Maps of Music

Appetite for Destruction (1987)

Where the lyrics of Appetite for Destruction take you, and where it was really made.

The debut album sold almost nothing at first: it reached number one only in 1988, more than a year after its release.

Key places

Entering Rumbo Recorders (1987)

Recording site Rumbo Recorders — After weeks of rehearsal, the band entered Rumbo Recorders in January 1987 to record the album, with producer Mike Clink working on the basic tracks and overdubs. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Final overdubs and mixing (1987)

Recording site Mediasound Studios — The final overdubs and mixing for the album were done at Mediasound Studios in New York City, while mastering took place at a different studio in the same city. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Appetite for Destruction: debut studio album by Guns N' Roses
• American hard rock band; released July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records
• Recorded from January 18 to June 23, 1987
• Produced by Mike Clink
• Most themes reflect the band's personal experiences and daily life, including their youth
• Five singles released in total
• Certified 18× platinum in the United States; about 30 million copies sold worldwide

Background

• First recordings for a planned EP in March 1985, shortly after the band formed
• Original guitarist Tracii Guns left and was replaced by Slash
• Classic lineup finalized: Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Steven Adler, Izzy Stradlin
• Signed with Geffen Records in March 1986
• Four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide released in December 1986 to keep interest alive while the band left the club scene to work in the studio
• Label believed the band did not have enough songs for a full-length album

Recording

• Producer Spencer Proffer hired to test his chemistry with the band
• Mike Clink chosen after Paul Stanley and Robert John 'Mutt' Lange were considered
• Band entered Rumbo Recorders in January 1987
• Clink worked eighteen-hour days for a month
• Total budget about $370,000
• Final overdubs and mixing done at Mediasound Studios, mastering at Sterling Sound in New York City

Cover

• Original cover based on Robert Williams' painting, depicting a robot about to be punished by a metal avenger
• Replaced inside the album by a Celtic cross and skulls representing each band member after several retailers refused to stock it

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles, California, in March 1985 by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Tracii Guns and others from L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose.
• The classic lineup of Rose, Slash, Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler was finalized in June 1985.
• Signed with Geffen Records in March 1986.

Members

• Current members include Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Richard Fortus (guitar), Melissa Reese (keyboards) and Isaac Carpenter (drums).
• Rose is the only constant member since the band's formation.

Career

• Debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987) sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling debut album in the U.S.
• Use Your Illusion I and II (1991) debuted at numbers two and one on the Billboard 200.
• Chinese Democracy (2008) was the long-delayed album reportedly costing $13 million.
• The Not in This Lifetime... Tour (2016–2018) grossed $563.3 million.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012; the band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Contemporary American critics gave the album a poor reception
• Little notice from American press and radio, apart from some airplay in California
• Debuted at number 182 on the Billboard 200 in the week of August 29, 1987
• Metal Hammer's Dave Ling dismissed it in 1987 as an inferior mix of elements from bands such as Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks and AC/DC
• Critics in the UK were more positive; Kerrang! praised the record
• Voted the 26th best album of 1988 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll

Reappraisal

• Ann Powers, The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004): produced a unique mix of rock values on an album that changed hard rock's sensibilities at the time
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic: a turning point for hard rock
• Jimmy Martin, The Quietus: the greatest hard rock record of the 80s, with an unrefined punk quality
• Christa Titus, Billboard: appealed to various rock listeners by mixing metal, punk, glam metal and bluesy riffs
• Maura Johnston, Pitchfork: a watershed moment in 80s rock
• Dennis O'Dell, BBC Music: the band's best album

Records

• Billboard 200 number one on August 6, 1988; four non-consecutive weeks at number one and 147 weeks on the chart in total
• Certified 18× platinum by the RIAA by September 2008, over 18 million copies shipped in the US
• Best-selling debut album in the US; 11th best-selling album in the country
• 1,216,017 copies sold in the UK from 1994 to 2018
• Worldwide sales estimated at nearly 31 million units by 2013
• Rolling Stone: 27th best album of the 1980s (1989); #62 on The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012, kept in 2020)
• Grammy Hall of Fame inductee in 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The original cover was meant for the 2008 vinyl reissue, but executives replaced it with the skulls art at the last minute.
• The two sides were labeled G and R instead of A and B; side G covers drugs and hard life in the big city, side R covers love, sex and relationships.
• Rose's first idea was a photo of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding, but Geffen rejected it as in bad taste.
• A 1999 re-recording was never released; the second half of the re-recorded Sweet Child o' Mine can be heard in the end credits of the 1999 film Big Daddy.
• Spencer Proffer was hired first to record Nightrain and Sweet Child o' Mine to test his chemistry with the band.
• Sputnikmusic said the album has been somewhat overrated.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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