretty poppy. I mean, you go listen to Poison's "Unskinny Bop", right? I like that song a lot, but there's no teeth to it; you take away the guitars and replace 'em with synths and no one would guess otherwise. They never truly had any edge — unlike Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses, going by this album anyway, come off like a band of street toughs. The way they play and sing about life in the city and sex and drugs, you'd swear they'd kick your ass seven ways to Sunday if you looked at 'em a little weird. And that's even **with** the poppier songs that're on here, like "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Think About You". That's just their power — put against their contemporaries, they feel like they're a different genre entirely. But, indeed, they **are** hair metal. And lemme tell you, this is some of **the** best hair metal ever made. Maybe not **the** best ever, period; in regards to the traditional stuff I'd still tip the hat to Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet'. As far as hard and heavy music goes, however, Guns N' Roses are right up there with the absolute best. Seriously, 'Appetite For Destruction' just does not **stop**. From the moment it kicks off on "Welcome To The Jungle", all the way to the end of "Rocket Queen", there isn't a single second wasted. And given that that's a stretch of 54 minutes, that's impressive as hell. Off the top of my head, I can't really think of another band who could've rocked this hard and long besides this combo of Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Steven I feel like I could write a 2k word review about this album, like I've done for 'Sgt. Pepper's' and 'Songs In The Key Of Life'. That is truly how much I enjoy this thing and how much it excites me. I could go deep describing every little thing I love about Axl's unique vocal style, or Slash's simple-yet-effective-as-hell guitar playing, or how damn good Izzy, Duff and Steven do filling out the sound. I could honestly go track-by-track like I did with 'Purple Rain' and point out every moment I love, like the "FUCK OFF" on "It's So Easy", or Axl's flow on "Mr. Brownstone", or how the riff for "Sweet Child O' Mine" was originally just an exercise, or just the entire back half of "Rocket Queen", which is truly my favorite part of the entire album. I don't think I really need to, though. And I don't mean for that to be a cop-out on actually going into detail; it's just that my love for this album is that simple and doesn't require a million words. Like, all I really need to do is just say that despite how much I've heard "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" in my life, I'm not sick of them. Not even close. I still love to hear them, wherever and whenever they show up. And if I'm the kind of person who can get past the hurdle of overplay, you can only imagine the affection I have for the rest of the album. Frankly, the only complaint I really have about this album is that there's a couple of songs on the back half that aren't **quite** up the same snuff as the songs up front? "Anything Goes", "You're Crazy" ... I get my kicks out of them, but they've never felt as special as songs like "Nightrain" and "Rocket Queen". They're the "minor rockers" on this album, for sure. But I'm gonna act like they're **too far** below everything else — it's more a case where everything surrounding them is so incredible and iconic that songs that're merely damn good fun can't help but pale a little in comparison. 'Appetite For Destruction' is an absolute blast, simple as that. Maybe a little cheesy, sure, but given how much cheese I've eaten in my life ... goodness, why stop now? It's one of the best hard rockers and debut albums I've ever heard. And despite how much I've already said about it, I'm not gonna force myself to drag it out any longer. Truly, I think the electricity, energy and excitement speak for themselves. If hair metal died not too long after this album came out, I can't think of a better album for the genre to go out on. Guns N' fuckin' Roses, man. I tell yah.
One hell of a way to make a first impression. Solid 5 Stars.
It’s a 10. It’s probably way higher. I mean, “Welcome to the Jungle” is just so ubiquitous in all of pop culture that it’s easy to forget it’s the very first song on a debut album. It might be the greatest first track on a debut album ever. It sets such an incredibly high bar that the rest of the album feels like a challenge to top it, and somehow, by the very end, it feels like they’ve managed to go to the moon. We’ve gotten a good chunk of hard rock albums like this where I’ve entered a total zen state, fully in sync with the band, and yet I’m convinced after a first listen that this is the very best of those albums. “Highway to Hell” was probably the gold standard going into this, and given how much this album shares its DNA with that one in terms of keeping up an insanely paced energy, I’m not surprised at how similar it felt. The difference between this & “Highway to Hell” is that there are 3 incredible all-timer tracks that I already knew about going into this; somehow, hearing them & their placement in the album as a fully structured & paced out project with two distinct sides elevated them all even higher. “Paradise City” as the closing track to the first side of the album works hand-in-hand perfectly with the thematics of “Welcome to the Jungle” & all the tracks in between, showing just how much of a bitch city life can really be. I guess I should’ve paid more attention to realize “Paradise City” is more of a “get me back to God’s country” sort of thing, but they spell it out in spades when you’re actually paying attention to these lines. The back half of the album is all love songs, to a degree, and they all flow perfectly. I don’t think I can praise “Sweet Child o’ Mine” enough as the climax to the whole album, but the way it contrasts its flowery prose-filled representation of beauty in love works really nicely with how straightforward “Think About You” is right before it. OK, well, I guess “You’re Crazy” is a hate track, but I do kind of love a confrontational track being placed in the middle of all this. The fact that the whole album ends on a track where Axl Rose literally has recorded sex (don’t check what “Axl Rose” is an anagram for) before doing a whole speech about devotion is pretty funny, honestly. He’s totally earnest too. It’s a brilliantly structured record, given the “G” side & the “R” side being thematically distinct yet all blending together via their soundscapes & energy. Since each track feels like it’s doing its own thing, it all sticks out more memorably as a full set of tracks as opposed to the total ball of energy of “Highway to Hell” as one long blended kick-ass thing. I really can’t praise this album enough, but any more words I type would just be repetitive. Ultimately, it’s one hell of a Christmas present to get this. The whole album is a front to back masterpiece of hard rock, and I can’t imagine we’ll get one in this style that surpasses this, at least for ones that I’ll end up in total sync with. It’s a 10, if not way higher.
Hell yeah. 5/5
There's a lot to be annoyed by (and some to be offended by) but the work by Slash here is iconic.
Greatest album of all time. Totally bias. I love this album. Guns N' Rosea has been my favorite band since I can remember.
Elite dance and groove album
My first Guns N Roses! Definitely a powerhouse album- so many hits, amazing technical skill and Axel has a powerful voice. For a debut album, they immediately solidified themselves as hair metal gods. I throughly enjoyed it. Overall- i think it's a 4.5/5 for me. Given the permeation of the hits and it being their debut album, I think it can be upgraded to a 5
E X C E L L E N T
Legendary
Look, I am not a Guns And Rose's guy but I don't see how you can't rate this thing a 5
A friend of mine gave me a home-made cassette of this right after it came out and I played it to death. I'd never really liked metal but this was something different and it just this evoked this vivid portrait of late 80s LA decadence that as a 17 year old I was all about lol. My boy had cut Sweet Child for space reasons (80s problems) and when I started hearing it on the radio the guitar riff blew my mind. I asked him how the hell he could cut that of all songs and he said he thought I wouldn't like it because it was too soft lol
King of the genre. Axl and Slash were both special talents.
There isn’t a single person doing this project that hasn’t heard this a million times surely? One of the best hard rock albums ever and in the conversation for the best debut ever (with Pearl Jam, Stone Roses, Joy Division, Oasis and Jeff Buckley). Stone cold masterpiece.
One, if not the greatest debuts of all time
Some classic songs I love on this one!
Just too undeniable. 80's rock is usually eye rolling but it's just done to perfection here, goddamn, lightning in a bottle. 9/10
Très très fort bravo les gars
3 banger, le reste très bon, culte
Fun fact : dans rocket queen c’est réel c’est la copine de l’époque de Axl rose qu’il a record. Probablement l’album que j’ai le plus écouté de ma vie, et quel album… J’ai déjà écouté tous les sons 1 par 1 et même quand on sort des plus connus c’est des putain de bangers/classiques. Slash je t’aime
If you can bear Axl Rose's voice for the entire duration, this album rocks. The rest of you should move on.
Took me back to my youth. Always had the album on repeat
Lotta guitar, lotta f bombs! Slash has such good hi-gain arrangements. There’s a sharp divide between the mega hit tracks and the other tracks. I can’t tell if it’s familiarity bias or what. There are so many songs on here ingrained into music history, mega hits, that the other tracks sometimes feel out of place. The work as a whole gives a lot of context to late 80s butt metal.
Perfection all the way through.
This is a true bias sweep. This has some of the all time greats of my childhood and also My Michelle a song I’ve been oddly obsessed with for a while.
Hard rock classic
Oh, Dios... Llevaba días queriendo escuchar este disco. Por rachas me parecen unos dioses y a veces no los soporto mucho. Me llega en un momento de idilio con ellos.
Original review, couldn't have said it better myself... oh wait "Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-knees, I love it. I won’t lie and tell you I was a huge fan of GnR back in my teenage years, I was more into Nirvana and MetallicA. But this is a top album. Sometimes Axl’s voice grinds me and the dead awful dancing in their videos is cringe worthy, but you can’t take that away from this ground breaking record. Slash paved the way for many guitarists and remains to be one of the must influential pros out there. His blues prowess gives their tracks some really oomph, his solos are not to be sniffed at. The sound and energy is ace. With so many top hits in one album and all songs being enjoyable you really can’t give this less than a 5, whether you’re a fan or not. Come on!"
!!!!!!! yes
One of those undeniable records.
An absolute hydrogen bomb of an album. It's either the most fuckwithable album of the most unfuckwithable album at all time. I would take 1/10th of a point off for the female orgasm sounds in Rocket Queen, though; I get caught out by that every time I listen to this at the office.
Appetite for Destruction is the album that politely kicks down the door, drinks your last beer, and leaves you thanking it for the privilege. “Welcome to the Jungle” doesn’t so much welcome you as it shoves you into traffic with a grin, while “Paradise City” suggests paradise is mostly loud guitars and questionable life choices. Slash appears to have misplaced the memo about subtlety (thankfully), and Axl Rose delivers vocals that could file HR complaints in gentler genres.
Classic, rock n roll voice, depravity
LEGENDARY album, LEGENDARY songs, LEGENDARY listen
This album blew me away when I first heard it, during my very impressionable early teen years. I loved everything about it, the punk attitude, the glam/scuzz look, the musicianship, and the videos. All these years later, these songs are still great to listen to, and you can feel the influence these guys had, from grunge to punk-pop to garage revival.
Sick tunes and attitude. The correct type of appetite if you wanna be a rock star
Classic...one of the best ever
Forget what I’ve said on former reviews. THIS is the best debut of all time. Every member is at the top of their game, the songwriting is excellent. Except for maybe 3 tracks, every single song here could be a single. Not to mention the guitar tone with just the right amour of grit, impossible to recreate. It’s been one of my favourite albums for 36 years, and even though I should be sick to death of the radio singles by now, I still get excited when they crank it up on the second part of the lead in Sweet Child O’ Mine. Favourite Track: Rocket Queen (still gives me goosebumps) Most underrated track: Think About You
I bought this cassette right after it came out when I was like 12 years old. So of course I've heard it a million times but threw it on in the background while reading a book tonight. It didn't take long for me to put down the book because this album is irresistible.
Debut albums don't get too much better than this. I wish they could have kept it up instead of imploding, but we got this and the Illusion records out of the deal at least.
What an album this is. I mean, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child o Mine, Mr Brownstone, Rocket Queen... This album is almost like a greatest hits album for GnR except actually every song is actually just on one album. This is an album that doesn't elicit much feeling in me, but that's mostly because I've heard every song so many damn times that I've grown... detached from the experience. There's a reason you might be sick to death of hearing this album, it's pervasive. It's everywhere. And it has invaded just about every facet of pop culture. GnR just hit the perfect sweet spot with this album. It's heavy, but not so heavy it's unpalatable for the masses. It's not super deep, but neither is is entirely dull. It's like the McDonald's of hard rock. GnR is probably not your favourite rock band, but if they come up in a playlist you're probably going to rock out anyway. Axel Rose and Slash are absolute icons. My pick: Paradise City.
One of the greatest debut albums of all time. Awesome album to listen to on the highway. Slash and Axl Rose are a legendary duo
It’s the greatest debut album of all time, it’s AFD, of course it’s 5*. Haters will say that it’s not a no skip album, but it’s simply not true. The album keeps pace start to finish with varying grooves and riffs that all feel quite breathless and voiced with the excitement and life of a group who’ve just collectively discovered they have potential. Without this album there’s no Generation Terrorist, and by degrees set the groundwork for grunge, and so it’s invaluable in my eyes. 5/5 Best Song: Welcome To The Jungle/Rocket Queen
I mean what more could you want from a rock album? Great riffs, strong vocals, and memorable tracks that will never die. This album has aged like wine. I haven't listened to the album in its entirety before, but I have heard quite a few of the tracks before. They get better and better with every listen. A truly fantastic album that I feel like any generation of rock fans could enjoy.
I realized this morning that as familiar as I am with this album, I've never actually listened to it front to back. Glad to report that this album is much more than its hits! Sure the hits are overplayed but they are massive for a reason. A fun and infectious slab of hard rock and a great album to get on a Friday. Another easy 5/5 for me!
Easy 5, I checked, and I know every single song of this album and don't even need to listen to this thing. Hard rock classic and one of the greatest rock debuts of all time, no doubt. However, G'nR leaves much to be desired besides this.
Clásico. No atemporal. Pero clásico total. Hace años era un 10/10. Hoy escuchándolo un poco más lo siento algo repetitivo en cuanto a la fórmula de las canciones. Igual es una bomba. 9/10
Ferocious
I loathe the fact that modern rock radio, in my region, feels the need to continue playing the songs from this album everyday. There is also no denying these songs were huge in their day either.
Un clásico. A tener en tu colección. No tiene desperdicio
GOAT
Culte, je l'avais poncé en post bac cet album
Franchement, j’ai pris beaucoup de plaisir ! C’était chouette ! Avec des classiques !
Every single song on this album is a banger. I bet I listened to this cassette 1,000x in high school. I know it note for note. One of the best albums of all time in my opinion.
Simply the perfect rock album - teenage me enjoyed this one.
One of the paramount albums of my youth. This album wailed back in the late 80's and it still does today. Absolutely love this album and glad to hear it ring so powerfully today as it did the first time I cranked it up on cassette tape.
the only thing soft is that luscious well-conditionwd flowing hair
It’s a classic for a reason, and Paradise City is highly recommended for a reason (10/10 song). It’s just good! Granted, not every song is great (but still good, many 7/10s) - I only REALLY liked Welcome to the Jungle (7.5/10), It’s so Easy (8/10), Sweet Child O Mine (8.5/10), and Rocket Queen (9.5/10). Overall 9/10.
One of my favorite albums of all time. Real hard rock at a time when this kind of music was turning into glam rock. Incredible songs, riffs, and solos. For my money, Slash is the star of this band. More or less every song is straight up awesome. I think I was about 12 when this came out, so needless to say that influenced my deep abiding love for this album.
BANGERRRRR Just straight fire all the way through Favorite Track: welcome to the jungle (shoutout AP lang)
Respect. First album with tons of hits. I remember when this came out. I was with my boyfriend (then fiancé then husband then ex-husband now dead). He and I loved REM and discovered other alternative music drifts. His roomies were listening to this. I scoffed at the time but it grew on me in the course of my life. Yep. It’s classic.
Incredibly fun, uncompromising & great songwriting. It still sounds fresh in 2025.
The was the soundtrack of my 1988. GNR used to be my favorite band, to the point where I almost had this album cover tattooed on me. I'm glad I didn't, but I'll probably always have a soft spot for this one regardless. I don't know how I would rate this without the history.
Some big hits here. And a tight band that swings.
classic.
Un banger tout simplement
What an insane debut
My teen years in album form
only knew the biggest hits before. whole album just hell yeah! \m/
beep boop
An absolute classic and one of the biggest albums to define the 80's classic rock genre. Welcome to the jungle, paradise city and sweet child o mine are the definitive rock classics
Certified classic, probably Top 20 all time record. The fact this was their first album still blows my mind to this day. So much raw rock energy here.
When I hear Guns N’ Roses I sometimes think about a show I saw on VH1 or something many years ago that was a countdown of the greatest bands in hard rock history. When they got to GNR Ozzy Ozbourne (RIP) said he thought GNR would be the next Rolling Stones. While the Stones obviously have a much more rich and prolific catalog and no one will argue which band is more influential, it’s at least interesting to note that in 2025 at the time of this writing GNR has 25% more monthly Spotify listeners than the Stones. They also have slightly more than the Beatles. Appetite For Destruction must have been something else when it was released. It came out a few days before I was born so I wasn’t exactly able to see its cultural impact, but it had to sound so fresh compared to the hair bands and synth-heavy 80’s pop that dominated radio at the time. Welcome to the Jungle has to rank among the greatest opening tracks for an album, especially a debut album. Slash’s guitar intro is timeless on that track, and it’s my personal favorite song to hear at a sporting event. Sweet Child O Mine also has an iconic lick of course and is a classic song that will outlive us all. Paradise City is still a late-stage boomer’s dream. This is a watershed record in the history of rock.
Awesome. Hit like a sledgehammer just like Van Halen I did many years ago.
This is THE hair metal album. Even if you hate rock, you know at least three songs on the album. Even if you're 15 years younger than this album, you know at least three songs. Influence 5. Hits 5. Quality 5. Welcome to the jungle, baby! 5
Easy to forget how solid this album was, even without the mega hits.
Great album. No skips
A legendary album with songs that still dominate the radio airwaves today. Even though it’s not the music I usually gravitate toward, revisiting this album and all its hits was a blast.
yeah
One of my favorite all time albums that perfectly set up the late 80s and early 90s for a grungier, harder rock evolution in the middle of the hair metal era. A perfectly blend of glam and metal that has rarely been matched since its release.
Cover 7.5 Their most iconic album. I prefer Use Your Illusion Ii but this is a close second. When UYI first came out, I want initially sold on it but over time it became my favorite GnR album. Contest Democracy is a flop, FYI. Anyway, this is a great album and definitely on my personal list of greatest albums of all time.
A classic
You know where you are?
I may have listened to this album more than any other in my life...it's one of rock 'n' roll's goats. It's a miracle that this rag tag band of drunk and high degenerates were able to take a break from their LA sleazeball lifestyle to capture the level of focus and clarity on this record. Slash and Izzy with all-time guitar interplay. Nobody with the range or power dynamics of Axl here. Favorite track: They throw the molotov with the opening guitar notes of Jungle, immediately followed by Axl letting the world know that his is the one that says bad MF on it. This one still rules from start to finish every time it comes on. Slash isn't quite in the top level of the rock 'n' roll soloist Hall of Fame pyramid with Hendrix, Page, and EVH...but he's in the tier right below with Angus, Joe Perry, etc. In the immortal words of my daughter when she was six years old about the Paradise City outro: "Slash doesn't wanna slow down."
I don't even have to listen to rate this album. It's one of the greatest rock albums of all time. One of the greatest debut albums of all time. These guys were amazing. This came out when I was 8 years old. I remember sneaking peeks at the album art (killer robots, hot girl with panties around her ankles and boob hanging out) in the record store and thinking "I must have this." I asked for it for Christmas and my sister bought it for me. Wish I still had that tape.
I may have listened to this album more than any other in my life...it's one of rock 'n' roll's goats. It's a miracle that this rag tag band of drunk and high degenerates were able to take a break from their LA sleazeball lifestyle to capture the level of focus and clarity on this record. Slash and Izzy with all-time guitar interplay. Nobody with the range or power dynamics of Axl here. Favorite track: They throw the molotov with the opening guitar notes of Jungle, immediately followed by Axl letting the world know that his is the one that says bad MF on it. This one still rules from start to finish every time it comes on. Slash isn't quite in the top level of the rock 'n' roll soloist Hall of Fame pyramid with Hendrix, Page, and EVH...but he's in the tier right below with Angus, Joe Perry, etc. In the immortal words of my daughter when she was six years old about the Paradise City outro: "Slash doesn't wanna slow down."
GnR were such a part of my early teen years
Would buy. Classic.
This is a fucking banger, definitely one of the best albums of all time, an absolute perfect capsule of an era. Expertly performed and written. So much energy here, what a time.
Absolute belter. Had it blaring. Not a weak song on the album
Gonna try to be objective with this one... Pros: Some classic tracks That 'Sweet Child o' Mine' opening Slash Cons: Classic tracks have been overplayed Some cringy lyrics that have only gotten worse with age Original album cover is in the running for worst of all time Aw, Hell - just take my 5 and fuck off.
GnR is one of those bands I listened to a good amount as a kid and haven't really revisited. There's a reason this is a classic 80s album, though. Even though I'm largely tired of the hits, they're still excellent songs. Mr. Brownstone, Nightrain, and Anything Goes are bangers.
The Rock Gods came down from the heavens and touched this album saying, "'Welcome to the Jungle' will be considered one of the greatest opening tracks to an album ever created." This record is pure attitude—gritty, unrelenting, and gloriously raw—the way a hard-rock album ought to be. 'Appetite for Destruction' nails that sweet spot between hard rock and glam, swaggering on both sides of the line. For a good two years, you couldn’t turn on the radio or MTV anywhere in the U.S. without hearing one of its monster singles. If aliens ever landed and asked me to play the ultimate rock-and-roll anthem, I’d be torn between Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
This album is gritty, dirty, mean, melodic, and pure hard rock. It's fantastic from beginning to end. It can't be anything less than a 5 for me.
Breath of fresh air during the cheesy hair metal craze. Just a sleazy obnoxious kick ass rock and roll record. I will say I HATE the chorus on I think about you with that little acoustic guitar bit on top of the mix. I also don’t like the song anything goes. That is total filler. Rocket queen is a great closer. Slash turned out to be one of my favorite guitar players to catch live. Yep giving it 5 stars.
Reviewing Appetite for Destruction nearly 30 years on, it’s clear this album still stands as one of the greatest rock records of all time. Its songs are timeless, continuing to resonate with both longtime fans and a new generation.
Perfect!
5/5
What a great debut album by this iconic American hard rock band. The guitarist Slash is awesome and so is lead singer/frontman Axl Rose as well as the rest of the band. One of the best selling albums worldwide and worth every penny. Produced 5 singles and brought Rock n Roll back to life at the end of the 80s.
This one is very tough to rate. I was very excited to see this on my generator today because it is a classic and fun album to listen to. On the other hand, a lot of the songs made on this album are heavily overplayed (really Sweet Child O’ Mine). Like on local radio here in Philly, you hear these songs all the time it would make you go insane. But, does that mean that I do not like this album? Absolutely not! For a debut, it is impressive that Guns N’ Roses was able to make one of the biggest impressions in music history. The majority of songs that came off this album will be played for the rest of time and if that isn’t a testament to this album, I don’t know what is. For these reasons, I can’t help but give this 5 stars. It is classic, hard, and rough! Probably one of the best 80s rock records ever. Favorite Tracks: Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, My Michelle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Rocket Queen Rating: 5/5
Classic. How can you not enjoy this?
Heard a million times. A banger.
Clearly one of the greats as far as debut records go.
Hard, fast and down your throat 80s.
I played this album today. I have heard "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," and "Sweet Child of Mine" but not the entire album. Today, I had this chance. Loved it. 5/5