Appetite For Destruction, the debut albumn of Guns ‘N Roses, made quite an impact on the music industry over the years. Released in the summer of 1987, the album helped GNR became the biggest band in the world – albeit for a brief shining moment.
For many fans, it was certainly a sad spectacle to see Axl Rose slowly destroy the band, and whatever promise they once had for the future.
But it’s no surprise the album still has a special place in many people’s memories. Appetite was one of those albums that perfectly captured the angst of the time, and became the soundtrack to many people’s lives, including my own.
As Slash told Guitar World, “Appetite was basically just an off-the-cuff recording. Guns were a club band, and like most first records from club bands, it was mostly made up of material that we had been playing onstage for a while. We were pretty rough around the edges and had virtually no studio experience. We went in there and threw the album together pretty quickly.”
As a result, they captured lightning in a bottle, not an easy thing to repeat. Yet as Slash also told Rolling Stone, “When I was a kid, there were these be-with-you-forever albums that represented something in your life. Whether it was the background music of your childhood or your puberty or whatever – Dark Side of the Moon or Sticky Fingers or Aerosmith’s Rocks or Led Zeppelin IV. And we made one of those records, which is all I could ever have asked for. It gives me goose bumps. That’s something no one ever can take away from me.”
Appetite will always be the peak of the band, and the albatross around Axl’s neck, a moment of brilliance he’ll never top or surpass. And it’s primarily because of Appetite and its impact that GNR got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who will be holding their induction ceremony on April 14. Also scheduled to be inducted are the Chili Peppers, The Beastie Boys, The Small Faces, Donovan, and Laura Nyro.
Although reports have gone round that all the former members of the band will be there for the induction, as reports also confirm the band will not be performing, which is certainly no big surprise. (Good luck getting Axl to show up, let alone perform, and knowing what a putz he is, he’ll probably demand his nu “GNR” perform instead of the original members).
As reported on Blabbermouth, Slash confirmed, “We’re not playing. I would imagine that they asked us to play, but I know that we’re not playing.” And bassist Duff McKagan also said there’s been “no communication” about the band performing. “There was probably a day in the mid-1990s where I would have tried to gather the troops, but I’m not that guy anymore. It’s too frustrating to change anyone else…”
The fact that Van Halen miraculously finished an album and went out on tour after many years of inactivity, I’m sure there’s many that think GNR will reunite, but Axl will never allow it to happen. And even if it’s ever announced, whatever deals are drawn up for an album and tour, they won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on. (Again, good luck getting Axl to make it to a gig, or make it to a gig in under three hours past show time).
Also funny enough, as Appetite nears its twenty-fifth anniversary, GNR has hit the charts again. As Blabbermouth informs us, Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits collection made #3 on the charts because Amazon did a price matching deal with Google Play and both companies were both selling the album for 25 cents. It was a one day only deal, but it moved 85,000 copies, and the Greatest Hits album has now sold more than 5.2 million copies in the States.
