Welcome To The Jungle! :)

The debut of L.A.’s Guns N’ Roses is a fist in your face. On top of memorable and catchy riffs singer Axl Rose confidently delivers all the emotions that the legend claims are needed to create great art. Some people might raise an eyebrow or two to see the word art mentioned in this context, but is not art whatever form you choose to express your feelings? May it be poetry, painting, movies, theatre or music. Hard rock is music, so Appetite For Destruction would qualify. Fear, bitterness and cynicism along with personal agony, selfdoubt and boredom makes up the lyrics. As most rock and metal bands at the time, drugs and alcohol is frequently mentioned, but far from as glorified and romanticized as their peers presented it. Instead it serves as the only way to hide from your problems that the superficial surroundings are flooding you with.

Talented guitarist Slash is given a lot of space and his playing is essential for the band. He is one of the very few metal/hard rock guitarists whom manages to play fast and technically good at the same as having a lot of feeling in his playing. Still it feels like this album belongs to Axl more than any other member, even he isn’t dominating in the way he would on later releases. In the end, Appetite For Destruction is as close to a group effort the band ever got, and every member has something to contribute. The center pieces of the album are “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. All of them breathing with raw energy and remains fresh to this day. However, the album is incredibly even and it’s hard to say anything bad about it, unless you are deliberately trying to point out fouls. You’d know that you’d be wrong, though.

Guns N’ Roses are clearly influenced by other riff based bands, including the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen, Alice Cooper and maybe even Slade whilst Axl Rose is doing his best to imitate Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. Just like their heroes, Gun’s N’ Roses fires away melodically strong songs and thoughtful lyrics that does more than building up a bad attitude image. The musicianship is extremely high and the songwriting holds up in an impressive way, leaving Appetite For Destruction as a modern classic.