1001 Albums Summary

Contains some of the most iconic songs of MJ’s career… and some others. I’m not overly keen on Speed Demon and the collabs on this album are a miss for me, but the key finds on this listen are Another Part of Me, Dirty Diana, and rediscovering just how GOOD the bass line on Smooth Criminal is. Overall immediate thoughts: good album, not quite up to Thriller standards and MJ starts to sound like a bit of a parody of himself here.

Slash really is one of the guitar greats, the man brings a flawless performance on all of these tracks (even the slightly duff ones) and Axl does the screechy screeches very well - it’s just a shame he doesn’t use his more mellow tone to full effect until the next couple of albums. So many classic tracks that it’s hard to know where to begin. Rocket Queen, Nightrain and Mr Brownstone all excel… and then there’s (in my opinion) one of the best album openers on a rock record in the form of Welcome To The Jungle. I will say though, Appetite For Destruction has become a victim of its own success. Constant radio play has eroded a lot of these tracks and I even find Sweet Child O’ Mine grating whenever it first comes on, only warming to it again by the time the second verse kicks around. This - and the lack of musical variety which is admittedly a personal preference - is the main reason why a full listen of AFD is a bit draining in parts where even a lot of double albums aren’t, but still a great time when all’s said and done.