Appetite for Destruction 194367 224188760 2008-07-07T18:52:42Z J Milburn Bot 7423137 All Music Guide has now been rebranded to Allmusic {{otheruses|Appetite for Destruction (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox Album <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums --> | Name = Appetite for Destruction | Type = studio | Artist = [[Guns N' Roses]] | Cover = GunsnRosesAppetiteforDestructionalbumcover.jpg | Released = [[July 21]], [[1987]] | Recorded = Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; Take One Studio, Burbank, California; Can Am Studio, Tarzana, California<ref name="GNR source">{{cite web|url= http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd.htm |title="Appetite for Destruction" |publisher=''GN'R Source.com'' |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> | Genre = [[Hard rock]] / [[Heavy metal]] | | Length = 53:43 | Label = [[Geffen Records|Geffen]] | Producer = [[Mike Clink]] | Reviews = *[[Allmusic]] {{rating-5|5}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:86zsa93gb23d link] *[[Robert Christgau]] (B-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Guns+N%27+Roses link] | Last album = | This album = '''''Appetite for Destruction'''''<br>(1987) | Next album = ''[[G N' R Lies]]''<br>(1988) | Misc = {{Extra album cover 2 | Upper caption = Alternate cover | Type = studio | Cover = Appetitefordestruction.jpg | Lower caption = The original cover }} }} '''''Appetite for Destruction''''' is the [[1987 in music|1987]] debut album by [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]-based [[hard rock]] band [[Guns N' Roses]]. The album combines elements of [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]], [[punk rock]], [[hard rock]], and [[blues-rock]]. ''Appetite for Destruction'' reached number one on the [[Billboard 200|US Albums Chart]], and has since certified [[RIAA certification|15x platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]].<ref name="platinum">{{cite web| url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=tblDiamond&action= | title=Diamond Awards| publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]]| accessdate=2007-09-19}}</ref> The album has accumulated worldwide sales in excess of 28 million. ''Appetite for Destruction'' is ranked the fourth best-selling debut album in the [[United States]].<ref name="Billboard">{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003602582 |title=Featured artist - Guns N' Roses |publisher=''[[Billboard 200]]'' |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> The album is considered by many to be one of the greatest hard rock albums of the 20th century. ==Origins== While the songwriting credits are indiscriminately credited to all five band members, many of the songs began as solo tracks that individual band members wrote in the pre-Guns N' Roses era, only to be completed by the band. These songs include "[[It's So Easy]]" and "[[Nightrain]]" ([[Duff McKagan|McKagan]]), "[[Mr. Brownstone]]", "[[Anything Goes]]", and "[[Think About You]]" ([[Izzy Stradlin|Stradlin]]). "[[Paradise City]]" and "[[Rocket Queen]]" were unfinished Rose/McKagan and Rose/Stradlin demos respectively that the band wrote in their early career. Other songs on the album reflect the band's reaction to the debauchery of the L.A. rock and roll underground, such as "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]" (Rose wrote the lyrics while in Seattle about an incident in New York City)<ref name="TV.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.tv.com/entourage/welcome-to-the-jungle/episode/1036057/summary.html |title="Welcome to the Jungle" |publisher=''TV.com'' |author=Ellin, Doug |date=[[2007-07-27]] |acceessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> and "[[Out ta Get Me]]", as well as their assorted female companions, reflected in the songs "[[Sweet Child o' Mine]]", "[[Think About You]]", "[[My Michelle]]", "[[You're Crazy]]", and "[[Rocket Queen]]". ==Cover art== The album's original cover, based on the [[Robert Williams (artist)|Robert Williams]] painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, they compromised and put the [[history of controversial album art|controversial cover art]] inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (designed by William White, originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: [[Izzy Stradlin]], top skull; [[Steven Adler]], left skull; [[Axl Rose]], center skull; [[Duff McKagan]], right skull; and [[Slash (musician)|Slash]], bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by [[Robert John (photographer)]]. ==Achievements== *In [[1989]] ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked ''Appetite for Destruction'' as the 27th best album of the 1980s. *The same magazine later ranked it at sixty-one on their list of the [[500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite web| url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6597908/61_appetite_for_destruction |title="''Appetite for Destruction'' - ''Rolling Stone's'' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" |publisher=''[[Rolling Stone]]'' |date=[[2003-11-03]] |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> *In [[2001]], [[Q (magazine)|''Q'']] magazine named ''Appetite for Destruction'' as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time.<ref name="Rock music">{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest |title=In our Lifetime #2|publisher=''Q magazine'' |date=[[2001-10-01]] |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> *In 2003, [[VH1]] named ''Appetite for Destruction'' the 42nd Greatest Album of All Time.<ref name="Babellist"> {{cite web| url=http://babellist.xnet2.com/0101/msg00062.html |title=VH1 Ranks 100 Best Rock Albums |publisher=The Associated Press |date=[[2001-01-04]] |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> *It was ranked 18 in [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'']] magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005".<ref name="Blog">{{cite web| url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/07/03/052023.php |title=Spin magazine's 100 Greatest Albums 1985-2005|publisher=''Blog Critics magazine'' |author=Barger, Al |date=[[2005-07-03]] |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> *''[[Kerrang!]]'' magazine recently compiled a 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list of which ''Appetite for Destruction'' was ranked #1.<ref name=HTGTH>{{cite web|url=http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/news/shownews.php?newsid=964 |title=Guns N' Roses news: |publisher=''Here Today Gone to Hell'' |date=[[2004-03-04]] |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> *In 2004 the album was voted number 1 by fans in Metal Hammer magazine's greatest albums of all time list. ''Rolling Stone'' recently devoted their cover to the album's 20th Anniversary, July 2007.<ref name="Rolling Stone - Coverstory">{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/15690883 |title=How Guns N' Roses Mixed Drugs, Punk, and Classic Rock to Make 'Appetite for Destruction' |publisher=''[[Rolling Stone]]'' |date=[[2007-07-27]] |author=Hiatt, Brian |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> ==Track listing== {|class="wikitable" ! # ! Title ! Length ! Music by ! Lyrics by |- | 1 | "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]" | 4:34 | [[Axl Rose]], [[Slash (musician)|Slash]] | Rose |- | 2 | "[[It's So Easy]]" | 3:22 | colspan=2|[[Duff McKagan]], [[West Arkeen]] |- | 3 | "[[Nightrain]]" | 4:28 | Rose, Slash, [[Izzy Stradlin]], McKagan | Rose, McKagan |- | 4 | "[[Out ta Get Me]]" | 4:23 | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | Rose, Stradlin |- | 5 | "[[Mr. Brownstone]]" | 3:48 | Slash, Stradlin | Stradlin |- | 6 | "[[Paradise City]]" | 6:46 | Rose, Slash, Stradlin, McKagan | Rose, McKagan |- | 7 | "[[My Michelle]]" | 3:39 | Rose, Stradlin | Rose |- | 8 | "[[Think About You]]" | 3:51 | colspan=2|Stradlin |- | 9 | "[[Sweet Child o' Mine]]" | 5:56 | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | Rose |- | 10 | "You're Crazy" | 3:17 | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | Rose, Stradlin |- | 11 | "Anything Goes" | 3:26 | Rose, Stradlin, [[Chris Weber]] | Rose, Stradlin |- | 12 | "[[Rocket Queen]]" | 6:13 | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | Rose |} ==Personnel== *[[Axl Rose]] – [[Singer|lead vocals]], [[synthesizer]] *[[Slash (musician)|Slash]] – [[lead guitar]], [[Steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic guitar]] *[[Izzy Stradlin]] – [[rhythm guitar]], [[backing vocals]] *[[Duff McKagan]] – [[Bass guitar|bass]], [[backing vocals]] *[[Steven Adler]] – [[Drum kit|drums]], [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] ===Additional personnel=== *[[Mike Clink]] – [[Record producer|producer]] *[[Michael Barbiero]] – mixing *[[Steve Thompson (musician)|Steve Thompson]] – mixing *George Marino – mastering *Victor Deyglio – assistant engineer *Dave Reitzas – assistant engineer *Micajah Ryan – assistant engineer *Julian Stoll – assistant engineer *Andy Udoff – assistant engineer *Jeff Poe – assistant engineer *[[Robert Williams (artist)|Robert Williams]] – paintings *Michael Hodgson – art direction, design *[[Robert John (photographer)|Robert John]] – [[photography]] *Jack Lue – photography *Greg Freeman – photography ==Chart positions== ===Album=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Chart !Position |- |1988 |rowspan=2|The Billboard 200 |rowspan=2|1 |- |1989 |- |} ===Singles=== {|class="wikitable" ! Year ! Song ! Chart ! Peak position<ref name="Charts">{{cite web| url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?exp=y&Ntt=guns+n+roses&Ntk=Keyword&an=bbcom&nor=10&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&N=37 |title=Artist Chart History - Guns N' Roses - Singles |publisher=''[[Billboard 200]]'' |accessdate=2007-11-20}}</ref> |- | 1988 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | [[Billboard Hot 100]] | #1 |- | 1988 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | [[Mainstream Rock Tracks]] | #7 |- | 1988 | "Welcome to the Jungle" | Billboard Hot 100 | #7 |- | 1988 | "Welcome to the Jungle" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #37 |- | 1988 | "Nightrain" | Billboard Hot 100 | #93 |- | 1989 | "Nightrain" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #26 |- | 1989 | "Paradise City" | Billboard Hot 100 | #5 |- | 1989 | "Paradise City" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #14 |} ==References== {{reflist|2}} {{start box}} {{succession box | before = ''[[Hysteria (album)|Hysteria]]'' by [[Def Leppard]] | title = [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] [[Number-one albums of 1988 (USA)|number-one album]] | years = [[August 6]] - [[August 12]] [[1988]]<br>[[September 24]] - [[October 14]] [[1988]]<br>[[February 11]] - [[February 17]] [[1989]] | after = ''[[Roll with It (album)|Roll with It]]'' by [[Steve Winwood]] }} {{end box}} {{Guns N' Roses}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Appetite for Destruction}} [[Category:1987 albums]] [[Category:Debut albums]] [[Category:Guns N' Roses albums]] [[Category:Albums produced by Mike Clink]] [[Category:Geffen Records albums]] [[cs:Appetite for Destruction]] [[de:Appetite for Destruction]] [[es:Appetite for Destruction]] [[fr:Appetite for Destruction]] [[hr:Appetite for Destruction]] [[it:Appetite for Destruction]] [[hu:Appetite for Destruction]] [[ja:アペタイト・フォー・ディストラクション]] [[no:Appetite for Destruction]] [[pl:Appetite for Destruction]] [[pt:Appetite for Destruction]] [[ru:Appetite for Destruction]] [[sk:Appetite for Destruction]] [[sl:Appetite for Destruction]] [[fi:Appetite for Destruction]] [[sv:Appetite for Destruction]] [[tr:Appetite for Destruction]]