Why Appetite Is The Greatest Debut Album Ever, Says Triple M's Biggest Gunner's Fan

Appetite For Destruction is 30 years old. Bet you feel old, eh? Yep, me too… and it brings back a lot of memories.

I was in high school, just getting into music when Appetite came out in 1987 and to say it changed my life is an understatement.

I wasn’t wearing cowboys boots and I didn’t have a mullet… I just loved music that was real. And this was the absolute shit. 

It was everything I was looking for in a band. The attitude that was so sincere. They were living on the edge. And singing about it. 

It was the late 80s and it was becoming apparent that the ‘bad boys’ of rock weren’t actually that ‘bad’ (I’m looking at you Poison), but this five-piece emerged from the sordid Sunset Strip but with one thing on their mind - they were hungry… and they had an appetite for destruction!

I’ve always thought the best bands are like cartoon characters. Bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Ramones all had their own identity and personality... they had bloody character. And Guns N' Roses had that in spades.

Axl was as mad as a cut snake, fresh off a greyhound bus with wheat between his teeth. Slash and Stevie Adler were schoolboy buddies, who spent their youth smoking cigarettes, skateboarding and listening to KISS. Izzy was dark and mysterious and a bit older than the rest of the band, and Duff brought the punk cred.

Add the slew of musical influences - Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, Queen, Motorhead, Sex Pistols... and this album not only rocked my world but set me on a musical journey I'm still on to this day.

On Appetite you could hear all those different musical and stylistic influences come together - and it worked. 

Asking to pick which songs to talk about is a bit like asking you to pick a favourite child. It can't be done! But there were a few favourites.

Pressing play on my Hitachi sound system, and hearing the opening riff to "Welcome to the Jungle" sent shivers up my spine. I put my speakers to the test, and scared the shit out of my parents. Jungle is one of the great opening songs to any album… even AC/DC’s "Hells Bells"… and sets up the album perfectly. And the terror just flows from there.

"It’s So Easy", "Nightrain" and "Mr Brownstone" were dark, sleazy, dirty and honest... and I loved it. Mr. Brownstone's Bo Diddley riff that got me every time. "Paradise City" ends the first side… the frenzied solo at the end, where it's all coming down the mountain, I’d be doing air guitar for days.

Side Two starts with the filthy "My Michelle", the intro to that song I tried to play on guitar again and again, same with “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. We don’t need to go into that song, but it's amazing how effortless they made it sound. Slash’s solo always took me to another place and had me waxing lyrical about him being the best guitarist in the world! And then there’s the amazing "Rocket Queen" - the bassline is one of Duff’s finest, while the second half of that song is a treasure.

What made this album, so epic? There was a craziness that the band had going into the studio, having no idea how the album would go. And the songwriting chemistry between the band, and especially between Axl and Izzy, (I always thought Izzy was the unsung hero of GN'R, and they were never the same when he left) - was raw and unhinged. They had no time to think. They just went in there and did it.

It’s funny to think looking back that they weren’t that much older then me when they put this record out. They were so young!

The mark of a great album is one that never grows old or goes out of date. And that’s Appetite.

It’s one of the greatest pure albums of its time.

For a taste of what this period was really like, watch the video below. It’s GN’R Live in NYC in 1988. It was filmed for MTV. Appetite had JUST exploded. And the band was on the rise. It captures the pure awesomeness and magical chemistry the band had and, arguably, would never have again.

Triple M's Massive Appetite For Destruction Special

Triple M will be playing Appetite For Destruction in full from start-to-finish tonight after the footy (9pm on Triple M Sydney and Triple M Brisbane) and (11pm on Triple M Melbourne and Adelaide). The album will be played from start-to-finish alongside an exclusive interview with Slash. Listen live or via the Triple M App.