In Retrospect: "Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction"

This time on »In Retrospect«, we are taking a look at the debut album of the most dangerous band in the world, Guns N' Roses – Appetite for Destruction. Released in 1987, the album is considered to be one the finest in the rock genre, selling over 30 million copies worldwide.  

Writing/Recording Process

According to Axl Rose, many songs for the album were already written while performing in the clubs in Los Angeles, with addition to some songs that were going to be released later in 1991 in the Use Your Illusion albums (such as Back Off Bitch, Don't Cry, November Rain and You Could Be Mine). Many songs that did end up on the record, were written from single tracks that came from each member, such as: "It's So Easy" (Duff McKagan) and "Think About You" (Izzy Stradlin) and "Rocket Queen" (Slash/McKagan/Adler from an earlier band Road Crew). Before the recording process the band made a demo and issued an EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in 1986.  

The recording was done in Rumbo Recorders in 1987. The recording of the basic tracks took about two weeks. The producer Mike Clink worked on the album 18 hours a day for the next month. The drum tracks were all done in 6 days, while in comparison Rose's vocals, which he performed one line at the time, alone in the studio because the process took that much time. The final overdubs and mixing was done in Medisound Studios and Sterling Studio. The album had a budget of around 370,000 dollars.

The Artwork

The original artwork of the record was supposed to be based on the Robert Williams' painting entitled Appetite for Destruction. It depicted a robotic rapist just before he is punished by another kind of robot(?), with a semi-nude woman in the right corner.   

The controversial artwork was put inside the record, while the outer artwork was replaced by a Celtic cross with five skulls, each representing a member of the band. It was first designed as a tattoo by Billy White Jr. Based on Axl's idea with the cross and skulls that looked like band members.  

In Retrospect...

Appettite for Destruction is an album that will forever be forever embedded in the history of rock. It defined the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" lifestyle in the 80's hence why the got their nickname »the most dangerous band in the world«. The songs Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child o' Mine and Paradise City are still one of the most known rock songs ever, and for a good reason. The riffs by Izzy Stradlin and solos from Slash, are one of the most influental riffs and solos ever, paired together with hard hitting drums from Adler, chorusy bass lines from McKagan and one-of-a-kind vocals from Rose, really make this album one of the best in rock history.